Harvest Dinner 2024

After establishing Hunnydale Farm and producing a bountiful harvest in the year 2024, we decided to host our first ever Harvest Dinner. The planning was meticulous and joyful, with both of us pitching in an array of ideas we would later execute. 
Our bruschetta was definitely a hit! We used our tomato harvest to make a sauce that we spread on top of some sourdough we got from a local market, and then topped it with fresh tomatoes. 

Unfortunately our blooming onion was a bit of a miss. I accidentally mixed together the eggs with the coating, resulting in a strange looking sauce on top of the sliced onion. One guest said he loved it, but I think he was just trying to make me feel better. 

We had initially planned to serve green beans as one of the courses, but luckily divine intervention struck and we didn’t have time. The green beans were actually Kentucky long beans, and you were only supposed to eat the beans inside, not the shell. Safe to say that course would have been a disaster if we actually had time to serve it. 

We knew we wanted corn to be one of the main features because for the first time we had a VERY successful corn harvest. Growing corn can be difficult, as you have to pollinate the corn yourself and also prevent earwigs from devouring the corn as it becomes ready to harvest. We had tried to grow corn in the past, and a raccoon family used it to host their own little BBQ. Luckily, that wasn’t the case this year. We served the corn with butter and elote sauce, and almost burned the corn because we forgot to put water in the catering warming trays! Thank goodness everyone still loved it and said they couldn’t even tell. 

Our butternut squash also had a successful harvest, and throughout the year we had been making our favorite comfort soup -- roasted butternut squash -- so we thought it was natural to put this on our menu. We were able to make the soup vegan by using coconut milk in the recipe. It was a huge hit!

Our main course was stuffed acorn squash. It was filled with a blend of mushrooms, veggies, and rice and baked in the oven. I love a good stuffed vegetable and this one did not disappoint. We were worried that we didn’t have enough acorn squash, and then we harvested two more the morning of!

For dessert, our good friend Morgan of Lil Bergamot made us a delicious peanut butter chocolate cake. It was AMAZING and very on par with all of Lil Bergamot’s array of tasty treats.

We obviously had a pinterest vision board that we used for inspiration for the entire event. We knew we wanted a more eclectic vibe, while also keeping it cozy and rustic. We found a lovely person on Facebook Marketplace that rented out all types of glassware called Garner and Grace. They collect and buy vintage and colorful glassware from thrift stores, Facebook Marketplace, and from people selling their wedding/event decor. When we stopped by to check it out, we were in awe. So many colors! So many goblets! We were obsessed. We rented about 30 colorful goblets and 30 clear crystal goblets for our event and they were a huge hit! We decided we will probably be using Garner and Grace for all future harvest dinners as the process of picking up and dropping off was seamless.

We had a traditional farm to table setup, with two long tables right next to each other. Because we were only using the deck, we had limited space and once you sat down, you weren’t getting up again!

We tried out best to get local Colorado wines, but it is a bit difficult to grow white wine grapes in our state. We had a lovely local red blend and a rose that was local, and then also had a chardonnay and sherry to go along with the meal.

Since we are a small farm operating out of our backyard, we had to supplement some vegetables from local farmers markets, as well as dairy products, rice, and mushrooms. 70% of the food was from our backyard, with the other 30% coming from places like OffBeat Farm, Bjorn’s Colorado Honey, Mycocosm Mushrooom, Fox Fungi, and Frontline Farming. 

Lauren grew up going to Vail, CO where her Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Chuck have had a home throughout her childhood. Marilyn and Chuck pride themselves in their hosting abilities as well as their culinary expertise. Lauren has been watching Chuck prepare critical path schedules to ensure dinner is ready for 50+ people, a skill we’ve been echoing for our harvest dinners. Going to the Vail house with her siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends played a huge part in Lauren’s enthusiasm for hosting and creating a gathering place for the community. I’ve gotten to see Chuck Thomas’ prowess first hand, whether it’s his superior knife sharpening abilities, or the creation of a schedule so precise that the cooking flow is a work of art. Marilyn’s ability to bring people together and create a warm atmosphere of conversation, laughter, and of course fine dining, is more than impressive, it’s stately, it is divine, and it’s something we all hope to emulate.

Some of our lovely friends have small businesses in Colorado. It was a pleasure to be able to feature them at our Harvest Dinner. One of the companies is called Lil Bergamot. It’s run by our friend Morgan who is an excellent baker. She made a delicious cake with beautiful wild flowers as decorations for us to serve at the dinner. Our other friends Elle and Adi are an adorable couple that recently started their own candle making business called Persephone candleworks. They have been hustling and bustling at markets every weekend all year to get their business going, and it has definitely paid off. We have around 4-6 of their candles in our house at all times. They have a lot of scents, some seasonal, so it’s easy to start a collection!