My daddy grew up in a farm in Michigan during the Great Depression. Though he was an only child, his extended family was large and like most families back then, lived close by on nearby farms. Sunday and holiday dinners were much anticipated and memorable, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas. Grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins flooded my great-grandfather’s large, self-built farmhouse for a lovely, festive dinner. There were plenty of traditional Midwestern foods that the family contributed straight from the fruit cellar, such as; self-canned vegetables, cranberry relish and pickles, various potato dishes, stuffing, turkey, ham and many homemade pies! Of course, for a young boy, pies were my father’s favorite, as they are to this day! My daddy especially loved his grandmother’s mincemeat pie made with meat and mixed with apples, raisins and nuts. I remember every Christmas my mommy made my daddy a mincemeat pie, just like he enjoyed growing up, minus the meat. However, he was the only one who ate it, despite his pleas for us all to have a slice. He raved about its goodness, yet all five of us kids refused it, as we were terrified that somehow it had meat in it, given its name. So, until I decided to make up my own version (minus the meat,) I didn’t know a mince pie could be so amazing. The apples, raisins, cranberries, walnuts, cider, brandy and butter make for a delicious filling and with our award winning, flaky crust, it is nearly perfect. As it was, I ended up missing out of yummy pie for decades by not listening to my father. Clearly, fathers do know best.