Sep 14, 2011

Chubby Bébé (& Garden Variety Wednesday #14)

As a toddler, I rivaled Al Capone with the racket I had going on.  Strawberry blond ringlets & chubby cheeks to boot.  Much more persuasive than a fedora and Gatling gun.  Breakfast with mom & dad before work.  Breakfast with grandma & grandpa after mom dropped me off with them.  Lunch with grandma & grandpa.  Grandma & grandpa hurried to feed me supper before I was picked up.  Supper with mom & dad when we got home.  Five squares a day!  For a while no one caught on.

My dad called me his "chubby bébé."  With good reason.

Oh.  Did I mention grandpa also loaded me with treats?  Fig Newtons were his year-round valentines.

Back then, it wasn't frowned on--showing love with food.  Grandpa didn't have all the experts telling him about the dangers of food as reward.  Or that he should give hugs, not cookies (grandpa did both, often at the same time).

Zoom in to today.  My own child.  I should know better.  But sometimes the best way I can show love is with a hug...and a cookie.

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Fig cookies today.  Using the fig preserves (I'm on a kick, what can I say?) my mother-in-law made with figs from her mother's property.  I'm in that limbo between summer and fall.  The summer garden is gone, but too early to start the fall one.  But I have lots of preserves.


Standard cookie making:
Cream butter, eggs, & sugar.
Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon.
Slowly add dry to wet.
Then mash up some fig preserves and mix into the dough.

Which will be thick.  Very thick.
"No way this will work" thick.

But it will.
It so will.

Bake until tops are browned.

They look like little drop biscuits--something else my grandpa loved to make for me.
Store these ugly little things in an airtight container.  The next day they will be chewy and packed full of fig preserve flavor. 


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Fig Cookies
from Cooking with Cajun Women by Nicole Denée Fontenot, recipe submitted by Claire Bonin

1 stick butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 c sugar
3 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 c fig preserves, mashed by hand

Preheat oven to 375 F
Cream together butter, eggs, and sugar.  In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and cinnamon.  Then add the mashed fig preserves.  Mix well.

Drop by rounded tablespoon on a greased and floured cookie sheet (I used a silpat).  Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until tops have browned.

Makes about 4 dozen.


FEATURED AT:
Hearth & Soul Hop






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This is the last Garden Variety Wednesday of the year.  I'm thinking about starting a potluck link-up in the fall.  I hope you will join in.

Thank you to everyone who participated in GVW!  You made Wednesdays anything but "garden variety."




GARDEN VARIETY WEDNESDAY # 14
Ms. enPlace

* In your post, link back to Ms. enPlace or grab a Garden Variety Wednesday button and add it to your post.
* Link your post--not your home page.
* Since growing seasons differ so much even across the US, old/archived posts are welcome, but please edit with a link back or a button.
* Have fun visiting other blogs!






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Linking up with:
Make a Food-"e"-Friend Monday #29 @ The Saturday Evening Pot
Tuesdays at the Table @ All The Small Stuff
Tasty Tuesday @ Naptime Creations
Hearth and Soul vol 65 @ Mom's Sunday Cafe
Tuesdays Tasty Tidbits @ Permanent Posies
Let's Do Brunch @ My Sweet & Savory
What's Cooking Thursdays @ Feeding Four

Turning the Table Thursday @ Around My Family Table
Thursday's Treasures @ Recipes For My Boys

Simply Delish @ KB & Whitesnakes Home
Potluck Friday @ EKat's Kitchen

Friday Food @ Mom Trends

16 comments:

  1. This was a wonderful post. Loved it.

    Velva

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  2. I reckon you and me got more than mud in common, I too spent many of a day with my grandparents, why it is in grandmother's kitchen, with her cook that I learned to stir a pot, and eat... these fig cookies sound divine, pure heaven manna on a blessed day

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  3. I so enjoyed that! I show love with food too and believe me, my kids aren't thinking it is so cool when I want to give my grandchildren "treats". But, like you said, that wasn't frowned on when I was a kid and I always felt so loved when my mom made a special treat.

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  4. Fig cookies looks delicious. Thanks for sharing with Hearth and soul blog hop.

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  5. I love fig newtons!! These cookies look like they would go perfect with my coffee--which I have in my hand right now. Well, not right now...I couldn't type if that was the case...but it's right here beside me.
    Have a great day!

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  6. What a wonderful looking recipe. Cannot wait to give it a try. Come over and visit us today. We have a terrific apple recipe.

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  7. I love coming here and seeing what you are using and making.
    I ended up with two appropriate recipes, this week, although I am two days late. Thanks for hosting.

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  8. My grandparents were all about showing love with food also. They didn't say hello or i love you. It was all...are you hungry and hmm you look too thin. :P

    These cookies look awesome. I need to make some fig jam and get these in the oven!

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  9. I can only imagine how good those fig cookies are! YUM! Thanks for the great recipe, I will be making these!

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  10. I love family stories!! I was working on my family history this evening and took a break to see what everyone was cooking and baking.

    My husband really likes fig newtons but I never thought about making them. Nice!!

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  11. my son LOVES fig newtons... I'll have to try to make these for him since I never buy him the storebought kind :)

    Thanks for sharing at What's Cooking Thursdays!

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  12. I've always believe that cookies are a wee bit of baked love! My grandpa used to buy me Fig Newtons too!

    Thanks for linking up with Friday Food on MomTrends.com!

    ~Shannon (Food Channel Editor @ MomTrends)

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  13. Looks delish.

    Thanks for sharing with us at
    Simply Delish Saturday

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  14. What lovely memories, and what delicious cookies! I have some fig preserves (sadly not homemade, but hopefully they will do) and I hope to give them a try very soon. Thank you for sharing them with Let's Do Brunch. I'm going to highlight them in my post tomorrow.

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  15. I can just taste these now. Thank you so much for sharing on Thursday's Treasures. I hope you will join us again this Thursday! <3 and Hugs!

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  16. I made a huge batch of fig preserves and needed ideas to use them! I'll be trying these for sure!

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Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate your comments.