Put all through the food chopper and then place

  One quart of syrup,
  One pound of brown sugar,

in a preserving kettle and bring to a boil.  Cook for ten minutes and then add the prepared fruits and suet that have been put through the food chopper and add

  One package of seeded raisins,
  One tablespoon of cinnamon,
  One teaspoon of ginger,
  One teaspoon of cloves,
  One-half teaspoon of allspice,
  One-half teaspoon of nutmeg,
  One-half teaspoon of salt,
  Three-quarters cup of strong cider vinegar.

Stir to mix thoroughly, then cook for ten minutes.  Cool and then fill into fruit jars.  Pour one tablespoon of salad oil on top; adjust the rubber and lid and seal.  Process in hot water bath for twenty minutes and then cool and store.

This mince will be found to be most delicious, and it will keep until used.  Grandma Perkins’s grandad was a Hiram Teesdale, of Gloucester, England, and this recipe is over 400 years old.  The original recipe was named Christmas Mynce Pye, and on the holidays, a great pye of Gloucester mynce, made by good dame Teesdale, was always sent as a tithe from the county to the good Queene Elizabeth, and in this way royal favor was conferred on this family by the queen, who was delighted with the wonderful concoction.

Black walnuts and hazel nuts were used in the original recipe, but as these nuts are quite expensive, the peanuts will do just as well.

CHRISTMAS GOODIES

In the days of long ago, before the day of heated apartments and water-heated homes, the housewife used the cellar as the cold-storage room.  To-day this is impossible.  For the householder who has an outside enclosed laundry or summer kitchen, the problem of keeping the holiday delicacies is quite an easy one.  But to those of us who dwell in flats and apartments, some other way must be arranged.

Here are two new ideas that are worth trying:  First, a window box on the shady side of the house.  This box must be lined with asbestos paper on the inside, and then covered with the same paper and an additional covering of oil cloth upon the outside.

By covering the box in this way, the housewife is assured of a smaller storage space of an even temperature.  Neither the extreme cold nor heat will affect this box.  A thick layer of newspapers may be used as a lining, between the inside covering of the asbestos and the oil cloth covering upon the outside of the box.

Mincemeat must be stored in a cool, dry place to blend and ripen, without the danger of freezing.  This is also an ideal time for the mother to plan to have the family help her and at the same time knit the home ties very closely together.  The home where the family joins in the evening to make the seasonable delicacies is a very happy one.  Let the children have some of their friends in to help them with the preparations.