Baltus Van Tassel hosted a party in his home to celebrate the harvest. It was clear as Ichabod rode on his borrowed horse to the party that the season of autumn was well underway. The day was described was "a fine autumnal" one. Along the way to the Van Tassel farm, Ichabod passed "trees of the tenderer kind [that] had been nipped by the frosts into brilliant dyes of orange, purple, and scarlet." The harvest time also meant that it was the season for certain delicious foods, which Ichabod loved. He fantasized about apples "heaped up in rich piles for the cider-press." He thought of corn cakes and corn pudding, as well as "dainty slapjacks" and pumpkin pies.

When Ichabod arrived at the fall gathering, his eyes were not on the beautiful girls. Instead, they were immediately drawn to the "ample charms of a genuine Dutch country tea-table, in the sumptuous time of autumn." The party celebrated the harvest time with seasonal foods, such as apple pies, pumpkin pies, and meats.