Mincement: yea or nay?
Last night Steve brought home huge grocery bags of dried fruit, 10 pounds of apples, a bottle of rum, and part of a deer that his friend gave him. He pulled out his grandmother's mincemeat recipe, tied on his apron (courtesy of Moo), and got to work. As he ground the meat and fruit, he opined about future days when The Bairn would participate in this beautiful family tradition and beg to crank the handle on the meat grinder.
After two hours of helping, I excused myself and went to bed while Steve carried on with the preparations for several more hours. In the morning, the mincemeat was still not finished. This afternoon as I type, the mincemeat is still not finished. It's a lot of work to make and bottle mincemeat. Steve tells me that it will all be worth it on Christmas Day, when we pull a delicious mincemeat pie out of the oven at my parents' house and share it with family. Except, we don't eat mincemeat in my family.
Steve and I made a vegetarian mincemeat pie several years ago that I liked fine, and I was hoping to enjoy this batch of mincemeat too, especially since Steve worked so hard on it, but when I tasted it, I thought, "Who put a deer in this pie filling?" I don't think I like venison well enough. It's confusing to me to have a sweet pie with game in it.
Little mince pies are very popular in Scotland during the Christmas holidays.
And Steve loves mincemeat.
But (1) I'm not loving the taste (2) It's so time intensive to make (3) That heavy jam pot we were using fell on The Bairn's head (after it was empty and from the couch, so not far), and now I think of mincemeat as The Project That Concussed My Precious Baby.
But by all means, if you enjoy the mincemeat, let us know, so Steve can be validated and find pie-eating companions who will properly appreciate this holiday treat.
And if you we're hoping for some actual political election votery stuff (and you haven't already read it), you can read this post about Mormonism and political diversity from Miss Nemesis.
8 comments:
Oh my goodness. I don't think I could miss you more than I do today, on election day. Thanks for this wonderful post and for the link. I was called a political cross-dresser this morning by somebody I really love(and may be married to) because I had mentioned that I do not like when people are uneducated about the candidates and only walk in and vote straight party. I refuse to ever vote straight party and I totally think that Utah is much too one sided. Does that mean I only vote Democrat? Heck no. I really needed to read that link. Thank you, Thank you, and Thank you. Oh and P.S. I am not sure how I feel about this pie stuff. I do like deer meat, but not sure I could like it prepared in this way. I would have to do some major research before I could cast that vote. You rock!
I think we may have to come by and taste it, to make an opinion - I have no clue how it tastes!! :)
Ok, I'm feeling stupid right now. I had no idea that mincemeat pie actually contained meat! I thought it was just raisins and stuff. But, the addition of venison makes me more inclined to try it, the culinary explorer that I am. Fed Ex me a pie for Christmas!
E.
I have a jar of mincemeat that I've been saving since last Christmas. It is without meat, however. There are some cultural dilutions that I am in full favor of.
All injuries aside, my apologies to the Bairn, I vote Yes for mincemeat. It is my favorite way to have venison. As an aside, why was the pot on the couch in the first place?
KWB
Alice--I'm with you. I vote both sides of the line (although I tend to lean to one side).
Theresa--It tastes like venison that's been steeped in Christmas spices. Come visit again and Steve will feed you some!
E.--Oh, yeah. You can also make it with ground beef or any kind of game. But don't. Vegetarian is better.
Rebekah--You have made a wise choice. No meat. No meat. Mincefruit.
KWB--Because Steve did not take to heart my little speech about how we cannot leave items on the couch that we do not want The Bairn to touch. (And because we ran out of space on the table and counters.)
I'll EAT THAT MINCEMEAT AT XMASSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!
JWCJC
Oh, good. I was going to feel bad for Steve being the only person to enjoy that pie.
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