HUGS, PRAYERS & COPING

Hi everyone, Tamy here filling in for Martha today. You all know that Martha and I  have been dwelling on the subject of aging and having things in order for your families this past month/year due to our own situations with her mother and first my 90 year old in-laws for me and now my aunt.  Martha's mom and my aunt both have "END" stage diseases which create an element all their own, they won't be "cured".  It's what Martha's living right now with her mother as am I with the situation with my aunt, and we hope some of the things we have discussed will be helpful to others to be more prepared before finding themselves or loved ones in similar situations.

Illness and aging are never easy, but the better prepared we are, the more time we can spend with our loved ones instead of spending the time running around trying to get things in order after or when something happens.  Unfortunately, for Martha many of these things came too late and she is pedaling as fast as she can on a daily basis to stay caught up.

Her mother was released to rehab last week and for a few days things appeared to be moving forward.  She was then rushed back to the hospital on Saturday afternoon.  Bottom line, Martha needs all the hugs and prayers we can send so she can cope as they work through this latest crisis.

What do you do to cope?  Me?  I cook.  So today while I was waiting on emails from Martha and worrying for her in hopes that I could vicariously remove some of her stress so she could calmly cope, I baked these blackberry apple turnovers.  

We used to go to this little seaside town when we needed to get away and there was this really awesome seafood restaurant that was an old converted Victorian cottage/house, accepted only cash and always had a long line waiting for them to open their doors at dinner time.  They served awesome seafood of course, but also THE BEST apple blackberry cobbler,  I fell in love with the blackberry apple combination and use it whenever I can.  I normally make my own dough, but opted today for some Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry I had in the freezer.  They leaked just a little bit, they cleaned up pretty easy!

APPLE BLACKBERRY TURNOVERS

yields 8 turnovers

1 1/4 cups blackberry pieces

1 large Gala or Pink Lady apple, peeled, cored and diced

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon apple pie spice

1 large egg yolk, whipped

1 teaspoon water

1 tablespoon sugar

• Thaw puff pastry according to package directions.
• Lightly flour puff pastry and roll to flatten.
• Toss apple pieces, blackberry pieces, sea salt, cinnamon, apple pie spice and brown sugar until well blended.
• Cut each pastry sheet into 4 pieces.
• Whisk together the egg yolk and water.
• Brush 2 sides of each pastry piece with the egg wash.
• Divide the apple mixture amongst the pastry pieces.
• Bring the points together to form triangles and press firmly together.
• Brush the tops with the remaining egg wash and then sprinkle with the granulated sugar.
• With a sharp knife put 2 small slits in the top as steam vents.
• Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes.