Anzac Ginger Caramel Slice

We downunder celebrated Anzac Day last Friday.  It's the one time in the year where New Zealand and Australia put aside their intense sibling friendly rivalry and commemorate together the brave New Zealand and Australian soldiers who fought in WWI.

The day is marked on both sides of the Tasman with dawn parades and wreath-laying ceremonies, the wearing of poppies symbolising Flander's field and the baking and eating of Anzac biscuits, which were oaty coconut cookies sent over as provisions to the troops during the war.

This year we marked Anzac day by welcoming our lovely nephew on his first ever trip to Wellington (along and his awesome mum and dad of course!).

And instead of making my normal batch of Anzac biscuits, this year, in the Anzac spirit, I thought I would do a mash up of a few of Kiwis' and Aussies' favourite slices: Anzac Ginger Caramel Slice.

Mini Toffee Apple Pies

Ummmmm did someone hit the fast forward button on this year?
How is it that Easter is next week and we are almost a quarter of the way through 2014 already!??

This year was always going to be a doozy.  It's my 5th year of medical school and it is the year with The Exams.

Yip the Finals.

I liken this year to one of those hydro-slides at the swimming pools. You know, the ones that look like a colourful tube of fun times?  Sure, it looks like fun from a distance until it sucks you in,  going waaaaaay faster than you'd anticipated, making you loose your orientation and tumble turn all the way to the other end where it spits you, bruised and gasping for breath.

Welcome to 5th year med school.  Do not pass go do not collect $200.

Ok ok it's not all bad.  It is actually fun for the most part and interesting and I'm learning heaps.  My first run this year was Orthopaedics with its insane amount of cool gadgets and power tools, mind blowing surgeries and awesome banterous surgeons.  In surgery, the boss would often ask for his scalpel, then pliers, then the power drill.  Power drill.  In a surgery.  Crazy talk.  Seriously some of the coolest surgeries I've seen.

So to say thank you for being an incredible bunch of people, teaching me heaps, and letting me do cool stuff, I baked these Mini Toffee Apple Pies for Team Ortho out at Hutt Hospital.

Since at the moment almost every waking minute is either spent at the hospital or studying, my brain is too fried to handle too complicated recipes. So this recipe is stupid easy.  And also stupid good.

{status of my brain}
via here