Homemade sausage rolls
INGREDIENTS Makes 15 1 packet pre-rolled puff pastry For the filling: 400g lean minced pork 100g streaky bacon, finely chopped Salt to taste Black pepper Grated zest of a lemon 1tsp fennel seeds 1tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped 1tsp fresh sage, finely chopped 1tsp chopped fresh thyme, very finely chopped 1 egg mixed with a little milk 1. Thoroughly mix all of the filling and set aside. 2. You will need two flat baking sheets covered with grease proof and preheat the oven, gas mark 6/200C/400F. 3. Roll out the pastry to a 2mm thickness. 4. Form the filling into a sausage shape, about the thickness of a 10 pence piece and lay on top of the pastry. You’ll need enough pastry to roll the filling over and seal with the egg wash. 5. Score the top of the pastry with a sharp knife. 6. Cut into 2-3cm slices and lay on tray. Continue until all filled and cut. 7. Leave in the fridge for about one hour to set the pastry. 8. When ready, brush with the egg wash and bake for about 15-20 minutes until golden. BY MARIA CROCE OLIVE Munro has already bought special antique keys to be given to each of her six grandchildren when they turn 21.
She knows there will come a time when she won’t recognise their faces or know who they are, so she’s writing them each a letter before her memory deteriorates.
Olive, 67, from Ardtalnaig, near Aberfeldy in Perthshire, was diagnosed with vascular dementia three years ago.
But she says it’s a positive that she has found out in time to make plans for what she wants to happen when her condition worsens.
Olive is determined to make the most of her life while she’s still able.
Vascular dementia is the second most common cause of dementia and occurs when blood flow to the brain becomes reduced. It’s estimated to affect about 150,000 people in the UK and is rare in people under 65.
Olive has been married to Ronnie, 74, for 41 years. She has three children – Douglas, 46, Elaine, 48, and Christopher, 43. She has six grandchildren – Andrew, 17, Colin, 12, twins Liam and Connor, eight, Luka, seven, and Isla, four.
She said: “When my kids got to 21, I gave them each a big key to the door. I’ve already bought keys for the grandchildren to carry on the tradition.
“I’m going to put a letter in with the keys while I’m able to think what to write. Even though I may still be alive, I may or may not know them by then.
“It will be very hard for the grandchildren that grandma will not know them. If I get to the stage when I don’t know anyone, I will not know about it. But I think it will be hard on the kids.”
She says she will leave it to her grandchildrens’ parents to decide whether they still want to visit her.
Olive added: “I know a lot of people find it scary. We’ll deal with tomorrow when it comes.”
She added: “I never felt, ‘Why me?’ If you do that, you then become bitter and are not thinking straight.”
When Olive realised she was no longer good at mental arithmetic and struggled to remember a word, she tried to find out if she had dementia as there is a family history of the condition on the female side.
That was around 2012, when she was 61 and had returned to Scotland to retire after 40 years in Canada.
She was referred for tests and, aged 63, was told she had a 10 per cent memory loss at that stage.
A brave Scots woman in her 60s who found a few years ago she had dementia has faced up to her future by telling her family not to look after her when her condition deteriorates
In 2015, following further tests, she was officially diagnosed with vascular dementia.
Olive said: “I was actually a bit depressed and it probably took me about a month to accept it.”
After breaking the news to Ronnie and phoning her children in Canada, she decided to deal with the news in a practical way and put her affairs in order. When her condition gets