Busy but Beautiful Day

Woke up a little early this morning to get some studying done before we left for apple picking! I knew we'd be snacking on apples and other fun goodies at the orchard, but I needed some real breakfast first to hold me over. I had a slice of sprouted wheat toast, with PB and a tiny bit of pumpkin butter, and a banana...

When we arrived at the farm, we had to have a little treat...almost all apple picking places around here have great baked goods, esp. apple cider donuts! Now, I NEVER eat donuts...but these are in a completely different category. Warm, delicate, flavorful and dusted with cinnamon sugar...mmmm.
Now off to the picking! We took the tractor ride into the orchard, with our bushel bag for filling with apples!

Brian picking!

Me picking
Gorgeous Apples
With our bag full to the brim we headed off to the Nashoba Valley Winery for our brunch reservations! We had a cute table outside under the pergola.


Brunch today was a buffet...this was my plate...There was a cold salad (front) with zucchini, summer squash, and tomato, a little pasta salad (which I usually don't like but this was really good), some fresh fruit, cheese, and crackers, some braised chicken, and some savory egg strata. I also had to try a little of the french toast Brian took...
After brunch, I did a tasting in the winery, bought a bottle of Strawberry Rhubarb wine for my mom, and we headed out.
After a stop at a marketplace, and at mom's house, we got back and I started on dinner!

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burritos, Take 2.

I still had all the cooked sweet potatoes from when I tried this Monday, but had no onion...now with all my ingredients I ventured in again! The recipe made SO MUCH FILLING! It was basically, sweet potato, black beans, cilantro, lemon juice, sauteed onions, jalapeno, and garlic!...All mushed together, stuffed in tortillas and baked.
The pan held 6 burritos, but I had extra filling, so I made 3 more and wrapped them in foil and put in the freezer for individual burritos in the future.
After the first 3o minutes, I took them out and topped with a little reduced fat cheese and put them back in to melt! I topped my burrito with fresh salsa, a slice of avocado, and a little dollop of light sour cream.
The burritos were AWESOME!! The sweet potato really came through and gave it a nice sweet flavor that complemented the salsa really well!

Of course a day of apple picking isn't over until there's some baking...so I made up a little apple crisp.
I took a couple recipes I like and slightly modified them, reduced some sugar, and added some pumpkin to the topping!

Crisp before going in the oven...I'll report in the morning with the crisp outcome :)

Good night!