English tradition demands that the mince meat mixture should only be stirred in a clockwise direction. To stir it anticlockwise is to bring bad luck for the coming year.
Another English custom is for all the family to take a turn in stirring the mincemeat mixture whilst making a wish.
Tradition also says that one should make a wish whilst eating one’s first mince pie of the festive season, and that mince pies should always be eaten in silence.
Mince pies should traditionally have a star on top, to represent the Christmas Star which led the shepherds and Magi to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem.
It is considered good luck to eat mince pies on each of the 12 days of Christmas, even luckier to eat one on each day in a different home.
(Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mince_pie )
(Ref: http://www.uttertrivia.com/mincepies.php)
