I could see sidra/scrumpy being good in there - and yes, that area is great for all the fresh cloudy cider. Sadly not as easily available elsewhere!

Hope you enjoy! Yes, definitely with canned beans just put them in towards the end, and in fact you may feel you don't need to cook the meats quite as long, just long enough to be tender.

You certainly could, though it's less traditional - they are all relatively neutral flavor and they will help give you some vegetables in there/larger quantity if that's what you are looking. The onion in particular may add a slight sweetness, if you soften first, but otherwise I'd expect they add a slight roundness to the flavor but not much more - they will more blend in given the stronger flavors from the meats.

Sorry to hear them turned to mush. Thinking about it, lima beans do tend to be a bit thinner skinned which may be partly why. I am pretty sure it's Great Northern beans that I have used for this, if that helps. I would say whichever beans you use, it's worth checking part way through to see they are not getting too soft - it's a balance between making sure you get plenty flavor into them from the meats and overcooking. I'll update comments in the recipe to reflect this, to try to help others.

Thanks, it is indeed both! And just the thing in this cold weather.

Thanks, yes just the thing for this cold!

Thanks, using the dry beans really lets them take on all those great flavors.

Enjoy when you give it a try!

Thanks, and yes definitely just the thing this time of year.