Get Well Mama R...Apples and Thyme

Mama R is my surrogate 'work Mother' who always reminded me of my real mother( in looks and attitude). She was a great support to me the past few years as I nursed two terminally ill divorced parents ( I was a only child). She's the not only a a great colleague but a confidant and mentor. Mama R has been with our company since its inception and the stories she tells. You'll never find anyone more loyal, working or dedicated than her. She's the den mother I use as example to all these new young people entering the cosmetics world. In her early years she lead a glamorous life in the African American celebrity world as model. Her scrap books are filled with photos of her and her friends in New York City mingling with the likes of Sidney Poitier, and Harry Belafonte. She always told me " She had fun, but she was one of the good girls!". She took her time and found her man, a doctor, who she settled down with and had two great accomplished , professional kids. The past few years have been rocky for her health wise,but she was a trooper and worked hard . If Mama R took off, if was only because she had no choice. It seems our lives are always linked. When my father died on the hospice floor, she was just a few floors down below, in the hospital, recovering from her surgery.She immediately sent her daughter up to sit with me while we awaited my family to come. I was never alone. Mama R fretted and worried over me and my love life, career choices and work issues like my own mother and aunts would. She still does. She's been out of work for some time, and I really don't know if she will come back or retire for good. So much is going on. Mama R loves sweets and always was eager to try my food and share a recipe or so.I spoke to her on the phone yesterday and decided that she needs to fatten up.So I chose two types of cookies to give her. As I write this I realize this would be perfect for Apples and Thyme .I have always wanted to enter this event , but even 8 years after her death, its still to painful to write a full entry about my own mother.Mama R is alive and I pray she gets well soon.I hope she likes these cookies. Both came from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook with some slight variation one one. For the Oatmeal Raisin cookies,I used unsweetened coconut and Lyle's golden syrup rather than the maple syrup called for. I love these cookies and will make them again. I stuck to the original recipe for the Black and White cookie. These cookies turned out like puffy cakes( which they are supposed to). I pressed them down and iced the browned backs. They taste really good the day after. These should get Mama R fattened up and energized.