Food & Recipes, Home Entertaining
A Different Friendsgiving
Take your Thanksgiving Dinner to a New Level – In 5 Easy Steps!
When I was growing up Thanksgiving was always at our house. We had a very small family, just 5 of us and no cousins anywhere close by, but my parents did have several close friends and their families would come.
My Dad always made the turkey (he was the good cook in our house!) and I loved the smell of it cooking for hours in the oven. One of my very favorite food memories is my Dad making what he lovingly referred to as Turkey Carcass Soup the next day with, you guessed it, the carcass of the turkey. It was always delicious!
Today my siblings live far away, my parents have passed and my close friends are my family. I know I’m not alone in this situation as my friends and I talk about the looming holidays every year. Some of them travel to their families to celebrate and some are lucky enough to have family close by but there’s always a group of us that are adrift this time of year.
Now we have what has been dubbed a “Friendsgiving” and I have to tell you it’s the BEST. It only takes a few friends, 3-4, to pull this off so you don’t need a crowd at all just a little pre-planning and being firm that it’s a POT LUCK – everyone contributes!
Here are the 5 easy steps to pull off your own Friendsgiving!
- Plan the menu a few weeks ahead (3 to be safe) and put it up on a Google Doc so that everyone can sign up. Make sure that the menu includes how many servings are needed. The host ALWAYS makes the turkey (or if you don’t cook- you can buy it already cooked at your local market).
- If you don’t have enough chairs and tables, rent them or your friends might have a few extra. You can get very inexpensive table cloths and napkins at Target or IKEA or a local thrift store. The same thing goes for plates, flatware and glasses. Target, IKEA or your local thrift store. They do NOT have to match. Part of the fun is the eclectic setting!
- Set the table the night before. I actually do this every time I have a party. It saves not only time but also me from going crazy on the day of the party.
- Instead of a formal bar – you can use a cooler filled with ice and put bottles in it to keep cold. These are your friends, after all.
- Serve dinner buffet style with little cards with the description of the dish and who made it.
Remember, the whole point of this is to gather your friends and share a wonderful meal that everyone has helped create. Then sit back and watch football!