Grandma Hammersley's Old-Time Mincemeat

First you need to understand that my great-grandparents lived on a homestead at the end of the road in the Coast range of Oregon on a farm with no electricity. Grandpa took his venison when he needed it with no regard for game wardens. Without refrigeration everything had to be canned — on a wood stove. Mincemeat was one delicious way to save the fall harvest.

This is the recipe exactly as my mother got it from her grandmother. The notes are Mom's.

8 cups ground cooked venison
16 cups chopped apples
6 whole oranges (seeded!) ground
2 cups suet
1 gallon cider
2 lbs. raisins
2 - 4 cups ground sweet pickles with juice
1 Tble salt
2 teas. cinnamon
2 cups brown sugar and 1 cup white sugar
1 teas. each: cloves, allspice, ginger, nutmeg

Simmer and stir frequently for an
hour and pack into jars. Seal and process 30 min.

Suet is skimmed from the cooled broth of the cooked venison and is an approx. amount -- Does really add flavor!
When making large pies from a jar of mincemeat you can add MORE apples !!

We had this a lot growing up. All of us kids, with the exception, maybe, of my sister Julie, loved mincemeat pie. I might have liked pumpkin more but I always had both.

P.S. Here's another link to that gorgeous picture of me and My First Buck.