How to Host the Perfect Friends-giving

Friendsgiving is one of the best ways to get excited for Thanksgiving. As the holidays approach and the weather gets colder, I always find myself wanting to be wholesome AF and do cute activities with friends. Obviously, in college it’s hard to go all out. I mean let’s face it, we’re broke, lazy and most of us either don’t know how to cook or don’t have the kitchen space or supplies to cook. Here’s how to host and plan the perfect friendsgiving while at school.

Pick a date in advance 

Everyone in college is busy with classes, exams, work/internships, clubs and honestly, going out. So it’s important to ask your friends what their availability is as early as you can. Suggest about 2-3 dates that work for you and see which date works for the most amount of people, too. I find the best days are Sunday’s because nobody has class and nobody goes out unless you’re on some sort of bender. Try to make the date as close to Thanksgiving as possible so that everyone’s in the spirit. 

Make a dank menu 

Once you and your friends have picked a date, it’s time for the best part: pick the menu. What I like to do to make this easy and organized is make a google doc and invite everyone who is coming to the dinner. Since I invite around 10 people to my friendsgiving, it would be impossible for all of us to cook that much food in the same kitchen. So for this reason, my friends and I do a potluck friendsgiving, meaning everyone cooks a dish at home and brings it to my apartment. If you have a group of 5 or less and enough kitchen space, then cooking together is another fun alternative, but for big groups, it's a bit unrealistic and will become chaotic real fast.

In our google doc, we make a chart that says all of our names and then either “Appetizer”, “Main Dish”, “Side”, or “Dessert”. People fill in which they will bring. Leave the main dishes and more difficult recipes to those with bigger kitchens. For those who may live in dorms or don’t have kitchens, have them bring dessert or appetizers. The google doc is a good way to make sure there aren’t any repetitive foods on the menu. Don’t forget to take your friends food allergies into account. There’s nothing worse than being gluten free and not being able to eat anything. 

My friendsgiving menu goes as follows:

Appetizers:

Crackers and brie 

Garlic bread

Arugula salad with feta, red onion, red wine vinegar and balsamic 

Main Course

Rotisserie chicken

Baked mac and cheese 

Mini turkey meatballs with marinara sauce 

Sides

Fingerling Potatoes

Roasted Brussel Sprouts 

Dessert 

Brownies

Chocolate chip cookies

Sugar cookies

The day of:

Text your friends in the morning reminding them of the event and letting them know what time they should come to your apartment. 

Make a list of all of the ingredients/kitchen supplies you will need and go to the grocery store. Also make sure to pick up plates, silverware and cups if you plan on using paper/plastic.

Make sure you leave enough time to cook. The last thing you want to be doing is still cooking when your friends are arriving. 

While you cook, play some festive music and get in the spirit. Cooking is always more fun when you’re belting songs and dancing around the kitchen with your friends. 

When your friends arrive, ask them if they want to heat up their food in the oven or on the stove. Make sure to wait to serve all of the food until everyone has arrived. Spread it out nicely on a big table with plenty of serving spoons. Since I have a lot of people at Friendsgiving, we find it easier to do it buffet style and then we all sit on the living room couch. But if there aren’t a lot of you and you have a dining room table, you can serve the food family style as well. 

Lastly and most importantly, enjoy your friendsgiving, enjoy the food, and enjoy the company with your friends. Drink some wine, watch movies, listen to music, play games or just talk and catch up. Remember, it’s all about what you make it.