A tiny dollop of joy.

My oldest and very dear friend sent me this link yesterday, from Jeanette Winterson, about making mince pies whilst listening to audiobooks:

If you want Poetic Pies, drop in a sensitive amount of mincemeat, then get a star-shaped cutter. Think pie in the sky - a little vision, like Dante gazing at Beatrice, (though I do not mean to compare Beatrice to a mince pie). If you want Post-Modern Pies, then dollop in quite a lot of mince-meat, perhaps audaciously slopping it over the edge of the case, and just cut out two provocative strips of pastry and cross them over the top – self-consciously artificial, but revealing all, like Michel Houllebeq. If you want a Bestseller Pie, then fill generously, but make a thick lid and seal the edges with fingertips of brandy. Dust with icing sugar.

I am not necessarily a fan of mince pies, but I am a fan of Jeanette Winterson, and her website is a treasure.  Roam around.