Her recipe came from “Canada’s Favorite Cookbook,” by Mrs. Gregory and Friends, a thick volume so old that the paper of its pages was browned and crumbling. It contained a fascinating section on potions and concoctions to cure cancer, dropsy (whatever that is) and other maladies. It also contains this recipe for mincemeat that she made out of venison to win many a prize at the Western Lane County fair. When I told my husband Jerry Horn that mincemeat contained suet, he couldn't gag down a single bite. Here's the original:
Mincemeat from Chef de Cuisine, Astor House, New York
4 pounds of lean boiled beef. When cold, chop fine
Twice the volume of meat in chopped green tart apples
1 pound chopped suet
3 pounds raisins, seeded
2 pounds of currants, picked over, washed and dried
½ pound citron, cut up fine
1 pound brown sugar
1 quart of cooking molasses, unsulfured
2 quarts of sweet cider
1 pint of boiled cider
1 Tablespoon salt
1 Tablespoon pepper
1 Tablespoon mace
1 Tablespoon allspice
4 Tablespoons cinnamon
2 grated nutmegs
1Tablespoon cloves
Mix thoroughly and warm on the range until heated through. Remove from the fire, and when nearly cool, stir in a pint of good brandy and one pint of Madeira wine. Place in a crock, cover it tightly, and set in a cold place where it will not freeze, but keep it perfectly cold. It will keep good all winter.
I suspect that "cider" versus "sweet cider" means that one was hard cider, the other not. Thankfully, Milly didn't leave hers sitting in a crock all winter, she canned it.
The other seasonal recipe that everybody hates is fruitcake--except for Eric and me. This recipe came from a column in the Eugene Register Guard in 1964 or 1965:
Preheat the oven at 300 degrees and line enough pans to hold 11 or 12 pounds of fruitcake, about 4 large and 4 small loaf pans, with 3 layers of waxed paper.
Pour boiling water over 2 pounds each of currants and seedless raisins and let sit a few minutes to plump up. Drain and dry.
Cream 4 C brown sugar and 2 C butter. Beat in 8 egg yolks, ½ C dark molasses, and ½ C brandy.
Sift together 5 C flour, 2 tsp soda, 1 T each of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves; and ½ tsp salt.
Combine the raisins with ½ # cut up citron, 1# each of cut up dates and figs, 3 C of broken pecan meats and 1 C of the flour mixture.
Combine the creamed mixture with the fruits and the remainder of the sifted flour and an additional ½ C brandy. Fold in 8 stiffly beaten egg whites.
Fill the pans ¾ full. Decorate the tops with whole almonds and candied cherries. Place the cakes in the oven with a pan of water beneath them and bake for 2-1/2 hours. Remove the water and continue baking for an additional 30 minutes. Allow to cool then remove the waxed paper. Wrap the cakes with cloth soaked in brandy and rewrap them in wax paper or foil. Store in tin boxes. Age at least a month; will keep for many months--or forever, among the people who hate it and who "regift" it, allegedly year after year until it eventually disintegrates from handling.
Today I use a recipe from Alton Brown on the internet. You know, this stuff is expensive! It would be cheaper to buy one prefabricated. I once represented a company that wanted to sell its fruitcake in Washington state, but found it could not: it contained so much rum that it could be sold only through State liquor stores, which weren't generous about adding new products to those they placed on the shelves. The firm could have changed its recipe, but where's the fun in that?
And to finish off the season, we made sugar cookies decorated with frosting, gingerbread boys, fudge made with chocolate chips and marshmallow creme, and of course, Grandma Sofia's makea leipa, that breaded cardomom flavored bread.
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