Harvest Dinner Party

In partnership with Sunsweet, I threw a Harvest Dinner Party to celebrate the prune “birth season.” This time of year is when their California grown plums are picked, harvested and dried to create their decadent Prunes. While we transition away from summer, it’s the perfect excuse to prepare a vibrant, delicious and nutrient dense meal to share with your favorite people. Best of all, it can all be done in the same day!

Within the menu I created for this dinner party, we’re using Sunsweet D’Noir Prunes and Sunsweet Amaz!n Prune Juice. The prunes add a nice texture to our appetizer while both the prunes and the juice add natural sweetness to our recipes. They make for a simple, delicious upgrade for baked goods, salads, and hosting-friendly dishes.

Abundant Harvest Dinner Party Hosting Guide

The Theme

When I think of the end of summer and harvest season as a whole, I envision vibrant, rich colors in the form of not only florals but also produce. There is so much variety when it comes to what we have available to us to east seasonly in the late summer and early fall and I really wanted to lean into that. I pictured the colors of the ingredients in the dishes to be reflected in the colors on the table while also incorporating actual produce around an overgrown, wild centerpiece (which of course, just had to be nestled into a basket from my thrifted collection).

Inspired by Sunsweet being over 100 years old, I wanted to pull pieces from my vintage glassware cabinet as well as use plates that’s styles have been around for centuries. Overall, the table came together in a way that felt gathered and imperfect yet beautiful and intentional, just like the feeling that the entire season evokes. I used all items I already had, which I very much encourage you to do as well!

The Timeline

Hosting and parties of all kinds can seem intimidating or stressful, but I make sure to plan for them in a way that creates the most low stress hosting experience possible so I can actually enjoy the event alongside my guests. Here is a rough outline of how I would recommend preparing for this specific themed party!

Month-Week Prior:

• Invite your guests (of course, the sooner the better!)
• Draft a grocery list based on the menu, inclusive of dietary needs and taste preferences of your guests
• Take inventory of decor, serve ware, kitchen equipment, etc. to ensure you’re covered based on the amount of guests and your menu
• Order any supplies, decor and/or ingredients that need to be purchased online
• Test out your recipes

Week Of:

• If you’re hosting outside, keep up with your garden maintenance to save yourself more work later on
• If you’d like, carry out a main grocery shop of everything that can be purchased in advance
• Gather, organize and label all serve ware and table items so that everything is ready to be set out
• Steam or iron linens for the tables

Night Before or Morning Of:

• Arrange any florals
• Set the table (only if hosting inside, if hosting outside, set closer to when guests arrive to keep everything clean)

Afternoon Of:

• Prepare the meal in the following order:
  • Caramelized Shallot Dip
  • Herby Almond Flour Crackers (start while the shallots caramlize)
  • Garlic Prune Glaze
  • Chicken Thighs
  • Roasted Veggies
  • Baked Maple Cinnamon Apples, Plums and Pears
• Set the table (if hosting outside, ensuring nothing will get dirty)

During:

• Get the dessert in the oven after dinner
• Enjoy!

Bonus Tips:

• Have food made in advance throughout the week that you can eat while prepping because you probably won’t want to be cooking when prepping multiple dishes for your party, plus it saves time!
• Run and empty your dishwasher before the party so you can load everything instead of hand washing and taking up counter space. The easier the cleanup the better!
• Clean your spaces the night before hosting then do last minute touch ups prior to guests arriving. Also, clean as you go to avoid a huge mess before guests arrive!
• You can easily keep your food warm by using the “keep warm” option on your oven!

The Menu

Below is everything that I included on the menu. The entire meal was super easy to make and many items can be prepared in full or in part ahead of time! You can choose to make items in advance if you’d like but you can also very easily make these the day of.

The following menu served approximately 4 guests. Keep in mind, everyone is different, so be mindful of the appetite levels of your guests to ensure there is enough to go around (and even send some home, if you’d like!).

