A Harvest Brunch with Friends

As is clearly evidenced by the title of our blog, we are very serious brunch enthusiasts. We love going out for brunch at restaurants, cooking brunch at home, and sometimes even eating brunch for dinner.  What may not be known is that we are also very enthusiastic about entertaining. We love sharing a meal with friends, and sometimes the coziest place to do that is at home! 

When entertaining guests, it’s always nice to have something to celebrate. It doesn’t need to be a major holiday, either; sometimes something as simple as a change in season can be cause for celebration. In this case, we wanted to host a brunch for some close friends in honor of that most nostalgic and heart-warming of seasons: autumn. 

I use the term “nostalgic” for a number of reasons; mainly that here in Los Angeles, fall doesn’t really exist. The past few years, it’s been so hot that September through November have really just been an unwelcome extension of summer. We grew up on the East Coast, in cities up north where boots, thick socks, and scarves are actually useful. So, every year we find ourselves looking longingly at our East Coast friends’ Instagram feeds full of freshly fallen leaves, cozy sweaters in pretty autumn colors, and apple picking in cute flannel shirts and knit caps. We each separately even tried out that apple picking bit, and we just wound up sweaty and sunburned with a bunch of apples we didn’t know what to do with (it was too hot to make applesauce). Folks, you can’t force cute and cozy fall clothing here in Southern California; trust us. You’ll just wind up a hot mess. 

I digress.

In honor of this nostalgia - of flannel and apples, of actual seasons and new beginnings, of cider and freshly fallen leaves - we celebrated the best way we knew how. With brunch. 

There were yummy treats a’plenty. To sip, a simple spiked cider with bourbon and hot coffee (we turned on the A/C). 

For the creative souls, a build-your-own toast bar with endless possibilities. Perhaps the most exciting topping was Johnna’s homemade ricotta in its perfect creamy glory. Paired with simple oven-roasted tomatoes and some fresh basil, it was heaven. Meanwhile, fresh farmers’ market figs and local honey satisfied those with a sweet tooth (me).

The centerpiece was a homemade quiche filled with roasted sweet potatoes, caramelized onions, baby kale, thyme, and gruyere. 

Hearty accompaniments included chicken-apple sausages and simple roasted potatoes with garlic. And because we love to have greens with just about every meal, we couldn’t forget a big beautiful salad with arugula, roasted beets, candied pecans, pomegranate seeds, and avocado. 

No brunch is complete without something sweet, so we celebrated the fruits of the season with some beautiful pastries that are deceptively simple to make: apple and cream cheese rosettes, hand pies with plums and thyme, and mini peach galettes. 

More photos and event details in the gallery below! 

Pretty Place Settings

Johnna hand-calligraphed the guests' names on to dried apple slices, and used twine to make a simple napkin ring. To get the color scheme just right, we chose fabrics from our local craft store and sewed the napkins and table runner ourselves. To add a touch of luxe and offset the deep green tones, we used gold flatware and chargers. 

Seasonal Treats

We picked up a lot of the ingredients for our brunch spread from our local farmers market. It's always so exciting to see the produce selection change with the seasons!

Autumn Salad

One of our favorite fall veggies to add to a salad is delicata squash - unfortunately they hadn't arrived at the markets yet on the day of our party. Instead, we roasted up some golden beets, which added their own unique sweetness to the salad that we really enjoyed!

Autumn Salad with Spiced Maple Pecans

For a sweet and crunchy addition to any salad, try adding some simple candied pecans. We tossed ours in a little maple syrup, sprinkled them with salt and cayenne, and put them in a 375 degree F oven for about 3-5 minutes. Delicious!

A Quiche for Fall

This quiche was a riff on Smitten Kitchen's version; it's easy to customize a recipe like this to make the most of the flavors of the season. 

Mini Nectarine Galettes

These are hands down the easiest to make, especially since we used store-bought puff pastry rather than making it from scratch. This shortcut saves tons of time, and still tastes great!

Plum and Thyme Hand Pies

These hand pies are super simple and have a really lovely flavor. We added elderflower liqueur to add a floral note to the filling. 

Apple Cream Cheese Rosettes

These rosettes are so. pretty. And believe it or not, they're incredibly simple. Check out this video for step-by-step instructions (the narrator is pretty entertaining)! We edited the recipe a bit by spreading some cream cheese inside the pastry before rolling it up. 

Homemade Ricotta

With just a few simple ingredients, you too can make delicious homemade ricotta! It's easier than you might think, and the results are absolutely delicious. 

Toasts for Days

With just a handful of simple toppings, guests could make a variety of different types of toasts! We offered a few types of bread to choose from as well - these were made with a par-baked loaf we picked up at Trader Joe's. 

A Sweet Twist on Toast

Depending on which toppings were chosen, guests could go sweet or savory with their toast! This one is built on a sprouted sourdough bread with ricotta, figs, and local honey from the farmers market. 

A Pretty Plate

Looking at this plate still makes me hungry! We chose simple white plates for this brunch because we knew the food would be bright and colorful, and we wanted it to really pop! 

A Simple Bar

To keep things easy, we chose to serve just one simple cocktail, along with the basics: water, coffee, and tea if requested. This made for a simple, no-fuss bar area! We decorated the window with a garland we made out of dried apple slices and twine. 

To Spike or Not to Spike

We wanted our guests to have the option of having alcohol in their cider or not, so we added bourbon to the drinks upon request. And since my family's from Kentucky, I of course always keep more than one type of bourbon in the house - so guests could pick their poison! 

A Spicy Garnish

To add a bit more flavor to our cider, we floated cinnamon sticks and apple slices in the glasses and in the serving pitcher. 

Keeping it Cool

We wanted to make sure that the cider stayed cool throughout the brunch, so Johnna made ice cubes with some extra cider the night before. This way, our drinks were cold and undiluted even by the second round! 

Gold Straws and Mason Jars

Yes, Mason jars used as glasses are a perennial hipster favorite. We couldn't help ourselves. To add a little shine and tie the jars in with the rest of the color scheme, we added some adorable gold straws that we picked up on the cheap from Target. 

Recipe Index:

1. Homemade Ricotta 
2. The sweet potato, caramelized onion, and gruyere quiche was created using this recipe as a guide.
3. The hand pies were an amalgamation of this preparation method mixed with a riff on this filling (plums instead of peaches; elderflower liqueur instead of bourbon; addition of finely chopped fresh thyme... what can I say? I'm a baking rebel).
4. Apple Cream Cheese Rosettes
5. The salad was greatly inspired by this one, with a few additions and subtractions.