After my sister Linda and I saw the 1966 movie The Trouble with Angels with Haley Mills, we were thrilled with the idea of a boarding school, and when that wasn’t a possibility, attending the Villa Rosello in Newfield seemed like the next best thing. As kids, Mom and Dad took us to the yearly September barbecue there and the whole set-up looked just wonderful to two little girls.

We would park the car in the trees near the picnic grove and pull out the lawn chairs and just enjoy the day. We ate beef barbecue, corn on the cob, got cotton candy in our hair and always bought one of the raffle tickets.

One year it was a pony and I just knew that I had really won, but that my dad had begged the guy to throw my winning ticket back in the barrel.

When Mom said we could go to high school there, we were just thrilled, we just couldn’t wait to put soap in the nun’s sugar bowls and smoke in the basement. Seemed like it would be the fun thing to do!

Linda went first, spent two years there, and I went for one year before we both left to go back to Sacred Heart. Well, school is school and nuns are nuns no matter where you end up; and the reality of it all was that we weren’t angels and there wasn’t enough trouble to get into.

Thanks to 12+ years of school, I still can’t sleep well on Sunday nights and neither can my sister. Seems like we are still waiting for the alarm to ring and for Mom to call up to us to get up and then we realize that we have not ironed our uniforms yet!

I love fall and just can’t wait for all of the goodies that are out there made with apples! This recipe is one of my favorites and paired with an ice-cold glass of white wine on a Sunday evening, it can go a long way in chasing those back-to-work blues away!

Apples on Horseback
16 thin slices of pancetta
1 Pink Lady apple—peeled and cut into 16 wedges
3 ounces Manchego cheese, sliced 1/4 inch thick and cut into 2-by-1/2-inch sticks
16 2-inch rosemary sprigs or toothpicks, for skewers

Preheat a grill pan. Arrange the pancetta slices on a work surface and place an apple wedge and a cheese stick in the center of each slice. Wrap the pancetta around the filling and secure with a rosemary sprig or toothpick.

Grill the skewers until the pancetta is golden and crispy and the cheese is melted, 5 to 6 minutes. Serve hot.

Jean Hecker is a full-time travel agent at Magic Carpet Travels and a part-time foodie. She has a BA in Home Economics Education from Rowan University and enjoys exploring all facets of the food and restaurant industry.