By Marie Fagan Peart | marie@haldimandpress.com
Liz & Mona Lafleur
At Christmas I received a wonderful gift – a homemade, French Canadian tourtière. I shared this with my children and grandchildren as part of our Christmas celebration and it was enjoyed by all of us. A tourtière is a meat pie made with a combination of ground pork and ground beef. It is customary for French Canadians to make this as part of the Christmas season celebrations. There are variations to this meat pie depending on the community of origin. Liz Lafleur of Hagersville made 14 pies at Christmas time with the help of her daughter Mona and her partner Harold. She kindly gave one to me.
Liz grew up in northern Ontario in Mattice, a small community about 40 miles north of Kapuskasing. Her parents had moved there from Quebec to farm and start a family. She is the sixth of 12 children. At 14 years of age, she left school to stay at home to work on the farm. Liz absolutely loved tending the animals, milking the five cows, cleaning stables, and all the work that farming entails. In her mid-teens she began helping her older siblings as they moved out and started their own families. She traveled to various homes assisting with new babies, housekeeping, and meal prep.
While helping a family in Sudbury she met Albert. They eventually married and made their way to Hagersville in the mid-1960s when Albert got a job with Laidlaw Transport.
Together, Liz and Albert raised a family of four: Jim, Mona, Bob, and Norm. The family grew and now includes seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Some of the readers may remember Liz from her years as the manager of Becker’s convenience store in Hagersville and Albert as the owner of the laundromat. Liz has been an active volunteer with her church and the legion for many years. She makes great egg salad sandwiches which, by the way, she still prepares when requested today.
Liz told me that recently her family has taken an interest in learning how to make some of the dishes she has prepared over the years. Her tourtière started with her mother-in-law’s original recipe. Liz liked to experiment with the ingredients and spices until she found what suited her taste. The upside-down pineapple cake was also a family favourite. Enjoy!
Tourtière
1 pound of ground beef
½ pound of ground pork
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup diced onions
1 cup potatoes, mashed without milk
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon cinnamon
4 bay leaves
9” pie pastry, enough for two crusts
Add all the ingredients, except the pastry, to a pot. Simmer slowly until the meat is cooked and smells good.
It is best to cool and refrigerate until the next day. Remove bay leaves. Warm the mixture slightly before placing into a pie shell. Add top pastry crust. Prick with fork to let steam escape.
Bake in a 325°F oven for 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
Upside Down Pineapple Cake
Base:
2 Tablespoons butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 tin of pineapple rings
Maraschino cherries
Cake:
½ cup butter
¾ cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups flour
¾ cup of milk
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
In a 9”x 13” oven proof pan, melt 2 Tbsp. butter and brown sugar. Place pineapple rings in sugar mixture and add one cherry in the centre of each ring.
Beat 1/2 cup butter and white sugar together. Add eggs and mix well. Add flour, baking powder, milk, salt, and vanilla. Mix. Pour over pineapples.
Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes or until done. Serve each piece upside down with the pineapples on top. Add whipped cream or ice cream to garnish.
