Old Fashioned Tea Cakes

This recipe is from the 19th Century.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

4 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 cup buttermilk

4 cups flour

Pinch of salt

1/2 tsp baking soda.

Mix all ingredients together and throroughly chill for at least 2 hours. Roll dough 1/8 inch think. Sprinkle with sugar. Cut into small cakes. Bake at 375 for 7 to 8 minutes.

My grandmother made these cakes when I was a child, and I recall their goodness to this day. Do I make them? No, but I remember them, and I wish I could find a baker who made them. I'd buy them.

Cooking and baking is an art. I have a friend who defines creating delicious concoctions as her passion. It relaxes her. Can you believe it?  A few other friends enjoy quilting. Fancy dishes and sewing are two activites I seldom try.

I wonder how many arts we've lost?  Anyone remember tatting?

The border on the above banner resembles tatting. Ladies once made this "lace" out of sewing thread into designs. A senior friend once gave me a tea towel she'd embroidered and then tatted the four edges. I kept it in a special place. I didn't want to use it or ruin it. Hubby didn't realize the value of the piece, and while looking for towels to use as he changed oil, he chose that beautiful piece of art.

What arts of today will be gone in one hundred years?

Perhaps we should learn some of the old ones. Bring them back. There's one I never want to learn. Making art object from hair. Can you imagine? That tedious art began in the 15th century. People collected hair and then twined them into neclaces, bracelets, or wall art. Yuk. 

Let's have a tea cake and a cup of coffee. Maybe we'll color in a coloring book. It was once enjoyed in days gone by, but it's the rage now. Things do come back. But no hair necklaces for me.

Writing Faith and Humor