In US supermarkets, “Mincemeat” sold in jars for making mince pies with usually contains suet; a few brands don’t, but it’s one of those products I can only buy if I brought my reading glasses into the store so I can read the ingredients. From its usual position on the list, it’s enough to make the stuff non-vegetarian, but not enough to add any actual flavor, so it’s pretty much a lose-lose thing.
With eggnog, I thought the standard religious argument was “bourbon vs. rum vs. brandy”.
People still make mince pies in Maine.
Mince pies are terrible. I’ll stick to tourtière for my seasonally appropriate pie needs.
I gotta agree, though they’re a holiday staple in my family. My mom and sister loved them, and my dad likes them okay, as does my wife. My son and I are diehard pumpkin pie fans, however, and happily make fun of the mincemeat pie eaters in the family.
As for the eggnog, I can’t stand alcohol, so I only ever drink my nog in a virginal state. I like the stuff from the grocery store (though not Trader Joe’s; theirs is disconcertingly… seminal, if you catch my drift), but most store-bought nog is too thick and rich for my taste. I cut it with milk, about to a 50/50 mixture, and then I’m in heaven.
In the US you can (for the most part) enjoy your raw eggs fearlessly. Salmonella infection from raw eggs is vanishingly rare, and if memory serves any egg that isn’t cooked hard is insufficiently cooked to banish the salmonella. So all those over easy eggs, poached eggs, and soft boiled eggs you’ve been eating might as well be raw from a food safety stand point (I am probably exaggerating this). If you are worried about it pasteurized eggs are available (though I’ve had trouble finding them). If you’ve got a sous vide set up of any kind (which I do) you can also pretty easily pasteurize eggs yourself.
Thanks for this. I have been half heartedly looking for exactly this sort of thing for a few months now.
Egg nog is like mulled wine. Start with something good, then arse about with it until you have something palatable. Serve.
I’ll drink egg nog if it’s offered at a holiday party, and it’s okay, but honestly, I’d really just rather have the bourbon or brandy on its own.
The custard milkshake thing I can do without entirely. Non alcoholic nog? No thanks, I can find nicer ways of consuming empty calories (see also - all non-diet soft drinks).
And I thought comments were hard to swallow.
That right there is my favorite part. I have such a sweet tooth, and no matter how much you sugar it up, no matter how refined the vintage, all alcoholic drinks taste like dragster fuel to me.
I used to make mincemeat from scratch with my dad. We had jars and jars of it. I cannot get enough!
It’s basically melted ice cream. Yum!
Those are minced meat pies, not mincemeat pies. Although I can understand the confusion.
Since multiple people needed to explain, ahem actually, mincemeat has suet in it, after I said it traditionally has suet in it: I looked at the stack of mince pies next to my desk and they all have vegetable suet (mostly palm oil) in them, making them vegetarian. But yes, I made it from scratch with my mum several times and we used suet too.
On the original topic though… I could really go for some eggnog now.
With booze it is most definitely British, the stuff you can find in the chiller cabinets in America - that’s their own puritan no-fun version.
But if you really want something decadent and alcoholic made with eggs, make zabaglione - your other half will definitely thank you.
One thing, British eggs might not kill you, our fully grown domesticated dinosaurs on the other hand might well do - we have a serious problem with campylobacter on raw poultry products, so please be careful handling chicken:
Oh that makes sense. And suddenly I realize why they are not popular in the US - they sound disgusting.
Yes, an eggnog sounds nice right now. My father makes one that is quite light and refreshing. He whips the egg whites in to a froth used to top it. Let’s see, I think I have all the ingredients in the house… Nah, too complicated. I’ll just go for the bourbon. 
I miss Pukka Pies.
Oh noooooo, why did you do this to meeeeeee~
drinks a pint of gravy and weeps longingly for pies
I’d post you a pie floater from the local gourmet pie shop, but it would get all cold, stale and eaten before then. Sorry.
Yeah, but that’ll be one of those Australian things. I can get those here.
We’ve got hot cross buns but only around Lent.
That’s what’s known as a “false trichotomy.”
It does not taste like horchata though.
