Friendsgiving has become an annual event signaling the start of the holiday season for many friend groups, usually at the beginning of November. Lifelong-home-town friends or new-job-new-city friends celebrate Thanksgiving in a casual, potluck, all-hands-on-deck fashion. While scheduling a group dinner in November is challenging, friend groups make the extra effort to ink this occasion on calendars. Friendsgiving can be anything from a seated dinner or a buffet with football as the main entertainment to a game night with turkey and pumpkin pie.
For many, Friendsgiving is not just a gathering, but an exciting opportunity to create new memories with both new and old friends. It's a chance to relive the magic of unique childhood traditions around the holidays. Friendsgiving beautifully blends our families' traditions while intentionally (or unintentionally) creating new moments to look forward to every year. Friends learn more about one another through the cherished holiday moments and time honored traditions they each reimagine and bring to the table. One friend brings sweet potatoes with marshmallows piled high with extras for everyone - just in case. Another friend brings mulled wine that her grandmother taught her how to make when she turned 21. Another friend brings paper turkey feather hats, which everyone must wear until the night is over. The joy of creating these new memories is what makes Friendsgiving so special.
This holiday-within-a-holiday is a creative, jolly opportunity for friends to distill family traditions and reimagine them with their contemporaries, creating new memories with every year and every burnt turkey.
Dishes and Drinks
A Friendsgiving menu can range from a classic Thanksgiving meal with the usual trappings and turkey to a few pizzas. There are no rules! However, a potluck-style meal is the tried and true Friendsgiving formula. Guests select their side dish, dessert or beverage and put their twist on it. Whether they bring a classic side or a family secret recipe, enjoying the different interpretations of "Thanksgiving food" is always a treat.
A charcuterie board is always a great addition to a night full of friends and drinks. Build your charcuterie board so it can be moved from the kitchen with cocktails to the table for dinner as an edible centerpiece and land in the living room for football at the night's end. Replenish your board as the night progresses, adding cheese that pairs perfectly with the wine for dinner or cookies one of your guests brought as you move towards dessert.
Creating a make-your-own bar set-up is a great way to include any beverage options guests bring for the night. Include a few local wine, beer and spirits options for out-of-town friends to enjoy. Get a recommendation from the local liquor store, like a Gundlach Bundschu Dry Gewürztraminer from Joe's Wines and Liquors. This traditional German white wine pairs well with turkey, stuffing and lighter base foods. Get it thoroughly chilled before serving. Or try this Château de Pougelon Fleurie, a cru Beaujolais with notes of black fruits and mushroom undertones. This red will bring together the vast variety of food items your friends brought for the evening with a smooth flavor.
Hack the Meal Prep
Working smarter, not harder, is the key to any truly fun, stress-free Friendsgiving. Don't have time to defrost a turkey? Pick up a couple of roasted whole chickens at the grocery, dress them up and serve them with gravy. Don't want to labor over crumbling pie crust? Grab a few pies at your favorite local bakery, plate them, garnish them to perfection and add whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream. If no one asks, you don't have to tell them they didn't come from your oven.
Personal Touches
Friendsgiving is an excellent opportunity to bring different friend groups together! Make everyone feel welcome with personalized name cards and a welcome note. Let your guests know how thankful you are for taking time out of their busy holiday schedule for a night of laid-back fun. Get a set of hand-embroidered napkins you can use every year, passing them from one host to the next. A new tradition that you can add to as your group grows.
Family Traditions
While many friends may bring the predictable dishes, others may show up with a family recipe you've never seen before - like a rice crispy turkey with M&M stuffing. This new-to-you dessert may be the perfect sweet addition you didn't know your table needed. The recipe will immediately circulate in the group text, and guests will fight over the leftovers.
Something to Take Home
Give your guests something to commemorate the special night with. Since most celebrate Friendsgiving at the beginning of November, give each guest a blank Thank You card and stamped envelope that they can send to whoever may be hosting them in a few weeks for the main Thanksgiving day event. Or maybe they simply send it to someone who lives far away just to tell the recipient how grateful they are for them even if they can't be together for the holidays.
Set each place with a miniature jar of your family's meat rub and a jar of raspberry jam you made with your mom in July, giving your guests a sweet taste of summer during the darker months ahead.
Cheers!
Between all of the thoughtful preparation and choreography, don't forget to enjoy it. Savor the wine, eat the rice crispy turkey leg. This season dedicated to thankfulness often becomes quite rushed, frantic and busy. Use an evening like Friendsgiving to slow down, and appreciate all there is to enjoy throughout the holiday season.