I have a recipe for Mincemeat Fruitcake. There was a time when the amount of spices in your mincemeat showed off how much you could afford. Not me. I buy the cheaper store brand. There is no meat in mine either, just green tomatoes. The Puritans would have liked mine. It is booze-less. I am always looking for a way to save money. Meat and candied fruit are expensive. Green tomatoes aren't.

Eat mince pie during the Christmas season. It is the patriotic thing to do. It was not always so. There was a time when mincemeat pie was thought to have pagan influences. It was full of rum and brandy, too. The Puritans banned it. The war was still raging into the twentieth century. Then in 1908 a New Orleans newspaper stood up for the much maligned mincemeat. It came to a head when a Yankee physician claimed mincemeat pie was bad for your health. The newspaper's response was:

"The congressional dynasty in Washington may overthrow the federal constitution,
the rights of the states and pluck the stars from the blue field of the national
ensign, but the mince pie will continue to be the nation's comfort and pride."

There you have it! "Be a patriot! Eat mincemeat pie!" Or better yet, try my Mincemeat Fruitcake. My recipe for Green Tomato Mincemeat follows:

GREEN TOMATO MINCEMEAT
6 lbs green tomatoes
2 lbs tart apples, peeled and chopped
2 cups raisins
4 cups brown sugar
3 tablespoons instant coffee dissolved
in 2 cups water
1 lemon, grated peel and juice
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon allspice

Chop tomatoes. Drain juice. Measure drained juice and add equal amount of water to pulp. Discard juice. In heavy large kettle with green tomato pulp, add chopped apples, raisins, brown sugar, grated lemon rind and juice, grated orange peel, vinegar, instant coffee mixture, salt, nutmeg and allspice. Cook until thick, stirring frequently. Pack into hot pint jars. Adjust lids. Process in hot water bath for 10 minutes. Remove and cool. To seal, turn upside down on newspapers on counter out of drafts.