Revising the Dickens

After finding this 16th century recipe for mincemeat pie, I decided to nix mincemeat pies from our Christmas Eve Dickensian feast. Yuck. And yuck again. I'm sorry. I try to be open-minded about food, but this sounds so unappetizing to me - mutton, saffron, suet, vinegar, prunes, raisins, and dates...oh, and powdered beef broth.

I don't want to waste all that good fruit!

Pyes of mutton or beif must be fyne mynced & seasoned with pepper and salte and a lytel saffron to colour it

suet or marrow a good quantitie

a lytell vynegre

pruynes

great reasons

and dates

take the fattest of the broath of powdred beefe.

And if you will have paest royall

take butter and yolkes of egges & so to temper the floure to make the paest.

Other changes: Nonna requested figgy pudding - like the song! - instead of plum pudding, so I changed from the brandy hard sauce to vanilla ice cream.

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