Cookies and Memories

I have been wanting to make tea cakes for awhile and since our play date got cancelled Friday, I thought it would be a good time to do it. I posted the recipe here.



These are more than just cookies to me; they are childhood memories. It is strange how one bite took me back to the many times my Great-Uncle Richard would make them for us. He would give them to us for birthday gifts (along with some cash) and this would be one of our favorite presents. I remember my grandparents driving through my college town while I was in class one day and they dropped a care package off at my dorm. In the package were some tea cakes from my Uncle Richard and I was in heaven. He never married, but he loved my mom and her siblings as his own. He also thought of my cousins and I as his grandkids and he spoiled us as such.

Me (age 2) with Uncle Richard

(Cousins) Amy, Mindy, Uncle Richard and Me

Growing up my PaPa and he worked in the family car dealership and then he went to college. During college, he joined the Air force and piloted a B-17 in World War II. If you have ever seen the movie Memphis Belle that is the kind of plane he flew.

After the war he came home, finished college and started an insurance agency that he and my PaPa both retired from. When my mom was a girl my Uncle and PaPa bought some land to farm on - they loved that farm and when they were not working they were out there clearing the land and getting it in condition to someday be ready to grow crops. In the late 70's my uncle and great grandmother (Ninnie) built a house at the farm.

I have some amazing memories of the farm. We loved that long driveway - it was a great place to learn to ride your bike. We would go fishing, have camp outs (in the camper), and ride the John Deer Combine while PaPa and Uncle Richard would cut the wheat in the fields. After my uncle died, my grandparents moved out to the farm and it became the place where we would gather for holidays and visit with family.

While making the cookies this week I enjoyed talking to my boys about my mom's side of the family and sharing my childhood memories. I feel honored to have the recipe card and the rolling pin that my Uncle Richard actually used to make these Tea Cakes. Even though my Uncle and Grandparents are gone, I have my memories and I cherish them very much! :o)