‘Tis the season for Gram’s Mincemeat with Paula Altenburg!

mincemeatpie1 Pale Moon Walking is set in the year 1877 and I wanted to include a Christmas recipe that would have been familiar to my characters, Libby and Sam. Not that Libby can cook, mind you. But Sam is handy in the kitchen.

When I was growing up, homemade mincemeat was always a Christmas treat because it was made from deer meat, and hunting season happens in the late fall. (That’s where Libby would come in—she’s better with a gun, but good in a pinch with a rifle.)

I love mincemeat pie. LOVE it.

This particular mincemeat recipe belonged to my grandmother, who I adored. When I tried making the recipe for the first time, her instructions began with, “Remember—the size of the bowl is REALLY important!”

You’ll understand why.

Gram’s Mincemeat:

3 bowls cooked, chopped, and simmered deer meat (beef can be substituted)
6 bowls apples (tart)
4 bowls suet
6 bowls currants and raisins
1 bowl vinegar (I use white)
1 bowl sugar (white again)
1 bowl molasses

Instructions:

Add salt and* all kinds of spices. Water off meat boiled down to one cup and let cool. Mix all ingredients and scald (until apples are cooked to sauce).

(*I’m big on cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice, but I’m going to assume “allspice” is “all kinds.” The recipe’s old.)

Happy holidays!

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About Pale Moon Walking:

Where the outlaws are out of this world…

US Marshall Sam Kyote has been sent to the dry old town of Coyote Bluff to recuperate from a top-secret government experiment that’s left this law man a little…well, different. But Sam’s about to find out that the town of Coyote Bluff has a whole lot of secrets. Most of which lead to Libby Mayden-the sexy, long-legged, and tight-lipped sheriff who saved his ass from an alien ambush.

The last thing Libby needs is a US Marshall poking around her town, especially one who’s hotter than the Nevada desert sun. She can’t let Sam find out most of her town are wanted outlaws. Between the aliens, the gunfighters, and a searing sexual attraction to Sam, she’s in a whole heap of trouble. And Libby’ll stride both sides of the law-and Sam-until she’s forced to choose between self-preservation…and her heart.