Notes From Marinda

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.