Were mince pies fruit or meat? I've always been curious about "mincemeat" as ours were always minced fruit! We had many similar customs here in New Jersey - apple and orange in the stocking and mince pies and turkey on Christmas. We decorated our tree Christmas eve before heading off to midnight mass where we kids tried to "look fat" so they wouldn't sqeeze another person in the pew. When we got home, we would wake up Grandma and then open our presents BEFORE going to bed. Of course, we were old enough not to have to wait for St. Nicholas! Phyllis Kent

I understand that the original mincemeat (thats what it was called) had both ; meat and fruit: >> Lean beef , beef suet, currants and rasins candied peel, nutmeg. >> apples and brandy,, However, the lean beef ,was never used in any i had as a child... and when i make them now . it's the the easy way, with "Robertson's Traditional Fruit Mince"..made in U.K. ofcourse.. [[[[[[ sadly the original trademark missing.. Can't mention THAT word..???]]] betty ----- Original Message ----- From: <PKentCALD@aol.com> To: <ENG-BANBURY-AREA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2004 3:42 PM Subject: Re: [BAN] Christmas Customs > Were mince pies fruit or meat? I've always been curious about "mincemeat" > as > ours were always minced fruit! > > We had many similar customs here in New Jersey - apple and orange in the > stocking and mince pies and turkey on Christmas. We decorated our tree > Christmas > eve before heading off to midnight mass where we kids tried to "look fat" > so > they wouldn't sqeeze another person in the pew. When we got home, we would > wake > up Grandma and then open our presents BEFORE going to bed. Of course, we > were > old enough not to have to wait for St. Nicholas! > Phyllis Kent > > > ============================== > Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the > areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. > Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx >