I think I may have overdone it on the mincemeat front.

Commiserations, OP. I always have mincemeat - whether shop or homemade - left over, but I find it keeps perfectly for the following year.

One really nice thing I only discovered a couple of years ago for the post Christmas period is apple and mincemeat crumble. Yum!

More than once I've made a mincemeat and apple pie - pastry top and bottom with a layer of mincemeat under the apple. But on one memorable occasion when we had friends for dinner, as I took it out of the oven the whole things slid off the plate - into the dog's basket!! ?

I don't think I'd had all that much G&T either. It was all broken up and mixed up with dog hair and bits of Bonio. Luckily friends found it hilarious - I forget what I gave them instead, if anything!

well done you .wish i had a oven....

Can you freeze some? Will some of it make chutney?

I put jars in dishwasher on very hot wash job done

Yes namsnanny - boiling water for same two minutes in a pan on the hob. I get 6 in my microwave by the way!

I made mincemeat one year - so much faffing. And didn't taste as nice as Robertsons! (Which is a lot cheaper than making your own.)

they're oops

Pantglas2 … that sounds like a good idea, I imagine I could get at least 3 jars in at a time.

What about the lids though, there metal so...? Boiling water?

It's a National Trust recipe, out of one of their cookbooks. It's nice.

I don't think I had quite as much as you, Gonegirl but I discovered a horde of mincemeat leftover from last year in the cupboard. It's in random jars and containers because I ran out of proper jam jars.

Your recipe sounds interesting, I don't cook mine.

Definitely offer spare to your church fair Gonegirl. I was in charge of Jams and Chutneys stall at ours and was told I had precisely one jar to sell. Cue jam and mincemeat making on a mammoth scale at Purpledaffodil Towers. And I normally never make either.?

You know whose fault it will be when he can't find that special so important screw, don't you!

? Yes, I can imagine Hazel.

GG - you are not alone !
Made chutney last month , for some reason, ended up with far more chutney than I had jars .
Only option was to raid OHs DIY cupboard where jars contain nails, screws etc. all carefully labelled.
Let's just say he was not happy !

I sterilise jars in oven for jam, but not for mincemeat - just spoon cold mix into clean jars.

The recipe I've been using for years doesn't require cooking and keeps well for over a year. It uses grated cooking apples as well as the dried fruit etc, a good bit of sugar and a mix of sherry and juice of oranges and lemons. I often mix with cooking apples to make apple and mincemeat tart. If anyone wants recipe, I'll share it.

Our mum makes a lot of jelly and jam, and she always sterilizes her jars in the oven. She'll take a piece of newspaper, soak it in water, use it to line a cookie sheet, and then set her jars on it in the oven. Then she keeps them in there, with the oven turned on, until she needs to use them. She sterilizes her lids by boiling them in a pot on the stove, and she keeps them simmering until she needs them, too.

Nobody has ever gotten sick from any jam or jelly that she made.

Doodle ?

I'm jealous of your mincemeat. I don't have time for cooking these days.

I sterilise my clean jam jars in the microwave Namsnanny - two mins on full power, pot contents and lids on straight away.

I could have lent you my DGS to help you with the apples. His autism makes him very precise. He once cut up some apples for a pie we were making. 5 cooking apples cut precisely........ into 2mm pieces (and yes I do mean 2mm) ?

The house smells delicious!

Well, as agnurse said your well sorted for the next few years anyway!

The sterilising jars is always a bit of a faff isn't it?

Selling at the local Christmas fair is a good idea.

It is quite a different recipe Monica. It uses no suet. You cook the apples (larger amount then the usual) along with other ingredients, in cider. This stops it from spoiling. You add brandy or rum at the end when quite cold.

I am a bit annoyed because I'm going to a church fair on Saturday where I usually buy a couple of jars of other people's mincemeat, just to add variety. Think I might have to sneak some of this in for them to sell instead.