This applesauce would probably work with your meal and you could freeze the excess for later.

HOLIDAY APPLESAUCE

4 lb. sweet apples (Red or Golden Delicious, Empire, Winesap, etc.), cut into chunks (don't peel or core)
3 cups cranberries (12 oz.)
1 cup unsweetened apple cider
Two 3-inch strips lemon zest
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

In covered pot, simmer apples, cranberries, cider and lemon peel, stirring occasionally, for 1/2 hour or more, until apples are very tender. Add sugar and cinnamon. Simmer, covered 10 minutes. Discard zest. Pass mixture through a food mill. Add honey, sugar, or brown sugar to taste. Makes about 2 quarts. Can be frozen.

When my niece and nephew were very small, we always hosted Christmas Eve. We made a big pot of soup and had cold cuts and buns. We went to the park and walked around and saw all of the animated lights, and the kids talked to Santa Claus.

When we came back we had tourtierre and hot drinks. I can't remember eating anything else with it, as we had our dinner earlier.

Ruthanna - I was thinking something cranberry.

Jasdip - those are great memories.

Chase - My husband slathers his tourtiere with ketchup lol. I'm leaning toward a cream of something soup before the tourtiere.

Seagrass.......ketchup; same here!

Seagrass.......ketchup; same here!

I always serve ours with mashed potatoes. And the vegetable might vary, like broccoli or fresh green beans. But always mashed potatoes and gravy..

~Ann

How do you come up with gravy for the side? It sounds delicious, but I'm not roasting anything and that's the only way I know how to make gravy!

I make a simple, yet delicious, gravy by first making a roux of equal parts melted butter and flour to which I add hot beef broth from the box and then I season with salt, pepper and thyme....works for us!!!

Ketchup is a big one. But ideally it's chowchow, homemade green tomato ketchup. Or just red homemade ketchup. I might roast a bone for gravy.

This is supposed to be part of reveillon, so you can pig out as much as you like. I'm making tourtière for the first time this year, taking a break from the fish. As a nod, I'm starting with a raw bar. I'm also thinking about a salad that uses duck confit, as an app. But I think sides are hard. I'm not the one in the house who grew up eating this, so it's hard to get excited about mashed potatoes.

The quintessential accompaniment to tourtiere is home made chile sauce.......no ifs, ands or buts

Chase - recipe please???

Seagrass...I make it a half bushel at a time! LOL it's not at all like the Heinz stuff in a bottle so don't get that. However, there is a brand called Willies Home Style Chile Sauce which is quite good

I know that I'll need gravy for my tourtiere so I save gravy from a roast pork or a roast chicken and freeze in the week or ten days leading up to Christmas.

Moe loves chile sauce on his, but I'm a gravy girl.

~Ann

I think I'll make a pork roast this weekend and make my Christmas Eve gravy from that. I don't think my friend would eat chili sauce so the gravy will dress it up.

Thanks.

seagrass

I was just thinking how fruit salad, scalloped potatoes & split Brussels sprouts sauteed in butter w/ chestnuts , would be so good w/ such a meal, then I remembered you said your friend is a picky eater....

Funny thing about that is she'd eat the Brussels sprouts but my husband wouldn't! I know mashed potatoes are a safe choice. I wouldn't normally
Invite her for dinner because she's very difficult about food and I don't know all of her issues. But I don't want her to be alone on Christmas Eve.

I was thinking brussels, as well. My SO did not like brussels, until I did them roasted in the oven with a bit of olive oil, garlic, and fresh ground pepper. Now, he loves them!

Very nice of you to invite her.

How times have changed. We were brought up to be appreciative of everything we were offered at someone's house. Pickiness led to very bad results.

Well, since there are only 3 of us there won't be a large smorgasbord of food to choose from and I don't want to cook a meal that she won't eat. She's a good friend. I've received some good ideas and am glad I posted my question here.

Many thanks,

seagrass

I don't think things have changed all that much.

You want to be a good guest, but most of us also want to be a good host which means, especially if you know in advance, cooking things that you know your guest will enjoy. Or at least not cooking something that you know in advance that they won't like.

~Ann

Not going to threadjack, but I'm quite certain things have changed a lot!

Back to the topic: If you're going to do a roast anyway to make gravy, have you considered trying the "Tourtiere du Shack" recipe from the chef at Au Pied du Couchon? It includes pork shoulder along with the ground pork. You could increase and include some of the braising liquid. That's my plan.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tourtiere du Shack

Growing up, Tourtière was the "must have" meal on Christmas Eve for my Franco-American family. I am baking off my 7th pie (freezing & transporting them to my sister's for Wednesday) as I type.

