Mincemeat Pie

Ever since I was young, I would hear my Dad rave about my Great Aunt Marion's Mincemeat pie. When my mom told me it had meat and fruit in it, I refused to eat it as a kid! Great Aunt Marion died a few years ago, and I know that is one thing my Dad really misses about her. She would make him one any time he worked on his car or for birthdays, and always brought them to holiday gatherings. In my quest to be a great pie maker, I thought I would try one this Thanksgiving. It helped that Chris liked a little taste of one he had before. I went on line, found a recipe from Alton Brown, but it required a TON of work. I wasn't that adventurous. I have a great cookbook from Good Housekeeping titled "Great Baking". There are some tasty recipes and how too's. The recipe was one of thos semi-homemade ones, my specialty, so I went for it. Here are some photos of the filling:



And here is one of the finished product:



My Dad loved it, and my cousin Karen, Aunt Marion's daughter, said it tasted just like her Mothers. Score!! My Grandma Patsy, Aunt Marions sister, really liked it too.
Here is the recipe. Try it out!

1 28 oz jar ready-to-use mincemeat (there is brand Nonesuch that worked well. Found it at Albertsons.)
1 large granny smith apple, pealed, cored, and finely chopped
1 C. Walnuts coarsly broken
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1 TBSP lemon juice
Double pie crust (I cheated and used Pillsbury. Haven't mastered crust yet!)

1. Prepare dough.
2. Preheat oven to 425. In a medium bowl stir mincemeat, apple, walnuts, brown sugar and lemon juice until well mixed.
3. Roll out bottom pie crust and place in pie plate. Fill with mixture. Dot butter (about 2 TBSP total) over filling. Roll out top dough and place on top of fillling. Crease two crusts together. Using a knife, make a few slits in top crust of pie.
4. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!