My Big Daddy is a pretty tough guy. He rodeoed growing up, following his dad, S. E. “Pete” Baker into the sport of bull riding. He college rodeoed for Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, and then started at the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office sometime after, serving in patrol, criminal investigations, and narcotics investigations. So again, he’s a pretty tough guy.

A pretty tough guy who calls Fig Newton’s “new news.”

Like I mentioned in this blog, Mema and Big Daddy had any treat you could imagine scattered across their kitchen table. Some kids wanted to go to McDonald’s for dinner. I wanted to go to their house. Among the masses were always Fig Newtons. I know they ate them, but I like to believe my Mema kept them stocked for me. I love them.

Big Daddy worked a few miles away from their house, often coming home for lunch. He sat down on a bar stool to eat, which was probably the best sandwich east of the Mississippi, handmade by my Mema; smashing a fig newton between his slacks and the barstool. I know this because he grumbled, “I sat on a damn new new.” I can hear him saying it, even though I was too young to really remember. No doubt I laid the new new there, likely not as a treat for him, but as a holding place while I ran around playing. I believe he was chief at the Sherriff’s Office at the time. I wonder if he told his coworkers he sat on a damn new new over lunch and that’s why the second half of the day saw a wardrobe change.

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I noticed the fig trees in the garden at the barn were a purple/brown color and drooping. It’s not quite time for them yet, but a light early picking was ready. I snapped half a grocery bag full before heading home to search for fig newton recipes. Here’s the recipe I used.

I didn’t take the time to individually cut, stuff, and crimp the edges of each cookie. I rolled the two halves of dough out, put it on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and globbed the fig jam on top before sealing around the perimeter and baking.

I did it in two days, but if you leave enough time for your dough to chill, you can do it in one. It’s a simple recipe and I received rave reviews from my family. Lane said they’re better than the store-bought ones. He’s a smart man with good taste. I was going to make a different fig recipe with the other half of the grocery bag but it won’t be long before I whip up another batch of the homemade fig newtons. They’re too easy and entirely too good.