The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1900-11-09
WHY THE MlNCE
PIES WERE f. llURE5

DAPA HUDGENs says that he APP,
preciates the beauties Of the fall
Of the year about as mueh 40 the next
one. 1t does him good, he says to see
the woods in their expiring blaze Of
crimson and gold. to walk through the.
rustling leaves, to inhale the bracinR;
freshness of the air, with now and then
Whit of burning brush, or to tramp:
through the stubble With q gun and q
dog that knows his business, but that
which he chiefly delights in is the nd.
vent of mince pie. Es,' r..
The mince-pie season opens in the,
Hudgens family abont the first 81 Oc-
tober, sometimes week Or two later,
but never a day before; Mrs. :Hudgens
is infexible on this point, one reason
being that in her hne judg ment the
apples have to attain i certain degree.
of mellowness on the hay before they
are fit to be used in the meat. Then
q mince pie must be served hot; not
merely warm, but 80 thatit Unnecessary
to raise the upper crust to allow the
escape of the aromatic steam, thus
agreeably tintillating the olfac-
tories and exciting the salivary glands
for the reception ct the first morsel.
Also, Mrs. Hudgens says, II she did
not put time limit 1omewhere they
would have her making mincemest the
year around; which is not Improbable,
for the children all take after their
father in their fondness for this deli
cacy. Buckingham Hubbard, the
young man who is concentrated with
the family by virtue of a friendly finan-
cial arrangement and a5distAnt re1a-
tionship, is the worst one of the lot.
None of them could be blamed, for,
Mrs. Hudgen's mincemeat WAS some
thing to wonder at and remember. It
was her speciality, and there was moth
ing in the culinary line. she ever At
tempted that did not Impress her
guests as q chef d'oeuvre. And It was
an event in the household when she
began to make her mincemeat. Every
body was anxious to help. Hudgens,
who had previously selected the beef,
pared the apples, which he did very
neatly; Clinton stoned the raisins, for
raising ready-stoned were disapproved
Of; Ethelinda sliced the citron and
Buckingham offered suggestions un-
til dNei away. Under less COM
petei oversee Il is division 81 1abbr
might hyNe s9ted disastrously, but
thers Aadsbesh only one failure in the
family annals. not counting the pres
ent season. Hau .,,ft#s }7s..
: rhst syaylast year. Apparently I, e. !,
erytthffnsg h&d Been done as usual, and
the jars were filed and put away with
promise of pies.on the Sunday follow
int.a The Sdpdsy came at last, and
the family gathered around the table,
glad and'gluttonous anticipation gleam-
ing in every eye. There was particu-
hrlS sItime5 Ind Juicy sirloin 81 beef
for dinner, with accompaniments Of
roasted potatoes, Brussels sprouts and
YoTkslife pqidling, but nobody made
any more than pretense Of eating
any Of these, and NJ. Hudgens' exhor-
tatiYa tpth gqdaany Yin general to save
. Corner for b piece 81 pie was received
with SHOUTS Of dsrisive laughter.
1lr9Hplgens btl thy first piece, and
Kisstate beAihtd u he raised the upper
crust with his fork. Cautiously, he
aa s, ~ t /, o y:
In frown. = .5 l.s.7. E 5ss
rklzi tf1 esla:s t 1. E NOUN 90. !.
said Mrs. Hudgens, who had been
t.