We enjoy appetizers throughout the evening while exchanging gifts then have the pies as a late evening dinner. Given all that comes before, the only side is a relish tray with bread & butter pickles, etc. And the condiments. My family is split between those who use ketchup or mustard. I'm mustard ;)

Mustard?? Well, my DH said he does recall sweet pickles alongside with the pickled beets. I married into this tradition, mind you. My MIL stuffed her
Thanksgiving turkey with the pork and potato mixture. I never cared for it until I found AnnT's recipe. It's perfection...

Normally for the 2 of us I wouldn't go through the bother of appetizer, soup or sides except for the pickled beets. But it's Christmas Eve. I want to dress it up without being fussy.

What I'd love for Christmas is someone to cook for me. Can you hear me, Santa Claus??

Seagrass, I've never made the tourtiere, nor eaten it, although it seems close to our Michigan pasties.

I think I'd go for the gravy too, although I can Chase's chile sauce every year. If it weren't too late, I'd send you a jar, but it would never arrive by Christmas Eve now.

Annie

Thanks, Annie. I don't know what chile sauce is. Good to hear from you.

seagrass

Merry Christmas, Seagrass!

Chile sauce ala Chase is a tomato based relish, it's sweet, a tiny bit hot and a little spicy:

CF--Chase

Recipe Introduction

A bit of work but it tastes so good and your house will smell divine!

Elaine's Chile Sauce

11 Q basket (1/3 bushel) of field tomatoes peeled and smashed
7 Cup white sugar
4 1/2 Cup cider vinegar
2 Bunch of celery chopped
4 small hot peppers chopped
4 large sweet peppers (2 green , 2 red) chopped
4 large onions chopped
1 Tbl ground ginger
1 Tbl cinnamon
5 Tbl coarse salt
2 Tbl Pickling spice tied in a cheesecloth bag

Simmer/low boil chopped veggies with tomatoes for 2 hours then drain off 2 cups liquid. Add everything else EXCEPT sugar and simmer another 3 hours or even more, until nice and thick. Add sugar 1 hour before canning. Fill pint jars and HWB for 15 minutes.~

Annie

Tonight's dinner - Ann's wonderful tourtière with a scaled down, un-canned version of Chase/Elaine's "chile sauce." Fortunately I took some scattered notes while winging the sauce, as I was entirely happy with the results and will make this again.

Love the Xmas tree cut out!!

Great looking Tourtiere FOAS. And the pastry looks perfect too.

~Ann

Thanks! The Christmas trees were afterthoughts, to cover up some imperfections. :) And they weren't nearly as dark as the picture makes them out to be. The crust was CI's vodka crust because I didn't feel like straying from T&T for this meal, but it did pain me not to try Beachlily's recipe. Next time!

I used my Perfect-a-Crust rings for the first time. I guess they were helpful but I didn't realize they're best used with a 14" min rolling pin barrel which I don't have. That's now on my shopping list.

Looking good FOAS!

My Mom used to make chile sauce from canned tomatoes. Just a large can of tomatoes doctored with the appropriate spices, sugar and vinegar. It was always delicious and much easier than the big batch stuff I make.

However, like her butter tarts and spice cake, I never paid any attention and she didn't "document". Meredith hounds me to write everything down....I try but some things are just by smell, look, taste and feel !

Annie. I've just made my first Tourtiere but want to try to make some sides like the chili sauce you shared the recipe for. What kind of Hot Peppers do you mean? Jalapenos that have colored? Want to try it out but don't want to get the wrong type. Thanks and Merry Christmas . . . hope you or someone in the know is still around. Cheers, Jason

If you want to make an easy soup, try Sunset Publishers recipe for Potato Bisque Soup--

1 diced onion

1c chopped celery

1/4 c butter

1 qt chicken broth

5 medium potatoes cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 thinly sliced zucchini (optional)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 c parsley

1 qt whole milk

3 Tbsp cornstarch

1/4 c cool water

Saute onion and celery in the butter till tender. Add the chicken broth, potatoes, optional zucchini, salt, pepper and parsley and simmer 15 to 20 minutes till the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife point. Add the milk and heat through. Stir the cornstarch into the cool water and stir into the soup, simmering on low for 5 minutes till it thickens a bit. The zucchini is my addition and not original to this recipe.