Monday Evening, December 17

Imagine our delight when our friend Erma Bruckhart rang the doorbell on Monday evening and presented us with a mince pie! We love mince pie.

I expect it was an expression of thanks for doing a church project for her earlier in the week.

Tasting it took me back to my childhood days when my mom made mince pies after a day of butchering. I like any kind of mince pie, but this was the best I have eaten since my mothers, so I asked Erma if she made the mincemeat or bought it.

She said they made it and used her mother’s recipe. Since my mom and Erma’s were friends, I expect they used the same or similar recipes – that explains why it reminded me of Mom’s.

Since it brought back memories, I did some research on the Internet:

 A mince pie is a sweet pie of British origin, filled with a mixture of dried fruits and spices called “mincemeat” that is traditionally served during the Christmas season in much of the English-speaking world, including parts of the United States.

Its ingredients are traceable to the 13th century, when returning European crusaders brought recipes from the Middle East – recipes containing meats, fruits and spices.

Mincemeat is a concoction consisting of chopped fruits, spices, meat products (suet) and sometimes alcohol. The most consistently used fruits are apples and raisins, but some recipes include citron or lemon and orange peels, as well as currants. Spices most often include cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.

Suet has a different flavor, melting point and texture and really is the best choice for mincemeat. If you have a local butcher they should be able to get some suet for you (make sure to tell them it’s the kidney fat you want) and they should even be able to grind/shred it for you and sell it to you fairly inexpensively.

Mace is another spice that is sometimes used. Alcoholic spirits added to mincemeat vary between rum, salted sherry, brandy and/or apple jack, which are combined with finely minced beef that has been carefully cooked to remove most of its fat content.

Aging tends to deepen the flavors, but even the few weeks between the manufacturing and eventual sale of the mincemeat is effective in allowing the flavors of the various ingredients to mingle.

Central Pennsylvania seems to be the remaining hub of the U.S. mincemeat market. Whereas mincemeat was once a common product of home butchering, it was later produced by numerous commercial establishments.

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Mince Meat

3 pound hamburger
5 pound apples, peeled
4 pound raisins
2 tablespoon cinnamon
2 tablespoon cloves
2 tablespoons allspice
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2-1/2 pound brown sugar
1 quart apple cider
 
Brown hamburger. Grind hamburger, apples and half of the raisins together. Mix all ingredients and heat slowly, stirring until boiling good. Cool. Use what you need for a pie or freeze.

Makes about 7 quarts.

Pat in the pan pie dough

• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup oil
• 3 tablespoons milk

Mix flour, sugar and salt. Mix oil and milk and pour over dry ingredients. Reserve 2/3 cup for crumb topping.