Grandmother Cates Tea Cakes

I am so fortunate to have grown up with a Grandmother who loved to teach me how to cook.  I spent many an hour learning how to bake cakes and cookies and just regular every day dishes when I was visiting her home!!  She had written out many recipes and put them into a vinyl binder which I found after she had passed away.  When you see something written in a loved ones handwriting it's always almost like having them right there with you!!  As I was browsing through the recipes last night I realized that she had written out the Tea Cake recipe that had belonged to my Great Grandmother!!  I was beyond thrilled, so I thought I would share it with y'all today!!  I had big plans to make them today, but it looks like I need to run to the store for some nutmeg!!  :)

Hope everyone enjoys them!!

GRANDMOTHER CATE'S TEA CAKES

• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1 stick butter (the recipe actually called for "Oleo" but hardly anyone knows what that is anymore...so either a stick of shortening or a stick of butter will do)
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp nutmeg
• Milk

Add enough milk to make the proper consistency.  Roll out thin.  Cut and bake  8-10 min at 375 degrees.  (I realize for those of you new to baking this is not really helpful....this is just how the recipe was written :)....HOWEVER....I will put it into my words here.....Mix all the ingredients EXCEPT the milk.  Pour maybe 1/4 cup of milk into a measuring cup and pour a little at a time into your dough and stir stir.  You want it to be a little sticky where it rolls into a giant ball when you stir it.  Remember you can always add a little more but you can't take it back out!! 

Flour your rolling pin and flour a flat surface to roll out your cookies!!!

Sometimes it helps to pick up a ball of dough and put a little flour in your hands and pat that ball with the four all around before rolling it out.  Not a gob of flour, you don't want to change the taste of your cookies but just a "dusting" to help them roll easier!!

Let me know how these turn out for you!!

As soon as I buy some nutmeg I will bake some and we can all compare notes!!