Thursday, August 17, 2006

Mince pies

Did I really mention mince pies?


Mince pies

Here is what they look like.

Mince pies


And here is how they are made. They are very popular in England at Christmas. They have got nothing to do, not any more at least, with minced (ground up) meat.

And you need to know how to make mincemeet.

Mincemeat recipe


For those of you with a thirst for information, for more knowledge , Mr. Google (search) will definitely be able to quench it.

6 comments:

Erika Cruvinel said...

Hi Dennis

I've been following your mistery guest activity and I guess I am more curious than the students.

Well, first I have to tell you that I finally figured ou what SPRUCE TOM means! I am crazy about SPRUCE TOMS and my boyfriend gets really jealous when I spend hours with my SPRUCE TOM on weekends! I won't tell the students what it is!

Mincemeat Pie! I didn't know what it was. It looks very different! I read the recipe, but I don't know some of the ingredients. I tried hard to find out what GYVVC (minus 5) meant. What does it stand for? CURRY? But then how could we get from CURRY to Mincemeat pies?

Please help me understand it!

Best wishes!

Erika Cruvinel

Dennis said...

Erika,

You are right about my favourite food. WELL DONE!

How we got to mince pies is a GOOD QUESTION!

Someone on the video made a quick remark about mince pies. I think she may have been wondering if they were my favourite food. I like them, but they aren't.

SPRUCE TOM was a good anagram (though hard to solve) because it sort of (only sort of!) means something.

I will need to blow my cover soon, I think. Do you agree?

Best wishes,

Dennis

Erika Cruvinel said...

Now it all makes sense! We are all having fun with your anagrams! I think I could make some money selling the answers to Carla's students!!!!
I spent a long time to find out what SPRUCE TOM meant! Then something came to my mind! When you mentioned that you loved your wife too, it had to be something that makes your wife jealous. I first thought about a beautiful actress, singer, top model. Then I thought about hobbies like fishing with friends, and then I started thinkg about what you really enjoyed doing, easy, the same as Carla and I!

Dennis said...

Erika and Carla and all the 'Carlaites'.

A week today I go off to England and Wales for three weeks on holiday.

I think I must lead you to the answers to my quiz.

(1) "Minus 3" or "Plus 5" is a very simple code. To see what the words are you go backwards or forwards in the alphabet.

TVOEBZ (Minus 1) means go backwards one letter in the alphabet:

SUNDAY

Got it? (This is what young English kids say all the time, meaning: "Do you understand?".

The rest are anagrams, the letters of the word re-arranged. Don't fry your brains, just go to:

http://wordsmith.org/anagram/

type in what I have written, and you should be able to find the word or words that are the ones I mean.

testecarla said...

Dear Dennis,

Minced pie, huh? There are some ingredients that I've never hear of... Now, when you want to eat it, how do you do it?

Do you ask Anke to prepare it for you? Do you buy it or do you make it yourself?

It seems a very exotic pie. I'd love to try it...

Beijos,
Carla

Dennis said...

Carla,

Since she is German, Anke, my wife, does not know about mince pies. Actually, they are only eaten at Christmas. I have a former colleague here, Rob, a young Englishman, who cooks mince pies every Christmas. We meet at a friend's on December 25th. and Rob always brings mince pies. They are best eaten hot.