dailyprompt

Tea Cakes

What’s your favorite recipe?

My grandmother and Mother made these. I made them for my children. My daughter makes these. Who knows how far back this recipe goes?

Tea Cakes

preheat oven to 340(not 350)

3 cups self-rising flour(if using plain add 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and a pinch of salt per cup flour)

2 cups sugar

8 oz softened butter

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Just enough milk to make very firm dough

Cream sugar, butter, egg, vanilla. Mix in flour a cup at a time. May have to add milk to complete mixing to consistency of playdo. Reserve a bit of flour to dust top of dough and hands. Roll into 1 inch balls. Place on greased cookie sheet with cookies not touching. Bake on middle rack about 12 minutes. Then take pans out and turn around to bake evenly. Cook another 7 minutes just until edges start to brown. Tops will still be soft. If you overcook, they get hard. We love them soft. Cool on a rack. You can roll and freeze to prepare ahead.

If desired, press center down and add a dollop of jam or center with chocolate kiss before baking.

I hope your family loves these as much as mine does.

Photo borrowed from All recipes

I’m Excited!

Tell us about the last thing you got excited about.

I get excited every year when I visit my oldest and dearest friend in Virginia. We worked together for many years and had the kind of relationship that never wavered. She had my back just as I had hers. All these years later, if I really need comfort, she’s the one I call. My heart lifts when her name pops up on my phone. That time is coming again! I am planning my fall trip!

Design a City?

How would you design the city of the future?

Ha! Ha! This prompt is so far outside the realm of possibility I can’t even craft a response.

Clothilde

Where did your name come from?

Linda was the second most common girl’s name in 1950, bested only by Mary. Every classroom was populated with Lindas and its rhyming cousins, Glenda and Brenda. I wasn’t ashamed to be Linda.

I when I got older and learned I’d been threatened with the horrific name, Clothilde, I was grateful to be just plain old Linda. I was one of four girls. Each time a daughter was born, Daddy offered up his favorite girl name, Clothilde. It seems that when he was a starving child growing up in the depths of The Great Depression, his family had share-cropped on the farm of Mr. Ward. Daddy forever remembered his daughter, the beauteous Clothilde, hence, his love of that name.

No matter what my mother ever did or will do to me, I will be forever grateful she didn’t let Daddy saddle me with the name Clothilde!

First Grade School Picture

Motivation

What motivates you?

My early training still motivates me. Mother started us on chores early on. Long before I started school, Mother assigned me simple chores. Initially, I enjoyed it but my interest soon flagged. That didn’t matter. Mother would set a pile of washcloths before me and made it clear, their folding was my responsibility. I’d have to call for her approval before being released to play. Had I done a sloppy job, I’d be back to work. After enough times, it occurred to me I might as well get it right and be done. It would have been much easier for her to have done it herself but she stayed on point. Daddy reinforced Mother’s training.

Of course, as time went on and I faced other challenges, I had the benefit of my parent’s diligent training. I did well in school, got married, had children, became a nurse, and was prepared to face challenges daily. I wanted to be a good wife, mother, worker, boss, and friend. A well-ordered life was second nature. I am grateful for that motivation.

Favorite Movie

What are your top ten favorite movies?

I can’t even think of one. I am not a movie watcher. I have terminal ADD.

Thinking

What do you enjoy most about writing?

The best part of writing is looking at myself objectively. When writing, I am outside looking in. Not just privy to my thoughts, I can surmise what others bring to the table. Viewing myself from another perspective has often given me clarity. It’s not all about me.

Loving Home

What do you love about where you live?

A baby owl judged us from a snagged sweet gum for weeks. What a joy! If you enlarge photo, you can see his mother feeding him a mouse. He is bigger than she is!

I live on a quiet street in a neighborhood started in the 1970s The best thing is the trees. Built before the current trend of wiping lots bare before building, yards are graced with mighty trees. These lovely beings shade the streets, welcoming all who pass. My yard is well-shaded with tall trees that give the illusion of cool, even in the blistering August heat of Louisiana.

Flagstone patio I built myself! Who knew I could do such a thing?

Contentment

What positive emotion do you feel most often?

Contentment is the positive emotion I feel most often. I am retired. My children are grown, my days routine. I am past the point of working hard, professional struggles, and daily stress. At the age of seventy-three, I’ve learned most upsets blow over if you let them. I spend my time doing a few necessary chores. As I went out before daylight to water my flowers, it occurred to me I was doing what my beloved grandmother was doing seventy years ago, puttering in my yard, and pretty much doing as I choose.