Heavenly Recipes

Heavenly Recipes

Story and Photos by Lawrence Chatagnier

Mamiere Manette’s Tea Cookies

Becky Thibodeaux, a native of Vacherie and resident of Bayou Blue, shares her grandmother’s recipe for Tea Cookies. Becky enjoys baking, but loves to cook. She is married to Kurt, who works for Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government. The Thibodeaux’s have an adult daughter, Alyssa. Becky has been working for the diocese as an accounting specialist for the past five months. Prior to working at the Pastoral Center, she was a staff accountant for the New Orleans Pelicans and New Orleans Saints. Becky says she likes working at the Pastoral Center because she loves the people working there. “I love God and have a strong Catholic faith. I am now 10 minutes from work. The drive to Metairie and the Saints Training Facility was just very stressful.”

Becky’s grandmother, who she got the recipe from, was named Antoinette. “We called her Mamiere Manette. The recipe has been in the family for as long as I can remember. Anytime you visited my grandmother her lips were always moving. She would be in her rocking chair praying her rosary. If she didn’t have a rosary in her hand she would use her fingers. Every year for Christmas, she, my mom and my mom’s two sisters would make hundreds of tea cookies and place them in a large popcorn tin and give them out when people visited.”

Becky says her favorite thing to cook is gumbo. “My favorite thing to cook is seafood gumbo. My husband also likes to cook. He boils the best seafood, makes a delicious spaghetti, great barbecue and vegetable soup. My mom and husband taught me how to cook. I didn’t know how to cook when I got married. Sometimes I still call my mom for advice in cooking. I love recipes and recipe books. Following a recipe is the easiest way to cook. a

Heavenly Recipes

Mamiere’s Tea Cookies

Ingredients:

1 lb. butter 3 tsp. vanilla 6 eggs 3 cups sugar 6 cups flour 5 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Directions:

Cream butter, salt and sugar. Beat eggs, and add to butter and sugar. Add vanilla and mix well. Add flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add an extra 4 cups of flour to harden the dough. Roll and cut in flour.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

Tea Cookie Icing:

1—1-1/2 lbs. powdered sugar 1/2 cup melted butter 1/2 cup pet milk Dash of almond or vanilla extract Add powdered sugar until consistency reached.

Becky enjoys her work and enjoys working at the Pastoral Center. “Everyone is friendly. I love that we have prayer every morning. We also have Mass every Tuesday and Thursday. Everyone is very helpful. I have worked in the corporate world all my life. Working here is very different … different in a good way.” BC