Apple Picking

This past weekend Mike and I kicked off the Fall Season with a bang. We have been planning this trip for a few months. We watch the show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on occasion and we really enjoy it. It is a show the features small food joints that have amazingly delicious food. A few months back we looked up to see if any places in CT made the show. There were three. One happened to be in Norwalk, it was a venizulaian place called Velincia's that has delicious empanadas and arrapas. We went three times in less than two week, it is so delicious. Another place was O'Rourke's Diner in Middlefeild CT, which just happens to be in the same town that we go apple picking in. So we decided to go up there for brunch before apple picking and man was that a great decision. 

The town the diner is located in is so darling, and very New England, it set the perfect backdrop for our morning. The diner itself was really small, a lot smaller than we thought it would be. It was also really busy, we had to take two seats at the counter. The diner only serves breakfast on Saturday and the menu was fantastic. It was hard to decide what to order. I was really excited that they give you some sweet bread to eat while you wait to be served. They are known for their breads I guess. The famous chef at this place is Brian, he is the one in the triple D video clip. We watched the clip before going that morning so we saw chef Brian on there. I was slightly star struck then when chef Brian came out from the kitchen and cut me a piece of his hot, fresh sweet bread and put it on my plate. Later he came out and talked to us for a few min, then he went on to talk to every other group in the restaurant. I was really impressed with that, it made the whole experience feel more personal. The food was incredible. Best french toast, bangers and eggs we have ever eaten. We left with very happy, and full stomachs.

After brunch we went over to Lyman orchard for our annual apple picking outing. It rained a lot the day before so the orchard was really wet and muddy, but we didn't let that stop us. We, well I really, picked three nice sized bags of apples. Mike will want you to think that he picked apples, but in reality (as the pictures show) he spend most of his time on his phone and taking pictures. Some of the apples on the tree were seriously supersize. I actually had to look hard to find some more normal sized apples. The setting of course was beautiful, its hard to see the vibrant colors of the trees in the pictures, but some were just gorgeous.

 

It didn't take to long to pick all of our apples so after we finished we went to the Apple Barrel, the country store at the orchard. It is on a beautiful little pond. The sell hot apple crisp and hot apple cider outside. We of course got both and enjoyed them very much... although there were a lot of bees around and one landed on my hand. That was not a pretty moment, I dropped my apple crisp, screamed like a little girl and ran away. I think it embarrassed Mike. lol. We were still pretty full from brunch so we didn't buy to much from the country story like we normally do. We got apple cider glazed doughnuts and carmel apples for later and called it a day. It was just a lot of fun to look around at all the treats and yummy food. I only wish the store was closer, but thats what Stew Leonard's is for I guess. After that it was back home so that Mike could study and I could do some homework before the General Relief Society Broadcast. I hope we can go on one more drive up north before the leaves are gone, but the next few weekends are pretty busy. Fingers Crossed.