Making Fresh Applesauce

If you've never made fresh applesauce at home, you should give it a try. It is really simple. Serve it alongside with roast pork or as a dessert served warm with vanilla ice cream. Applesauce is also a key ingredient for great-tasting, low-fat quick breads and muffins.

• To make smooth and creamy applesauce - use a soft-textured apple, such as McIntosh. Add the sugar after the apples have softened, and pass the finished sauce through a food mill or sieve.

• To make chunky applesauce - use a firm apple, such as Northern Spy or Granny Smith. Add the sugar at the beginning of the cooking time, and mash the finished sauce with a wooden spoon or a potato masher.

• To tint applesauce pink - include apples with red skins, such as McIntosh or Cortland, and do not peel before cooking. Pass the cooked sauce through a food mill or a fine-mesh sieve to separate out the skins. The sauce will remain a lovely shade of pink. Or make apple-cranberry sauce by replacing some of the apples with cranberries (3 cups cranberries replaces 1 pound apples). Add 1/2 cup sugar to balance the tartness of the cranberries.

To flavor curried dish, add 1/2 cup applesauce to each 1 cup of curry sauce (or stock) when making a curried dish. Simmer as the recipe directs.

Spicy Applesauce

In a large saucepan, combine 1 cup apple cider, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 cinnamon stick and 5 whole cloves. Add 3 pounds peeled, cored and chopped McIntosh apples. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes. Taste for sweetness and add more sugar if desired. Simmer until desired thickness is reached. It will make about 8 cups.