It was my intention to prepare a column about Christmas in Albert Lea and Freeborn County a century ago.

Friday, December 21, 2001

It was my intention to prepare a column about Christmas in Albert Lea and Freeborn County a century ago. I looked over several microfilm pages of pre-Christmas issues of the Tribune dated 1901. One idea was to emphasize the importance of horses and railroad passenger trains to help people to travel from place to place during that particular holiday season. Then I became sidetracked by a Tribune article about Christmas food.

The article’s headline said, &uot;Get ready the Christmas dinner – Markets are well stocked with material that pleases the chef.&uot;

Under the category of groceries and fruits the article listed the following goodies available in local stores: oranges, bananas, Malega grapes, figs, dates, apples (at 50 cents a peck), Christmas trees, mistletoe, holly, potatoes, celery, lettuce, candy, mixed nuts, walnuts, peanuts, canned peaches, canned pears, mince meat, canned spinach, canned beets, sweet cider and boiled cider.

Somehow, four items seem to be really out of place on this list of edibles. These incredible edibles are Christmas trees, mistletoe, holly and mince meat. This last item is troublesome because the Tribune article had a separate listing for meats, poultry, fish and seafood (the traditional oysters) which could be purchased at local butcher shops.

Say, just what the heck is mince meat? Is it derived from an obscure critter named the mince? Then again, is this the American version of the way the pear-shaped fruit of the quince tree is prepared. Right about here we could have a real mystery regarding this alleged meat listed with the fruits in the Tribune article.

I do recall eating mince meat in pies years ago. My grandmother had canning jars filled with the stuff in her cellar (an old name for a basement). She considered her mince meat recipe to be a real family secret. I always considered mince meat to be something to be avoided at Christmas time or anytime if possible.

There are two ways to resolve this mince meat mystery.

One way is to consult the dictionary. My home copy defines the word mince with &uot;to cut into very small pieces; to soften (one’s words), especially for the sake of decorum; to perform or utter with affected elegance; to walk or move with short, affectedly dainty steps.&uot;

This doesn’t help explain anything at all about the food product. However, this same dictionary does have a definition for mincemeat (one word). It says,&uot; a mixture of minced apples, suet, and sometimes meat, together with raisins, currants, etc., used as a filling for pie (mince pie).&uot;

Evidently there can be vegetarian and non-vegetarian (meat lovers) versions of this alleged Christmas season taste treat.

To further explain exactly what’s involved with mince meat, here’s a recipe from one of my wife’s cookbooks.

The ingredients as listed are: five pounds lean meat, 12 pounds apples, six pounds large raisins, three pounds small raisins, five pounds currants, two pounds citron, a pound and a half of suet, six pounds brown sugar, four tablespoons cinnamon, two tablespoons nutmeg, two tablespoons cloves, two tablespoons salt, and three quarts of apple cider.

To prepare this concoction, the cookbook says, &uot;Cook down until it begins to thicken. Can in pint jars and seal. This makes 53 pints.&uot; That’s a lot of mince meat and a lot of pies!

Last week we repeated the challenge expressed within a paragraph once created by Cedric Adams. The answer is to think of the vowels, especially the letter e.

Now, near the end of a mighty interesting year, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all the Tribune readers a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Feature writer Ed Shannon’s column appears Fridays in the Tribune.