It’s that wonderful time of year when friends and family start gathering together (around a table of delicious food!). My girlfriend Sarah (and her fiancé Trevor!) hosted us for Friendsgiving this year, and she was the hostess with the most-ess! We all got to play a little role in this fun Friendsgiving, so if you’re in need of some ideas, recipes or a new tradition – look no further!
The Food
Who is around the table is always more important than what’s on the table, but can we all agree that the food is a pretty close second?! Here are some of the fabulous recipes that we cooked up this year for Friendsgiving (Sarah’s pumpkin muffins will be the staple dessert at your next gathering!).
- Charcuterie Board
- We chose soppressata, salami & prosciutto for our meet & cheese board, and paired it with honey goat cheese (the MOST delicious!), brie, and a sharp cheddar. We served this with traditional water crackers, as well as Blue Diamond nut thins for the gluten-free friends in the house (my husband actually preferred these to the other crackers).
- Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
- You will need: 1-2 bunches of asparagus, 1/2 pound of bacon, olive oil, salt & pepper
- Preheat oven to 400
- Slice one strip of bacon into two, vertically
- Drizzle asparagus with olive oil, season with salt & pepper
- Wrap stalks of asparagus with strips of bacon, lay on greased cookie sheet
- Bake for 12 minutes; flip over using tongs; bake for 15 minutes; serve!
- Recipe note: as a *slightly* healthier option, we wrapped 3-4 stalks of asparagus in one strip of bacon, so that each ‘bunch’ was more asparagus than bacon. You can certainly do a 1-1 ratio for more bacon in each bite, but you will need to buy 1 pound of bacon!
- Deviled Eggs
- You will need: 1 dozen eggs, 1 tbs of mayonnaise, 1 tbs of mustard, and 1 tbs of pickle juice
- Hard-boil the eggs; carefully slice eggs in half and scoop out yokes
- In bowl, mix yokes, mayo, mustard & pickle juice
- “Scoop” mixture back into egg whites (pastry bag method is key!)
- Sprinkle paprika lightly on top
- Turkey Meatballs (a recipe from Sarah’s kitchen!)
- You will need: 1 pound ground turkey, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, 1 egg (whisked), garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt & pepper (spice amounts = enough for seasoning), 3 tbs olive oil, 14 oz red sauce, mozzarella cheese
- Preheat oven to 400
- Combine turkey, parmesan cheese, salt & pepper, egg, garlic powder and Italian seasoning and form into ball shape
- In a separate bowl, combine olive oil & red sauce; spoon 1/3 of this mixture into your baking dish; place meatballs on the dish, and then spoon the remaining mixture on top of meatballs
- Bake for 15-20 minutes
- Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top, and bake for 3-5 minutes to melt the cheese
- Pumpkin Muffins (a new favorite of mine from Sarah’s kitchen!)
- You’ll need: 1 box yellow cake mix, 3 eggs, 1/2 vegetable oil, 1 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 15 oz can pumpkin, 1/2 bag mini chocolate chips
- Combine ingredients in bowl and evenly dish into muffin tin.
- Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.
- Sangria
- 1 750 ml bottle of Red Wine (I prefer a dry red, but this is up to you!)
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 2 apples (cut into squares)
- 1 orange (sliced)
- Optional ingredients: brandy, sugar (we did not add these!)
Side note: My husband is definitely more of a beer drinker than a wine drinker, so I grabbed him some beer for this festive occasion. My two favorite holiday beers right now are Victory’s Winter Cheers and Samuel Adams’ White Christmas!
The Details
What is a Friendsgiving without some festive decor? I found this adorable ‘Happy Friendsgiving’ sign at Home Goods, and Sarah had adorable cupcake toppers, napkins and plates to add to the festive mood. Target, Home Goods, Hobby Lobby & At Home are all great places to find these festive touches!
The Fun
We played games like Clue and What Do You Meme. Added favorites like Farkle, Sequence or Cards Against Humanity also make for a fun post dinner activity when you’re looking to laugh, despite being too full to move!
(Food photo credit: The Beautiful Sarah Morrison – pictured below.)
Special thanks to Sarah & Trevor for a fun Raleigh weekend, and for hosting a perfect Friendsgiving!