To Start:

Caramelized Shallot Dip

• Ingredients:
  • 2 tbsp avocado oil, olive oil or butter
  • 6 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced (2 cups worth)
  • 1 tbsp coconut aminos
  • 6 cloves minced garlic
  • salt & pepper, to taste
  • 1 cup whole milk cottage cheese, blended until smooth
  • 1/2 cup cream cheese 
  • handful Sunsweet D’Noir Prunes, chopped
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped
    
• Instructions:
  • Slice the shallots into thin, long pieces
  • Add oil or butter to a sauce pan and allow to warm over medium/low heat
  • Add the shallots and cook for 30 minutes, stirring often to ensure they don’t burn
  • Add the garlic and coconut aminos 5 minutes before finish
  • Sprinkle in salt and pepper to taste
  • Turn off the heat and allow the caramelized shallots to cool completely
  • Blend together the cottage cheese and cream cheese until smooth
  • In a bowl, add the cottage cheese and cream cheese mixture, then fold in the caramelized shallots
  • Top with chopped prunes and chopped rosemary

Herby Almond Flour Crackers – click here for the recipe!

To Savor:

Roasted Veggies

This is one of those “no recipe recipes!”

• Fill 2 parchment lined sheet trays with veggies, all chopped to be the same size
• I used:
  • rainbow carrots
  • brussel sprouts
  • shallots
  • colorful fingerling potatoes
• Toss the veggies with olive oil (I used a garlic infused olive oil), salt and pepper until evenly coated
• Space everything out on the pans so that nothing is overlapping
• Bake for 35-45 minutes at 400°F

Oven Baked Chicken Thighs with Garlic Prune Glaze

Note: you can opt to double the sauce recipe for more/extra sauce!

• Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup Sunsweet Amaz!n Prune Juice 
  • 1 cup chicken bone broth
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp coconut aminos
  • 8 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup 
  • 1 tbsp coconut sugar 
  • salt & pepper 
  • 1 tbsp gf flour 
  • 6 chicken thighs
  • thyme, to garnish
    
• Instructions:
  • Whisk together the prune juice, chicken bone broth, apple cider vinegar, mustard, coconut aminos, minced garlic, maple syrup, coconut sugar, salt and pepper
  • Add the mixture to a sauce pan over medium low heat and bring to a low simmer for approximately 15-20 minutes, ensuring the glaze thickens just slightly and does not get to a point where it is thick and sticky
  • Whisk in flour 1 tsp at a time until completely incorporated
  • Preheat your oven to 400°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper
  • Pat your chicken thighs dry on both sides with paper towel
  • Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to a pan and sear the chicken thighs for 4 minutes on each side
  • Add chicken thighs to the parchment lined baking sheet, skin side up
  • Spoon 1/2 tbsp of sauce onto each piece of chicken and use a brush to evenly distribute 
  • Bake chicken thighs in the oven for 35-45 minutes (165°F internal temp)
  • If you’d like, broil the chicken thighs for 2 minutes, then remove from the oven
  • Plate the chicken and pour any leftover sauce over the chicken thighs

To End:

Maple Cinnamon Baked Apples, Plums and Pears

• Ingredients:
  • 2 apples
  • 4 plums
  • 2 pears
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp coconut sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch salt
  • squeeze lemon juice
  • vanilla ice cream
  • chopped pistachios
  • caramel sauce
    
• Instructions:
  • Preheat your oven to 400°F and line a small rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper
  • Mix together the maple syrup, coconut sugar, cinnamon, salt and lemon juice together
  • Cut all the fruit in half and remove the pit from the plums and scoop out the seeds/surrounding area from the apples and pears, then place the rounded side down on the baking sheet
  • Brush or spoon the maple cinnamon mixture over the fruit and be sure to cover each piece completely
  • Drizzle any remaining mixture over the fruit, then bake for 35 minutes
  • Once baked and soft, remove from the oven and serve warm with a scoop with vanilla ice cream, chopped pistachios and a drizzle of caramel sauce

FOLLOW ALONG!

Be sure to follow me on Instagram and TikTok to see all of the behind the scenes of recipe creation as well as how to videos to watch them come to life! You can also head over to my Pinterest to save all of my recipes in one spot that you plan whip up in the future.

PS – If you make any of these recipes or are inspired to host a similar event, I would be so grateful if you left a review so I can hear what you think! I also am happy to answer any questions you may have on here, but if you want a quicker response, be sure to shoot me a message on Instagram. Thank you so much and talk soon!