Harvest Day 2013

Starting last year we began our Fall tradition of Harvest Day. We spend an entire day doing all things Fall. This year we started out with a delicious pumpkin french toast casserole. 

Recipe found here: http://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/2012/10/23/overnight-pumpkin-spice-baked-french-toast-casserole/

It was really good, although more of a dessert than a breakfast, especially when you smother it in caramel sauce and whipped cream :)

Next we headed to the Harvest Festival in Del Mar. It's an arts and crafts event where local vendors sell anything from soups, raw honey, and cosmetics, to carved gourds, paintings, and wooden crafts. A lot of it is geared towards Autumn and Christmas, but they have all sorts of things. We usually go for the samples; our favorites are the soups and dips.

After the Harvest festival we drove up to the mountains where they have several U-pick apple orchards.

Considering it was the end of the season, we still did pretty well. We went to a different Orchard this year and it was much better; not only were there more apples left, but the apples were also bigger.

Another thing that was nice about this orchard was that there weren't very many people. It was so nice to be outside walking around in the somewhat brisk air picking fruit off of trees. I can't wait until we get fruit from our own collection of fruit trees, although the experience will never quite compare to an entire orchard.

Hurray for U-pick! It is one of my absolute favorite things. I found a website that has a list of all the different U-picks around San Diego. I really want to go to an Orange grove. 

Next up was getting the best cold apple cider I have ever tasted in my life and having a picnic in Julian. It is so pretty up in the mountains, if only it weren't such a long drive I might contemplate living here.

On our way home we stopped at a pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins for Halloween.  Followed by a delicious dinner of soup in a bread bowl. Yum. 

All in all a very successful and wonderful day.

 Fall is one of the best times of the year...next up, Christmas!