Ultimate Cheese & Caramelised Onion Toastie {and 10 ways to spend family time together}

Happy new year to each and very one of you, and welcome back! 

The last couple of weeks have flown by as we've spent many hours eating and drinking in the company of friends and family, but it's now time to get back into a routine, and start enjoying some healthier eating.

Before all that though, there was still time at the weekend to enjoy an ultimate toastie, which was amazing. The boys had gone to football and myself and H enjoyed a couple of hours pottering around and making marshmallows.

We love a piece of smoked cheese, especially at Christmas, and the Applewood Slices were perfect in the toasties with my home made caramelised onion jam - a little bit of sweet and a little bit of smoke, and a hell of a lot of wow!

Ultimate Cheese & Caramelised Onion Toastie - serves 2

4 large slices of fresh crusty bread
1 pack of Applewood slices
butter
2 spoonfuls of caramelised onion jam

• heat a large non stick frying pan
• make a sandwich with the bread, some of the cheese, and the jam
• butter the outsides of the bread
• place the sandwiches on the pan and add a little of the remaining cheese on top
• cook for a couple of minutes before flipping over and again add cheese to the top
• cook for another couple of minutes before flipping over again - continue to do this until the cheese inside the sandwich is gooey and melted and the cheese on the outside is crispy and golden

Families don't always get chance to spend much quality time together, and ours is no exception, but how hard can it be to set aside one hour a week to do so? Whether you're an indoorsy or an outdoorsy family, here are ten ideas to enjoy some quality family time together, and maybe even enjoy a little cheese whilst doing so :

• go to the park
• go for a walk along the beach or into the woods
• play a board game, card game or family video game
• do some cooking
• play a ball game - football, basketball, tennis or golf
• visit a farm (or even the pet shop)
• do some crafting
• go to the library
• go for a bike ride
• have fun with science (lots of ideas here)

When we make the time to go, we really enjoy going to the forest, enjoying a ramble and a picnic together. I think we'll try and spend more Applewood hours in the forest during 2016, perhaps eating a toastie or two whilst we're there, or nibbling on a few of these morsels of perfection - new Applewood Nibbles.

The new Applewood bake might not be one to take to the forest, but it's perfect for dipping bread and crackers into whilst enjoying a game of cards or board game. Ooh, look at that gooey cheese!

How would you spend your #ApplewoodHours ?

post in collaboration with Applewood

Home Made Mincemeat and Mincemeat & Apple Parcels

For the last few years I've been making my own mincemeat at Christmas, and I don't know why I didn't start making it sooner, as it's one of the simplest things. All it takes is a little soaking and mixing and then into sterilised jars, ready to use over the holiday period.

My first mincemeat was chocolate flavoured, which added to the richness of it, and it was great in recipes such as mincemeat palmiers, mincemeat pancakes, mincemeat ice cream and mincemeat slices. 

You don't need to be a culinary genius to make mince pies, especially if you use ready rolled puff pastry to make these mincemeat and apple parcels. If you want to have a go at making your own mincemeat, my recipe can be found at the end of the post.

Mincemeat & Apple Parcels - makes approx 20 small parcels

320g pack of ready rolled puff pastry

200g mincemeat

1 small Bramley apple, peeled, cored & finely chopped

1 egg, beaten

caster sugar

• open out the pastry and cut into approx 20 equal squares 
• mix together the mincemeat and Bramley apple
• spoon a small amount (approx 1 tsp) of mincemeat/apple into the centre of each square
• brush around the edge of the pastry with beaten egg
• fold one corner of the pastry diagonally across to the other corner and seal around the edges with a fork
• lay onto a baking sheet and brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with a little caster sugar
• (at this point you can freeze a few to bake at a later stage)
• bake in a preheated 200C oven for approx 15 minutes, until golden brown and puffed up

Home Made Mincemeat - makes approx 6 large jars (recipe can be scaled down as required)

1500g dried mixed fruit (raisins, sultanas, cherries, mixed peel, currants)

450g soft brown sugar

200ml dark rum

200g vegetable suet

1 Bramley apples, peeled, cored & grated

juice & zest of 1 lemon

juice & zest of 1 orange

1 tbsp mixed spice

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp ground ginger

• mix the dried fruit, sugar & rum together in a bowl
• cover and leave overnight to soak
• stir in the remaining ingredients until well combined
• spoon into sterilised airtight jars and store in a cupboard until needed