Making Candied Fruit Peel

After making candied citron twice, I found making candied orange and lemon peel easier. (I’ll share the recipe for candied citron in another post.) It’s not hard, it just takes some time. I made the candied orange peel and lemon peel in an afternoon. It needs to dry overnight and then it ready for use the next day.

Making Mincemeat

My brother, Hunter, and I decided it was time to make a batch of mincemeat for mincemeat pies – after repeated requests from friends wanting mincemeat pies. We grew up with our paternal grandmother, aunt and father making a batch every Thanksgiving, so it would meld in the canning jars and be ready by Christmas for pies. My brother and I had never made the recipe, although we certainly had observed the process. Two other interested friends, Rob and Christine, joined us to mix up a batch of 16 to 20 quarts. That’s how much mincemeat my great grandmother’s recipe from her 1883 cookbook makes.