Mince pie Wow, what has happened to Christmas? Santa’s hues seem to be on the back burner at the moment. The colours in profusion as I write seem to be – in alphabetical order – blue, green, orange and red with an occasional white if you’re throwing in the towel! Amazing! Election fever has taken over Dominica. It is more fervent than Carnival – never has there been so many trucks with Hi-Fi’s’ blasting music here in the country, night and day. Christmas seems to be forgotten. We are bystanders just listening and watching, hoping that everyone respects one another’s point of view.
I am, however, focused on Christmas, making the Christmas cake, decorating the home, welcoming friends and neighbours alike for their favourite tipple and an English traditional mince pie! Many Dominicans admit to having a sweet tooth and find that this tidbit goes down smoothly. But sometimes when offering a mince pie it’s not unusual to get a guarded response from my friends such as, ‘I am a vegetarian and I don’t eat meat’ – supposing of course that mincemeat originates from some helpless four or two legged creature. Well, the recipe for a classic mince pie is a covertly kept English secret – pastry notwithstanding – my mincemeat is made from dried fruit, currants, raisins, sultanas, mixed peel and apples plus nuts soaked in brandy and sherry; it can be extremely decadent and more than likely delicious, served in a sweet pastry with a sherry cream filling.
Originally the mince pie did contain meat – mincemeat was a way of preserving meat by mixing it with fruit, spices and alcohol. The initial mince pies were large rather than bite size. It is sometimes said that the large pies were cooked in an oblong dish and that the top often used to cave in. As a result the mince pie looked a little like a crib, in keeping with the Christian nativity story. Over time the amount of meat was gradually reduced until it became the fruit only substance we know today.
With this in mind we wish all the readers a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous 2010 which is literally around the corner.
We are here to write each week about anything interesting for the followers of www.domincanewsonline.com – not necessarily in a controversial way but extending an upbeat overview of life in DA and other blessed territories. We enjoy doing this and will continue to absorb the comments from a valued readership.
- Lisette Stevens
- DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of the management and staff of Dominica News Online and its parent company.
Any Bible student or historian will know that the Savior and Messiah was not born during the winter month of December 25. Long before His birth, the pagans observe the winster solstice on December 25, the rebirth of the sun in the sky and not THE SON OF THE HEAVENLY FATHER.
secondly, we are never told in the bible to celebrate HIS birth but only His death at Passover. Think People, think!! And reject paganism and embrace Bible Truth!
to whom ever it concerns i wasn’t tryin to say no participation in the rum and fruit cakes was just tryin to state that i harldy seein n e body eatin it of takin bout it its completely dead this year but i would never expect some people to understand simple and plain English oh well bumbumbedum bumbumbedum :-) i ready for VAL 2010 LEWI GOOOOOOOOOO
stupuuuuuuuuuuuuuppppppppppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssssss so if you can keep focussed on the season Y can’t everyone else do the same??? The PPl of Dominica need to stop blaming election………the people who took part in election campaigns and voted are all big men and women who are responsible for their own actions…..last year christmas was so dread….I hardly saw decorations and lights. some people talkin bout election kill christmas…….;before christmas finish they talking about carnival and calypso…and that’s always the case…..so Dominicans PLEASE GROW UP!!!!!!!. Everybody know christmas is on de 25th of December…who stopping anyone from making their fruit cake and whatever…….geezzzz……..Merry Christmas to all tannnnnnnnnnnn lol all who want to keep fighting and be vex too bad for them……
I DON’T WHAT KIND OF A CHRISTMAS YOU TALKING ABOUT THERE, BUT IN DA CHRISTMAS IS RUM, FRUIT CAKE, FOOD AND MORE RUM AND ALL THAT IS RIGHT HERE AND WE WILL BE ENJOYING. WE’LL BE HAVING A RED RED CHRISTMAS THANK GOD IS NOT A BLUE ONE AND WE DOH NEED NO SANTA SINCE WE NEVER HAD HIM ANYWAY SINCE HE’S TOO HEAVY THE FEW LITTLE DONKEYS WE HAVE LEFT HERE
WOW only now we realised that christmas is here NOT COMING BUT ALREADY HERE we dominican have been so tied up in the demonic force we know as politics that we have forgotten the true importance of the season christmas NO fruit cakes NO wine NO ham NO turkey .. i can hardly get a decent goat meat around this is ludacris but i’ll still enjoy my christmas and receiving my blessings with praises MERRY CHRISTMAS 2 ALL AND 2 ALL A GOOD NIGHT