Speaking of making do… a recipe for Thanksgiving celebrations

by Zelpha A. Boyd
My Mother was not a “follow the cookbook” person. She used what was on hand, including leftovers. But at our house, the food was always plentiful and good. As a farm family we had eggs, meat, milk, and either fresh or canned fruits and vegetables.
After I had a family of my own, it was a real treat to visit “home” and feast on mother’s cooking. By this time, the folks had sold out, rented the farm land to a neighbor and the house to others. I remember one Thanksgiving in particular when all of us gathered at their Park City home – they had both began teaching as second careers. It was quite a houseful with my brother, two sisters, and myself, along with our spouses and children.
Dinner that day consisted of the usual turkey, dressing, potatoes and all the trimmings, as well as mincemeat pie. I never like mincemeat, but that was the best I had ever tasted. And of course, asked for the recipe.
Apparently, a neighbor had given her the neck of a deer. She probably had asked about it and was told it would be thrown away.
“Thrown away? Never!” My Mother would have replied, and thus fell heir to the appendage, along with other scrap meat and bones. She cooked the neck in a large kettle, salvaged the meat, and made mincemeat. Not a smidgen was wasted, we can be sure of that, with the excess frozen or canned.
Here’s the recipe she gave me. The amounts and additional comments are in parenthesis, which I got with further questioning.
Mincemeat Pie
– Equal parts venison and apples (about 4 cups each, and chop the apples; these apples were windfalls)
– Vinegar to taste (or use the vinegar-sugar mixture from the sweet pickles)
– 1 cup raisins (or currants or prunes, or whatever you have on hand)
– 1 cup meat broth (or cider)
– Brown sugar to taste
– Equal parts pumpkin pie spice (about 1 tsp each)
– Currant jelly or molasses (whatever is left over in the almost empty jars)
– Cook until done (simmer about 2 hours to allow the flavors to develop)
– Make into pies and bake until done (scoop the mincemeat mixture into unbaked pie shells and bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes)
Scrumptious eating to say the least! But to this day, I’ve never been able to make a mincemeat pie as good as I remember that particular pie.
My daughter called just the other day and wanted my recipe for mincemeat. Someone had given her some wild meat and she felt that she just had to use it! I gave her the recipe from the Farm Journal’s Country Cookbook as well as Mother’s recipe. Perhaps she’ll combine the two, use what she has on hand and find her own way with mincemeat. Apples don’t fall far from the tree!
Whatever your Thanksgiving Dinner looks like, remember that the leftovers are usually better the next day!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!