Cooking, eating and drinking with your best friends? Sign us up! We can’t think of a better way to celebrate a holiday that involves indulging in great food and wine, surrounded by your chosen family. Here’s how to make your Friendsgiving memorable – and stress-free:
- Figure out who is bringing what, especially if you’re doing a potluck. No one needs five green bean casseroles! Start a Facebook group, invite your guests to join, and prompt a discussion around menu assignments. Can’t decide between pumpkin and pecan pie? Create a Facebook poll and let your guests express their preferences.
- Brush up on your turkey-cooking skills. Thanksgiving Day is not the time to start learning how to cook a turkey! Start now – and you’ll avoid a Thanksgiving nightmare. Not in charge of the turkey? Check in with that person a few days ahead of time to make sure he/she has a plan — and isn’t going to arrive 3 hours late.
- Avoid kitchen chaos. It can be incredibly difficult to have multiple people cooking in one kitchen at the same time. Ask guests to cook as much as they can at home ahead of time, and to bring a way to keep the food warm, such as a crockpot or hot plate.
- Don’t skimp on booze or wine. Rule of thumb is that every person will have two drinks per hour, so plan accordingly. That’s why award-winning Bota Box is a perfect wine for the occasion, with four bottles in every box, you can rest assured that your guests will be satisfied.
- Create ingredient cards. Put out index cards and ask each guest to write out the ingredients included in each dish to make things easier for those with food allergies or diet restrictions.
- Make a gratitude wall. Hang a string with clothespins, and put out pieces of paper for guests to write what they’re grateful. Later, have everyone guess who wrote what.
- Get help with decorating. Have a friend who isn’t the best cook? Assign him/her to be in charge of things like setting the table, arranging flowers and making name cards. (Hint: Using cloth napkins is a really easy way to amp up the class!)
- Ask guests to bring containers for leftovers. Getting creative with leftovers the next day is one of the best parts of this holiday. Make it easy for guests to take food home by asking them to BYOC — and so that you don’t get stuck with too much food in the fridge!
- Assign clean up duty. Just because you’re hosting Friendsgiving doesn’t mean you have to handle the cleaning up yourself. Assign different tidying-up tasks to happen at various points throughout the evening, and consider using plastic or paper dishes, especially if you don’t have a dishwasher.
- Plan appropriately for seating. Borrow folding chairs from neighbors; put out some cute cushions; and have a few extras on hand for last minute additions. After all, everyone is welcome at Friendsgiving!
Make this Friendsgiving a hit! Make sure to add Bota Box to your shopping list. Buy Now >>
