Grammie

My Grammie passed away on Monday, quietly in the afternoon. Some of my best childhood memories are the days spent visiting her - and my Grandpop's - house during the summers. Getting our nails painted, eating corn on the cob in the carport, having root beer floats every night, playing in the sandbox, picking strawberries - basically getting spoiled rotten.

When I think of my Grammie - there are many things I think of, but I always think of her "tea breaks". Each afternoon, at least when we visited her or she visited us, we would have a tea break. If she was visiting us, we would get home from school, sit around the table, eat cookies and drink tea. It seems like such a simple thing - but it was oh so special to us. One of the types of cookies we always requested were Welsh Cookies.

Charlotte and I had a baking therapy session today. Even though I've had the recipe since I got married, I have never attempted to make Welsh Cookies. Today, I dusted off the recipe. I found all of the ingredients, except currants - I used cranberries, and got to work. This recipe is actually great for little helpers because you use your hands to mix the dough rather than a mixer. Charlotte had a great time mixing and I had a great time telling her all about how her Great-Grammie was when I was little. I did have to get on the phone with Rachel to discuss the stickiness of my dough, but I added a bunch of flour and they turned out better than I thought they would - they are actually really good.

I hadn't had one of these cookies in forever. When I bit into one today I was immediately transported back to that carport. I can hear her humming. I can see her closed library book on the table. I can see her hands. I'll never forget her hands. Isn't it funny what some of your best memories are tied to?

If you want to make some cookies of your own, here's the recipe. Maybe slow down over the next couple of days and have a tea break with someone you love. If you southerners can't stand the thought of hot tea - I'm sure Grammie wouldn't mind if it were iced.



Welsh Griddle Cakes from Margaret "Peggy" Lutes

4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

mix the above in a large bowl

Add: 1 cup butter - softened and cut in cubes. mix with hands until the butter is incorporated - small pebbles.
Add: 3/4 cup currants (I used chopped up dried cranberries today)
To Moisten: 3 beaten eggs beaten in one-cup measure; then add milk to make 1 cup

Toss with fork until evenly moistened. Roll out dough (I had to use A LOT of flour to do this) and cut into circles. (I used the top of a drinking glass to cut the circles - about 3" in diameter). Fry until brown in a lightly greased (with butter) electric fry skillet ( 325-350 degrees). 4 min. turn; 4 min. Sprinkle with conf. sugar.