Friendsgiving is a nontraditional holiday held before or after official Thanksgiving. This is the time to gather your squad for a night of delicious food and drink, sharing feelings of love and thankfulness for friends who have become like family. Here are a few Friendsgiving ideas to keep your celebration low-stress and affordable, without sacrificing any of the fun.
Buy a cooked turkey.
Want to keep things casual? Order a whole cooked turkey (maybe one smoked by your local barbecue joint). All you have to do is take a pre-party drive to pick up your bird, and dinner’s only a carve away. The added cost of buying a precooked turkey is totally worth the time you’ll save.
Start a shareable sign-up.
The easiest way to keep your gathering frugal is to declare a Friendsgiving potluck. Once the date is set, take advantage of free and shareable sign-up sites to corral potluck contributions. This way, you’ll also ensure you don’t end up with six green bean casseroles. If you want to send Friendsgiving invites via snail mail, just be sure to include the link information somewhere on the invitation.
Keep decor minimal.
Friendsgiving isn’t the occasion for your wedding china or cloth napkins. Consider cute recycled paper plates, napkins and a craft paper runner (if you’re feeling fancy). Set out colorful pencils and markers and let guests decorate and label their dishes directly on the paper runner.
Try new riffs on classic recipes.
This is your opportunity to try those funky recipes that might not be as popular at your family’s classic Thanksgiving dinner. Curried butterscotch pie, miso-spiked mashed potatoes, pulled-turkey egg rolls—this is the time to give them a go.
BYOB (and share).
Supplement your Friendsgiving food menu with a few bottles of bubbly. Ask everyone to bring a drink to share, and let them know they don’t need to splurge—this is the perfect time to unload that bottle of moscato your neighbor brought over this summer!
Leave the cleanup for later.
The dishes can wait until the next morning. Put on a pot of coffee and a loud playlist and an hour later, you’ll already be planning your next get-together.
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