PIES. —The Pie of Our Fathers— Minced Vie.— General Eemarks. 

 —Any pie, to be good, ought to have a Ught and flaky crust, or " pastry," as 

 more recently called, and the filling should be put in sufficiently thick to remove 

 all suspicion of stinginess on the part of the maker, both of -which points are 

 most eloquently brought out in the following communication of Jennie June's, 

 to the Baltimore American, written more particularly as a defence of the minced 

 pie, or "the pie of our fathers," as she calls it, against which so much has not 

 only been said, but written. It is so rich in thought, eloquent in argument, and 

 correct in its principles of instruction, it is worthy of a perusal, at least on 

 Christmas occasions, by all lovers of minced pie, who have not "abused their 

 stomachs," as she puts it, " until they have become dyspeptics." Such persons 

 may feel grieved that they cannot allow themselves to indulge in this luxury 

 any more, but they should have been reasonable in an earlier day, then they 

 •^'Wld not feel a necessity for complaint. Some writers claim that minced pies 

 are bad, only, when eaten just before retiring. Such a plan with any food, to 

 be made a habit of, is bad. The stomach needs, and must have rest, as well as 

 the body, or it will sooner or later make a complaint, never to be forgotten. 

 She says: 



" I feel moved to say a word in defense of not only the pie in general, but 

 the pie in particular — the symbolic mince pie, which the people who have 

 abused their stomachs until they have become dyspeptics unite in abusing. The 

 mince pie is a very ancient institution, and the only pie that has religious sig- 

 nificance. The hoUow crust represents the manger in which the Savior was 

 laid; its rich interior, the good things brought by the wise men as offerings and 

 laid at His feet. A good mince pie is not only better for digestion than a poor 

 one but it has a representative character of its own — it symbolizes our love and 

 devotion to the divine principle to which the Christmas festival is consecrated. 

 Mince pies should be prepared with a due sense of their character and import- 

 ance. They should not be eaten often; but they should be well-made of fine 

 and abxmdant materials, and, when served, received with due regard and given 

 the place of honor. Thin layers of impoverished mince, inclosed in flat, 

 ceramic (hard, like earthenware) crust, are not mince pies; they are the small- 

 souled housekeepers substitute for the genuine article. The true mince pie is 

 made in a brown or yellow earthen platter, is filled an inch thick witli a juicy, 

 aromatic compound, whose fragrance rises like incense the moment heat is 

 applied to it, and it comes out the golden brown of a russet which has been 

 kissed by the sun. Xo common or nerveless hand should be allowed to prepare 

 or mix the ingredients for this sum of all pastry. Every separate article should 

 ■ be cut, cleansed, chopped, sifted, with strong but reverent touch, and the 

 blending should be effected with the sweetest piece of the apples, reduced by 

 boiling with the sirup of the maple and sacramental wine. Thus the spices of 

 the East, the woods of the North, the sweetness of the South, and the fruit of 

 the West is laid under tribute, and the result, if properly compounded, is a pie 



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