My son now refuses to come home from college for these holidays unless he gets this pie. For both Thanksgiving and Christmas. And I send him back with mini-pies (using giant muffin foil tins and lots of plastic wrap, it gets through TSA). He loves this pie. He wants to marry this pie. Demand is growing and my friends, family, coworkers are expecting this too. I'm going to have to mix it in the bathtub this year. Don't worry about the meat, it adds flavor and texture, but this is dessert, not at all like chomping on a steak. Though a slice will do me quite nicely for lunch :). If you have trouble finding the ingredients, I get my peel, cherries, and currants from nutsonline. I also make it a month ahead and stir it every few days, adding a dash of brandy every few days (to the pie mix, not me, well, usually not me). I've successfully frozen it too for longer keeping. 2 weeks to pie-day!

I have been using this recipe for about 7 years now. Each time I use this recipe, it gets better each year. I don't think I have ever had a complaint. My success in this recipe is, instead of letting the mincemeat ferment for a week, I usually let it set from 2 weeks to a month instead. At the very end of the cooking part, I do pour some Brandy in (for flavor).

I am not one to eat mincemeat pie, but my father does. He loves mincemeat pie. I tried this recipe and told him he was my guinnea pig, because I don't usually do any baking (from scratch or otherwise). He said it tasted pretty close to non such mincemeat pie. I would use this recipe again.