Tea Cakes!

It was a warm spring day, my son and I were in the car backing out of the driveway then !!! HONK !!!.
My foot slammed on the brake just in time to avoid crashing into my neighbor's car which was also backing out!

Now I can't really say who's at fault but it scared the daylights out of me. I do NOT want to be responsible for crashing in my 74 year old neighbor!

When we got home that evening I couldn't help thinking about her. It must have scared her as much as it did me and I didn't know if she was angry or not. I would hate for there to be bad blood between us because she is such a sweetheart. So there's the question: How do I smooth this over? 

Well.... being from the south the answer was of course FOOD!

Not just any food mind you. Oh no, it was time to turn on the charm and bake up some tea cakes. :)

Off to Kroger I went. Then the dollar store. Then Roses. Finally I had everything ready: ingredients, cute basket, striped dishcloths.

I baked a few dozen with love, made a glaze to drizzle across, did a little demo to my $1 basket until it looked like a bread basket, then wrapped them up, added a note, and off I went.

My neighbor appreciated my tea cakes and invited me for coffee.

Of course now I am plagued with keeping my son, D from eating all the extras at one sitting!

TEA CAKES:

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 3/4 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (can use almond instead)

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; stir into the creamed mixture. Knead dough for a few turns on a floured board until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until firm.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. (I just use a cup from the Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. 

OPTIONAL: drizzle with glaze and allow glaze to set overnight for best results

 

GLAZE:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons milk
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon butter
  

  Directions

  1. Melt the butter and add to rest of ingredients. Mix until creamy. 
  2. Store in squeeze bottle.