Tea Rings

My grandmother Scott made tea rings, pictured below.  (Now a days, most people call them cinnamon rolls.) She gave them as gifts; she sold them at the bake table during church fundraisers.

Once upon a time, I spent Friday nights with my grandmother at her small farm and come Saturday morning would awaken to the house smelling sugar-y and cinnamon-y.  Usually, she was done making her tea rings by the time I got out of bed.  (I'm a late riser, you see.) After I ate cold cereal for breakfast, I would be assigned the cookie detail.  By the time I was ten, I could whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies like nobody's business.  But that's another story.

The photo above is how Nanny made her tea rings.  Very old school, isn't it.  I remember that she had a pair of super sharp stainless steel scissors that she used to snip the dough around the ring before baking. (You could never use those scissors for anything else other than her tea rings.)  After letting them cool, she would drizzle the ring with a little powdered sugar icing and meticulously quarter maraschino cherries to place on each semi-sliced portion.  We were not allowed to eat the maraschino cherries either because they were too expensive or so she insisted.  It was a real treat if she spared one, believe me.

I typically make mine like this: new school.  I think this style is popular right now.  Beside, it's easier.  (I don't have those stainless steel scissors to snip the dough; I have to use a serrated knife, which just isn't as precise.)

In the spirit of Nanny, we are giving the old school tea ring to the neighbors. Christmas morning we will enjoy the new school version, remembering Nanny all the while.  Merry Christmas, everyone.