This Friendsgiving post is sponsored by @honeysucklewhite and @shadybrookfarms. All opinions are my own.
So you’ve decided to host a #Friendsgiving, but you don’t know where to start. Hosting a Friendsgiving, or any party for that matter, can be stressful but it doesn’t have to be. Here are some tips to help you make this Friendsgiving fun for everyone, including yourself. (And maybe save a coin or two in the process!)
The Food
This is one of the biggest components of hosting and can totes overwhelm you if you don’t plan ahead. I have a few tips to help you plan and help your guests as well!
You make the turkey.
If you take on the meat for your Friendsgiving, you can leave it up to your friends to bring all of the sides and desserts. I chose to do a Cajun theme for my Friendsgiving, so that gave me an idea of what I wanted to make and what I wanted people to bring. I made a Cajun Honeysuckle White Whole Turkey for my party and it came out fantastic. (You can find the recipe here).
Friendsgiving is a celebration of good friends, good drinks and good turkey! #goodfeedsgood This year, I teamed up with Honeysuckle White because they tell you exactly where your turkey is coming from. In fact, Honeysuckle White was one of the first to even let you trace your turkey, probably because their birds are raised with care by independent family farmers. These days, that’s something I really look for when buying meat.In an effort to stick with my Cajun theme, I decided to do a Dirty Turkey Rice instead of a stuffing. I used Honeysuckle White Turkey Sausage which gave it great flavor!
In an effort to stick with my Cajun theme, I decided to do a Dirty Turkey Rice instead of a stuffing. I used Honeysuckle White Turkey Sausage which gave it great flavor!
Find out what everyone is bringing.
Because I wanted to keep my cooking to a minimum, I relied on my friends to bring the sides and desserts. I knew I wanted to stick with a Cajun theme, so I relayed that message and let them come up with their dishes. I kept a list of what everyone was bringing. This way, I could make sure we wouldn’t have any duplicates and we’d enough of a variety.
The Decorations
Because I live in an apartment, I decided to host my Friendsgiving at my friend’s Little House of Bishop Arts. The place is already decorated like a home, so I didn’t have to do too much to give it that Friendsgiving feel. I wanted most of my budget to go towards food, and I didn’t want to buy things that would just sit around my house for a year.
Where to put the food
Since the kitchen didn’t have an island I could use, I put all of the food in a separate room on a table. It was right by the window so the lighting was perfect. There was no real strategy to where I put things, except I had the turkey in the middle and dessert on the end.
Don’t spend all of your $$ on wasteful decor
The two things I bought for decoration were pumpkins (which I gave to a friend to use after the party) and a craft paper roll to serve as a ‘table cloth’. I put candles around the tables, and set up some of Bree’s plants to add some color. I had some chargers, so I put those down with plastic plates, plasticware, and napkins. When you sign up to host a Friendsgiving for No Kid Hungry presented by Honeysuckle White and Shady Brook Farms, they’ll send you a host kit that give tips to make decorating easy! Learn more here.
The Best Icebreaker
One thing about hosting a Friendsgiving is that while you know all of your friends, they may not all know each other. I had blogger friends, coworkers, and some of my besties come together so I wanted to make sure they all found a way to talk to each other. Remember how I said I brought that craft paper for the table cloth? Well, that wasn’t it’s only use. After everyone arrived, I had them come into the dining room and have a seat. Then I told them we were having a competition.
Build Your Own Charcuterie Board
The best part was, no one saw this coming! I brought out a bunch of cheeses, nuts, and dried fruits and told them whoever made the cutest cheese board at their spot won! It was awesome!! People were running around left and right to get the best ingredients to make their cheese board. Plus, I decided to make a focaccia last minute, and the activity gave me enough time to finish that up before dinner. Win win win win.
Bonus Jonas!!!
One of the worst/best things about having a dinner party is finding out where to put all of the leftovers. Which is why a few nights before the event, I went on Amazon and spent $20 on meal prep containers! Everyone had plasticware to take food home so there was no excuse to keep it with me. I liked getting the meal prep containers because they had different compartments for everyone to keep their sides separate. It was brilliant and everyone left with food for their kids and husbands.
So that’s how I threw my stress-free Friendsgiving for No Kid Hungry! From decorating with items around the house, to having the best icebreaker EVER, it really did go off without a hitch. It wouldn’t have been the same without that delicious Honesuckle White Turkey, or the many sides that people brought to compliment it. Everyone had a blast and they even stayed around to help me clean up. Win win win win!
This year, @honeysucklewhite and @shadybrookfarms have teamed up with @nokidhungry and are making it easy for anyone to host a fun Friendsgiving get-together. Visit https://www.honeysucklewhite.com/friendsgiving/ for recipes, tips and information on how we’re working to end childhood hunger. #goodfeedsgood
