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Homemade Applesauce - Makes 4 cups or 8 servings.

2 Golden Delicious or other sweet apples*
2 Granny Smith or other tart apples
2 Fuji apples
6 1/2-inch x 2-inch strips lemon or orange zest
1 vanilla bean, broken or cut crosswise into 3 pieces
1/3 cup frozen apple juice concentrate

Quarter the Golden or other sweet apples. Cut away core from each wedge. Coarsely chop the wedges. Place chopped apples in deep, heavy saucepan.

Peel, quarter and core remaining apples. Chop coarsely and add to pot. Add zest, vanilla bean and juice concentrate.

Set pot over medium-high heat and bring contents to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to medium and cover pot. Simmer apples until sweet ones are tender but pieces hold their shape and other apples fall apart, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, uncover and cool. Remove vanilla bean, which can be rinsed and left out to dry, then reused up to 6 times.

When serving, include a piece of zest with each serving. Store, tightly covered in refrigerator, up to 1 week.

Per serving: 79 calories, 0 g. total fat (0 g. saturated fat), 21 g. carbohydrate, less than 1 g. protein, 4 g. dietary fiber, 3 mg. sodium.

* Use Crispin, Mutsu, or other sweet apple that holds its shape after cooking. Avoid Red Delicious, Gala and exceptionally juicy, soft varieties like Macintosh. Use only sweet varieties, if preferred, including local varieties like Cortland.