Cherry Blueberry Turnovers

I bought some cherries at the store yesterday because they were on sale.
They looked fantastic and I've purchased them within the past few weeks because they're in season and they've been pretty doggone good.
And I'm not much of a big cherry eater.
Maraschino cherries on a sundae?  Any day.
Cherries with the pits in them, not so much.
The ones I bought yesterday just hit the ok mark.  They really weren't anything to be writing home about.  In fact, some if not most, were a bit on the tart side.
So, I figured they'd taste best in some treats.
I'm so smart, sometimes it SCARES me!!!
Ok, I'm really not that smart, I just pretend to be.  Remember, I was majoring in theater in college, so I'm pretty good at acting.  So what if it was stage management and not performing.  It still counts.
Sort of.
I admit it, I've been a drama queen all my life.
Only child + only grandchild on both sides of the family for 8 years = MAJOR drama queen.

And I was talking about cherries?
I'm sorry, I'm getting preoccupied because Mr. 365 is watching 'The Exorcist'.
Distracting, with a capital D!
"The power of Christ compels you, THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!!"
Movie just started, we aren't to that scene yet, but that is FREAKY, man!
Let's hope I finish this post by the time that rolls around or else I may not finish this thing until tomorrow.

I adapted this recipe from my Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Thirteenth Edition; author, Marion Cunningham; publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc, a division of Random House, Inc.; ISBN 0-394-56788-9.

Cherry Blueberry Turnovers - makes 9, possibly 10

3/4 cup cherries, pitted and halved or quartered
3/4 cup fresh blueberries

In a small bowl. combine cherries and blueberries; set aside.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment; set aside.

Pastry Dough
1 cup plus two tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
2-3 tablespoons ice water

3 tablespoons granulated sugar
water for sealing
2 tablespoons half & half or you can use cream
1 tablespoon Turnbinado sugar

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour and salt
With a pastry cutter or two knives, cut shortening into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.

Sprinkle ice water over mixture one tablespoon at a time, mixing together with a fork.  Use only enough water so that the dough will come together when pressed gently into a ball.
Resist the urge to add too much water or work the dough too much because it will become tough.  You want bits of shortening left throughout the dough to give it the wonderful flakiness.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out so that it is about 1/8-inch thick.
Using a round cookie cutter 4 1/2-inches in diameter, cut out as many circles as is possible.  I was able to make 5 or so and then had to re-roll the scraps and cut more.

Transfer the circles of dough to the prepared baking sheet.

Place about 1 1/2 tablespoons full of the blueberry/cherry mixture onto each of the rounds.

Sprinkle each round with a teaspoon of  granulated sugar.

Using a finger, moisten the edges of the round with some water.
Holding the dough and filling in a taco fashion, seal the edges together.

Place the turnover on the baking sheet and crimp the edges shut with a fork.
Brush the tops with the cream and sprinkle with some Turbinado sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes until lightly browned.

These are best if eaten the same day.  If you need to save them, wrap them tightly and freeze.

I rate everything I bake on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and these Cherry Blueberry Turnovers earned 3 1/2 rolling pins.
They were the perfect size and packed a lot of taste.
The dough was deliciously flaky and nicely sweetened with the sugar on the top.
I couldn't even tell if the cherries were on the tart side because the blueberries and sugar I added before closing them gave them a great balance.
These were gone in about an hour.
Right before we were to eat dinner.
I made 9, but know if I had rolled the dough thinner in some areas that there would have been 10.
And there was just enough of the filling left for one more, too.
Oh, and hey, about the sealing the edges, you're definitely going to want to hold those puppies taco style.  I figured this brilliant way of doing it only about 6 turnovers into the process.
I was becoming so fed up with the filling escaping, I figured there had to be a better way.  And VOILA!
It worked - fewer escapees and less stress.
And isn't it always about how less stressful we can make the chef's life?
Or at least it should be!

I added these to DJ's Sugar Shack Whatcha' Whipped Up Wednesday!  Go see what other delicious dishes my fellow bloggers have made!

I give you BIG baking hugs and LOL, I almost said BUTTONS!
Buttons?
How the heck would I have come up with that?!
I give you BIG baking hugs and MUFFINS!!

And guess who's screaming, "The power of Christ compels you!"?
Finished just in time!
Phew!