"Raj V" > wrote in
:

> "Wayne Boatwright" wrote:
>> Incredible mincemeat is incredibly easy to make, and while not cheap,
>> is nowhere near $20 a jar. For the holidays I have used Delia Smith's
>> recipe for Christmas Mincemeat, and a recipe shared by a poster, June
>> Fawthrop, on uk.food+drink.misc. Both are excellent.
>
> I think I have found Delia's recipe but a google groups search does not
> turn up the Fawthrop recipe. If you have it, would you mind posting it?
>
> I'll bet there are darned few people who grew up as I did in N.E.
> Oklahoma, and I'm only 63. A farm on a gravel road, 20 miles to the
> nearest grocery, no electricity, wood cooking stove, kerosene lamps,
> well water, a working smoke house, hunting that was not considered a
> sport but subsistence, fresh from the udder milk, butter from a churn.
> Every fall our family butchered a cow and a pig. The smoke house was
> tended for weeks with hickory. I distinctly remember my mother making
> mincemeat, the meat coming from the cow's head. Yeah, I wasn't impressed
> at the time. Wow, talk about being anachronism!

Well, your age is between mine and my dad's, but he grew up under
precisely the same details as you describe, and I witnessed them as a very
young child. The only difference was that they didn't hunt for meat very
often. They butchered their own animals and smoked their own meat, but
they also ate a lot of chickens raised on their farm. I also remember the
iceman delivering blocks of ice for the icebox and the milkhouse.

> Thanks,
> Raj

From June Fawthrop...

> Hi everyone, June here, Yes I'm quite willing to share my mincemeat
> recipe. It keeps very well and the longer you keep it the better it
> tastes.
>
> 2Kg. currants
> 1Kg. raisins
> 1Kg. sultanas
> 500g. mixed peel
> 500g. suet
> 500g. sugar
> 4tsp. mixed spice
> 2Kg. cooking apples
> 500ml lemon juice
>
> This amount will fill 4x2Kg. marg boxes but you can adjust it to suit
> your requirements quite easily.
> You can use Veggie suet if you like, it still tastes the same.
> Mincemeat needs lots of mixing so I make mine straight on the worktop.
> Move everything off the worktop and give it a good wash. Mincemeat is
> very messy to make this way and it gets everywhere so if you don't
> you'll have twice as much washing up and lots of the wrong bugs.Wash
> your hands well and take off your watch and any jewelry.
>
> Spread the currants, raisins, sultanas and peel on the worktop and mix
> well. (yes with your hands)
> Mix the suet, sugar and mixed spice together and spread on top of the
> fruit. Mix well.
> Peel, core and grate the apples and mix in the lemon juice to stop them
> going brown. (Don't worry if it doesn't work it won't spoil the
> mincemeat) Spread the apples on top of the other ingredients and mix
> thoroughly. Pack into marg tubs or your usual containers and keep for
> two months before using.
> Store in the larder or a cool cupboard, I've never needed to keep it in
> the fridge.
>
> Give the mincemeat a good stir before using as there is always lots of
> juice in the bottom of the tub.
>
> If you want some for Christmas make it now and leave it as long as you
> can before using. It will still taste better than shop stuff.
>
> I make mince pies all year round and they don't last two minutes. As
> soon as they come out of the oven Dave will pinch one and more disappear
> before I have chance to put them away.
>
> In good Yorkshire tradition we always have cheese with Christmas cake
> and this works just as well with mince pies. Lift the top and pop in a
> lump of your favourite cheese, yummy!
>
> Happy cooking June.


--
Wayne in Phoenix

*If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.
*A mind is a terrible thing to lose.