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It has become tradition to go apple picking with my high school friend Marcy and her family at Carlson’s in Harvard Mass. We throw down a blanket in the middle of the orchard, cut some just picked apples to go with sharp cheese, drink a few octoberfests, and oh yeah – there is the picking too! The trees are so full at Carlson’s we can fill a half bushel bag in minutes. It makes for a perfect fall day, until I get home and realize just how many apples I have.

I developed this recipe based on Daniel Mattrocce’s renowned pear-cranberry chutney. It makes use not only of the abundance of apples but also the dozens of hot peppers I grew in the back yard.

Each summer, I make (at least one) big ole batch of these beans. And I mean BIG; this recipe makes almost 2 gallons of beans, enough to serve 60 people! I have been tweaking this recipe for years. What you have here is the end result – full flavored beans without the fat and cholesterol – a great addition to your next BBQ!

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There were a few years in the 70’s when my Mom was obsessed with making the perfect flan. I remember many a flop, filled with air bubbles, curdled or soupy. Eventually she perfected it, and I have been a big fan ever since.

In the nineties, I spent a number of winters between desolate Provincetown and the lively Christmas Time catering scene in New York City. I had the opportunity to work with some wonderful people including cake baker/artist, Lisa Montenegro. Lisa made dozens of biscotti each season to pack in her christmas goodie baskets, while we freelancers devoured the ends and scraps. One year, I was lucky enough to return to Provincetown with this recipe in hand. I added some fresh/frozen cranberries I had picked in the fire road woods the previous fall.