Friendsgiving Party Guide

The recipes are ready, the weather’s chilly, and we’ve made it through the first week of November – time for a Friendsgiving celebration!

Friendsgiving might be my very favorite holiday of the season because we can keep it simple. We could all use less stress & drama and more getting together with friends over a few bottles of wine! The next few weekends are the perfect time to invite your favorite people over, cook up a few classic favorites, and spend a long evening together.

If you’ve been following along this week, you already know our menu: perfectly roasted chicken, creamy mashed potatoes – with a whole head of roasted garlic and a heaping handful of parmesan! – plus no-drippings vegetarian gravy, and gorgeous maple-balsamic roasted veggies. We’ll finish the evening with a bourbon pumpkin pie heaped high with bourbon maple whipped cream, just because we can!

Planning out an oven schedule is one of the trickiest parts of hosting. It’s never quite big enough to fit everything at once, and even if it is you might need to bake at three different temperatures. The beauty of these party guides is that I’ve spent all the time thinking about oven logistics so you don’t have to.

The key to actually enjoying your own party is to prep as much as you can ahead of time. Some things – like making the pie dough – can be done days before and get even better with time. If you know you’ll be tight on time, you can chop vegetables and mash potatoes and bake pie whenever you do have a spare hour that week. Just don’t get too bogged down in trying to follow the schedule exactly, either; think of it as guidelines more than actual rules.

Friendsgiving can be as low-key or fancy as you want. Just a few small touches like gold flatware and small bag of gourds can really set the scene, but if you’re feeling the dramatic tablecloth and flickering candles, go for it!

Table Setting

All of these recipes can be made with pretty basic kitchen equipment, but there are still a few inexpensive tools that will make your life easier. Kitchen shears are one of those things that I didn’t think I needed until I finally bought a pair – now I pull them out almost every day. Not usually for spatchcocking a chicken, but definitely for cutting herbs, cracking nuts, and even slicing pizza.

Kitchen Tools

Here is my very important rule of being a great Friendsgiving guest: bring two bottles of wine. One to open up and enjoy with dinner, the other as a ‘thank you’ for the hosts to sip later.

Because no matter how put-together the party may look, know that they’ve already cleaned the house / bought groceries / roasted the dang bird and will likely wash dishes for hours / clean up wine spills / stress over something silly, but they’re happy to do it anyway because they like you so much.

Wine is always appreciated, is all I’m saying.

These recipes are all written for 8 people. For more than 8 you’ll need a larger chicken; a good rule of thumb is one pound per person, although you’ll need less since it’s paired with so many good sides – plus you’ve gotta save room for pie!

So your mission is simple:

1. Send a Friendsgiving evite to your favorite friends.
2. Print out your grocery list and prep & cooking instructions.
3. Buy your groceries, choose a few decorations, and get excited!

I can’t wait to see your Friendsgiving spreads! Share your celebrations and don’t forget to tag #mountaincravings so I can ooh and ahh over your kitchen success. ♡

Happy Thanksgiving!

Friendsgiving Recipes

Perfectly Roasted Chicken	Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes	Maple Balsamic Roasted Veggies	Bourbon Pumpkin Pie

Friendsgiving Recipes

Perfectly Roasted Chicken	Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes	Maple Balsamic Roasted Veggies	Bourbon Pumpkin Pie

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