There was a question in a different thread about vegetarian desserts and the thread got eaten. I thought I'd start a spin-off because there was a pretty good discussion going on that tangent. So....
A comment on the desserts question. A lot of desserts, especially commercially made ones, are *not* vegetarian. They often contain gelatin or lard. Three out of the four brands of pie shells in our local Stop & Shop are made with lard. Premade vegetarian desserts are one of the hardest things for me to find in a store and you can assume if you're at someone else's house and they're serving a dessert that was either premade or from a mix, there's a decent chance it's not vegetarian. Ice creams, jellos, puddings, whipped toppings, anything with pie crust or dough, or filling are likely to have gelatin or lard.
And yes, some Americans eat mincemeat pies for dessert. I've never seen premade pies available in a store, but you can buy premade mincemeat fillings here. My gram is Welsh and always, always makes miniature mince tarts for family parties. They're sooooo yummy. But she does just mince, not the meat, and in deference to half our family being some version of vegetarian, she doesn't use lard in the dough.
A comment on the desserts question. A lot of desserts, especially commercially made ones, are *not* vegetarian. They often contain gelatin or lard. Three out of the four brands of pie shells in our local Stop & Shop are made with lard. Premade vegetarian desserts are one of the hardest things for me to find in a store and you can assume if you're at someone else's house and they're serving a dessert that was either premade or from a mix, there's a decent chance it's not vegetarian. Ice creams, jellos, puddings, whipped toppings, anything with pie crust or dough, or filling are likely to have gelatin or lard.
And yes, some Americans eat mincemeat pies for dessert. I've never seen premade pies available in a store, but you can buy premade mincemeat fillings here. My gram is Welsh and always, always makes miniature mince tarts for family parties. They're sooooo yummy. But she does just mince, not the meat, and in deference to half our family being some version of vegetarian, she doesn't use lard in the dough.
Link, please! 
