When there was money left over after the bills were paid, mom bought extra sugar, butter, and flour. She made the tea cakes in a big cast-iron pan that would almost take over the whole stove. She put a roasting-pan lid over them. We would come home from school and I would smell that she had made tea cakes, with either lemon, vanilla, or orange.
I remember competing with my siblings for my mother’s tea cakes. She made them from an old family recipe for a stove-top sweet biscuit.
Mom came here from Shaw, Mississippi. We lived on the west side, on Lexington near California. She was known in our neighborhood as Muddear. Everyone in the community lived day by day, but since no one had more than anyone else, there was no jealousy. I didn’t realize until later in life that we were considered poor.
After the passing of my mom, I tried to get the recipe. All the family members I asked said I should speak with my mother’s oldest sister. But she was suffering from dementia and lived in Gary, and you had to catch her on a good day for her to tell you anything. She passed before I got a good day. My regret is I missed the opportunity to pass this tradition and recipe down. I’ve tried making them, but it’s hard to do it on the stove and have them come out as good as hers.
