Moonshine and Lemon

Little girls, as the nursury rhyme goes, are made of sugar and spice and all things nice. Whilst some may point to the outdated gender stereotype reflected, others may argue that little girls should not be understood in just organic terms, as human beings that grow from girlhood into womanhood, or be defined by the actions they fulfil. Rather, they should be thought of "in terms of their movements and the intensive affects of which they are capable".   Made of the same stuff as little girls, mince pies have long been one of my favourite Christmas sweets. We never made them when I was a little girl; they were not part of our holiday traditions. Years later, when I started making them myself, I used to buy mincemeat, although I would make my own pastry for the pies. But lately I've decided to have fun with the ingredients and make my own mincemeat; to indulge in the warm aroma of winter spices and fine spirits. Traditionally, mincemeat is made with suet but I prefer to ...