Mincemeat Pie

Making Mince�meat of 'Em

I love Thanks�giving. It is fast becoming my favorite hol�iday. In the past, if you had asked me what my favorite holiday was I would have quickly answered that it was Christmas. As I get older I seem to like Thanks�giving more and more.

Possibly it is because I love the Over The River And Through The Woods feel of the drive through the back roads of Central California to my mother-in-law's house. It's gor�geous. The leaves on the trees are all dif�ferent colors. The per�sim�mons hang on bare limbs of enor�mous trees. You can smell the wood fire smoke in the chilly morning air. Norman Rock�well perfect, I tell ya.

It is also possible that I like Thanks�giving because I don't do all of the cooking. In fact I do very little if any at all. (Strange, I know but it is nice to just show up and be fed from time to time). This year, though, I am adding a little Larson flare to the Thanks�giving table.

Growing up, Gam, my mother's mother, would always make a mince pie. Mince pie is a throw�back to an older gen�er�a�tion and is frankly very mis�un�der�stood. Since tra�di�tion�ally it was made using suet, a.k.a. beef fat, people assumed that mince pie would taste like, well, beef fat. It does not. It is actually made of dried fruits and nuts and is quite good. How�ever, the only people of my child�hood who would risk their taste buds and eat the Thanks�giving mince pies were Grandpa Larson (my Dad's Dad), Pa (my Mother's Step Father), and my dad because he never saw a pie he didn't like. The rest of us treated mince pie like poison and stuck with the pumpkin.

I had the opportunity to try legit mince pie when I was traveling in Scot�land, and I have been hooked ever since. I do admit I make it without the suet. In all fair�ness, I don't even make the mince�meat. I use the jarred Robertson's Classic Mince�meat that we carry in our gourmet department. It's just as good as what I could make, and so much easier. I do add a splash of brandy. I can't help myself. I just gotta mess with it a little  

And here's another tip, the frozen Upper Crust ready made pie shells are by far the best frozen shells I have tasted, and they have a gluten-free ver�sion too. Just buy two shells, and roll out one for the top crust.

For those who are interested in trying a mince pie but don't want to make it, or even just bake it, we have them avail�able in our pastry case during the holidays and, frankly, we are one of the few mar�kets who do, so grab your forks! Read the article on our website...