One summer treat I fondly remember as a kid was making Kool-Aid Ice Pops. This treat marked the beginning of the new school year for me. I especially remember this time because it was the only time my grandmother would allow my sister and I in the kitchen alone (with no adult supervision) to prepare our treat.

This is a vintage heavy gauge aluminum ice cube tray, circa 1950. We used it to make ice cubes. The pull-back handle would break and separate the ice cubes. This particular type made 18 ice cubes.  On rare occasions when it would snow, we used it to freeze the “snow ice cream” we made.

After mixing our favorite Kool-Aid flavor with plenty of sugar and water, we would pour the sweet liquid concoction into old-fashioned ice cube trays (with the built-in top handle) and place in the refrigerator’s top freezer until they were frozen.

It normally would take a couple of hours to freeze the pops, provided I did not open the freezer door fifty or more times to peep at the liquid turn to ice. It was my job to notify my sister immediately when the pops were frozen. My sister had mastered a way to separate and remove the cubes from the tray without causing a lot of breakage to the ice cubes.

Here are a couple of vintage aluminum pastel colored drinking glasses waiting to be filled with ice cubes from the bowl. With these metal glasses, my grandmother didn’t have to worry about us breaking her good glasses when we made our treat. I remember the metal glasses were very cold to hold and would sweat profusely when anything cold was placed in them.

This was one of the most refreshing treats to cool off with during a hot summer day. For me, it represented the end of summer and the beginning of the new school year.

Did you have a favorite treat that marked the end of summer? Feel free to share your own favorites in the comments.

YOUR MAMA’S KITCHEN

Aunt’s tea cakes leave a sweet legacy

By Bob Leggett
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Elbert Mackey has been in the Air Force, doing Air Force things. He’s worked in nuclear security, too, making sure nobody breached a sensitive site with evil on their minds.

But that was in his other life. Now Mackey, 60, lives in Cedar Park and cooks tea cakes for a living. Lots of tea cakes, too. Big fat ones, small flat ones, crunchy and mushy. None of that cinnamon-covered stuff either; that’s a snickerdoodle . No sprinklings of sugar; those are sugar cookies.

Mackey is a tea-cake man, a guy whose obsession for his aunt Maggie Wimberly’s tea cakes, the ones he ate as a child growing up near Minden, La., led him to gather recipes wherever he traveled around the world and eventually to compile a book of tea cake recipes.  [Read the full story here]

I attended my biennial family reunion in Louisiana.  It is always a joy to catch up with family members. Thought I’d share a few pictures with everyone.

This is one of the many wonderful recipes you will find in The Tea Cake Roundup.  A tasty twist on the traditional recipe. Try it and drop me a line and let me know how you liked it.

Ingredients
1 cup blueberries
1 2/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divide these two measurement amounts
½ cup butter softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
½ cup milk
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ tablespoon grated lemon peel

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350° degrees.  Grease and flour 9” x 5” loaf pan.  Set aside.  Toss berries with the 1 tablespoon flour.  Set aside.  Cream butter, add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs.  Add milk, remaining flour, baking powder, and salt.  Beat until just combined.  Fold in prepared blueberries and lemon peel.  Pour into pan.  Bake 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes and remove from pan.  Prick top with toothpick.  Now to glaze.  (See below)

Glaze:
In saucepan combine ¼ cup sugar with ¼ cup fresh lemon juice.  Heat to boiling, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Brush hot glaze over top and sides of cake.  Cool completely.

Enjoy!

Have you ever noticed how food brings people together? We gather at Sunday dinners, potlucks and BBQs. Laughter flows as we break bread together. We offer food for comfort -a fresh baked cookie to a crying child, a casserole for someone who is sick or grieving and a pie to welcome a new neighbor.

As we look back on those times, we remember the smells and tastes and as our senses are engaged the rush of laughter and warmth comes flooding back too. Food is and always will be an important part of our traditions, a legacy which we can pass on to our children and their children. As we pass on the recipes we also pass on the traditions, the family stories, the history.

We are at a time in our history when connection, tradition and community have taken center stage. The economy has helped us to reevalute our priorities and many are choosing simple pleasures over costly outings. We are again gathering in backyards and dining rooms, sharing food, laughter and love.  I hope that as things improve we will continue to engage in these simple pleasures and that we will pass then on to the next generation.

Southern food historians say tea cakes evolved from an English recipe brought to America by British settlers in the 18th century. They were known as “little cakes” and were served with afternoon tea, but are called tea biscuits in Britain today. 

The basic recipe was passed by word-of-mouth for generations. Unlike the English, Southerners made the cakes for snacks or special occasions, especially at Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter. Each cook added special ingredients, such as molasses or grated lemon rinds and spices.