Friends-giving

Thanksgiving is revered as a time to spend with close friends and family. Drinking unhealthy amounts of all things alcoholic, eating until you turn into an actual ball of meat, watching the lions toss the pigskin around, and avoiding uncomfortable family warfare. Maybe even coordinating a strategy to take on the weekend long black-Friday/cyber-Monday, Franken-holiday.

This year I spent my first Thanksgiving away from all of that controlled chaos and embraced the mid-twenties phenomena “Friends-giving”. With the recent election results, I know many families are expecting the tension to be extremely high. But I honestly believe that regardless of beliefs, this is the best time to be surrounded by people with different views and be thankful for the progress our family members and country have made.

Enough about that! Here are my core takeaways for whipping up the perfect Friends-giving. Also remember to thank your family members for all of the hard work and dedication it took to coordinate past Thanksgivings (Hint: it is no easy task)

Create a potluck style event

You don’t realize how many different dishes you are eating at a Thanksgiving feast until you have to cook them. So don’t cook all of them! Host at a location that can fit all of the misfits and put each guest in charge of a different dish. For those that can’t cook, I’m sure they are very capable of purchasing the drinks.

Hound your relatives for your favorite recipes

Your mom’s famous cheesy potatoes, sister-in-law’s famous cranberry sauce, or your Grandma’s unique casserole she hand-wrote on an index card. Make sure you get your hands on those recipes! Remember to keep your expectations low as that creation has taken them years to master.

Make sure you have the right tools

This is the one time of year it is socially acceptable to eat like a savage. Large spoons and absurd electric cutting devices come out of the woodwork. Here is a short list of things you need to remember (That I didn’t own before this holiday):

• Electronic meat thermometer
• Turkey baster
• Sharpened serrated knife
• Baking dishes
• Tin foil & turkey Roasting Pan
• Serving spoons
• Oven space (But really, you need to fit a lot in there)
• Crockpots (See above)
• Gravy boat (Serving dish of sorts)

Budget & break up grocery trips

Timing and strategy are everything because stores do actually run out of things. Pay attention to how long a turkey should thaw before you can cook it. Nobody wants a spoiled or frozen turkey. The Griswald family Christmas is a perfect example of what not to do to your turkey. I suggest splitting your trips up to the grocery store and estimating a budget:

• Costco (Wholesale) – Always buy your holiday meats at Costco. They are affordable and delicious! This trip should be for your big ticket items and bulk. Make sure you time it properly for thawing of your frozen turkey or maintaining your fresh turkey.
• Grocery Store – You will collect all of your fresh herbs and spices, fruits & veggies, and other recipe needs that you don’t need to fill your whole pantry with.

Have a backup plan

Like every holiday, something will go wrong. It is inevitable so embrace it. Vegans do exist, turkey may not be everyone’s favorite, dog’s like anything edible (and not edible), and meat thermometers lie. So have a backup plan. For example, Costco ran out of larger turkeys so we purchased a few smaller ones and half of a spiral ham. You can’t mess up all of those dishes, right? Know your audience and prepare.

Make sure you have access to the football games

Something about this certain Thursday in November makes me yearn for football more than ever. But living in a big city is expensive, so cable tends to be on the low end of priorities. What will I ever do? Simple, all of the Thanksgiving games are streamed on Sling TV (A cable alternative). Or you can find an antenna as the games are usually on public TV. Have no fear football is here!

Be thankful

Lastly, remember why this holiday is celebrated in the first place. Thank your friends and family for their support, and also for putting up with all of your B.S.

Enjoy your turkey day and let me know how your Friends-giving turned out. Comment below or tweet me @evbtuesdays with any recommendations that I missed out on.

Stay casual until next Tuesday!

EVB