Instructions: 1. Cream butter and sugar. Add salt, cream, soda and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time. Stir in flour to form stiff dough. Chill 30 minutes to 1 hour if desired, to make it easier to work with the dough. (Note: Some recipes call for adding all the ingredients to a large bowl at one time and mixing until well-combined.)

2. Divide dough in half. Roll out each half of dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into circles with a cookie or biscuit cutter.

3. Bake on ungreased cookie sheets in batches at 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly golden.

NOTES : The recipe below came from Sharon Frazier of Jefferson, who said that it has been handed down in her family and dates back to before the Civil War. She said that she and her sister still use this recipe for tea cakes, and she has fond memories of snitching them and hiding to eat them before dinner when she was a child.

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