So you choose your authorities very carefully, but it is still appeal to authority.
I actually agree with you and think you make a very important point. There is no way we could possibly apply methodological naturalism every time we had to make a decision. We all have to appeal to authority over and over again in order to hold all sorts of beliefs that are essential to us being able to function in everyday life.
We write off 'appeal to authority' far too readily as a valid means of determining what to believe. But yes, I entirely agree, we have to be very careful about which authorities to believe.
In the end it comes down to the question of who we put our faith in. I'm using the word 'faith' in its normal sense, not the opposite sense it has acquired when some people are talking about religion, that is, blind faith. Normal faith is a level of trust based on track record and is entirely rational. It is the reason someone might wait on a street corner for a lift even though they don't yet see the approaching car: past experience tells them that the person coming to collect them is reliable and will turn up as usual.
If we continue to put our faith in people who are faithful then we will generally not be disappointed. Similarly, we won't generally be dissapponted appealing to the authority of people who have a good track record of that authority.