Should flank the castor, or _épergne_, or whatever may be your centre-piece.
A receipt for mince-meat will be found in the proper order in the _menu_ for next December. I take it for granted that, like the wise woman you are, you have laid up in the store-room enough from your Christmas supply to last for some weeks to come. If not, let me advise you to get a box of “ATMORE’S CELEBRATED MINCE-MEAT,” and fill your pastry-crusts, instead of repeating so soon the tedious operation so lately performed. It comes in neat, wooden cans, and is really _good_. If you like, you can add more sugar and brandy. N. B.—_My_ John has a sweet tooth. Has yours?
Make the paste by rubbing into a quart of your best flour one-third of a pound of sweet lard. Chop it in with a broad knife, if you have plenty of time. Wet up with ice-water, roll out very thin, and cover with “dabs” of butter, also of the best. Fold into a tight roll, flatten with a few strokes of the rolling-pin, and roll out into a sheet as thin as the first; baste again with the butter; roll up and out into a third sheet hardly thicker than drawing-paper; a third time dot with butter, and fold up closely. Having used as much butter for this purpose as you have lard, set aside your last roll for an hour in a very cold place. Then roll out, line your pie-plates with the paste, fill with mince-meat; put strips, cut with a jagging-iron, across them in squares or triangles, and bake in a steady, never a dull, heat.
These pies, like all others, must be made on Saturday, and warmed up for Sabbath—unless you prefer to line your plates on Saturday, and set them aside until next day, then fill the raw, crisp paste with the mince-meat, and bake. The paste will be the better, instead of worse, for standing overnight, and the trouble of baking scarcely exceed that of warming over.
May solace the disappointment of the dyspeptic or very juvenile members of the family party, who “dare not touch mince pie.”
Fourth week. Monday. —— Combination Soup. Mince of Fowl. Turkey Salad. Sweet Potatoes, Baked. Brussels Sprouts. —— Sweet Macaroni, with Brandied Fruit. Chocolate. ——
Put the remains of yesterday’s soup and of the stock reserved on Saturday together, and heat almost to boiling. Split and toast crisp half a dozen Boston crackers; butter while hot, set in the oven until the butter has soaked in, when put on more. Lay in the bottom of your soup-tureen, wet with a little boiling milk, and when they have soaked this up, pour on the soup.