Friendsgiving with the Besties

With the holidays right around the corner, I thought it would be the perfect time to toss it back to our November 2020 girls’ day. – Friendsgiving with the besties at my place!

If you haven’t hosted a Friendsgiving for those in your inner circle, I highly suggest you get one on the calendar. It’s the perfect opportunity to do something special to celebrate the season – together.

Since I love entertaining, it was a no brainer for me. I planned a quick craft, charcuterie and cocktails, a 5-course dinner and lots of laughter with a rousing new charade-style game I picked up on Zulily.

The only thing I asked of the girls was for everyone to come dressed in their favorite fall flannel, which they did, of course. In my house, that’s how I do Friendsgiving with the Besties 🙂

Picture Time

While we were snacking on charcuterie and sipping Apple Cider Cocktails, I went ahead and got my picture taking obsession out of the way. Ya’ll know I’m of the ‘gotta document it all’ mentality. Plus, we were all entirely sober at this point – just wait until you get to the end of this post and see the videos! Oh boy 🙂

Craft Time

While I was putting the finishing touches on dinner, the girls and I made Christmas Trees with cardboard trees and yarn. So simple!

I purchased cardboard trees from the craft store, along with green, ivory and gray yarn, which could be used alone or mixed and matched. Basically, you wrap the yarn around the form and adhere with glue! Easy, peasy, Christmas treesie 🙂 No tutorial needed!

Table Decor

I truly adore it when people sit down at the dinner table to share a fabulous meal. Perhaps I’m a little old school, but I just don’t think people do it enough anymore. Nowadays, everything is served buffet style, after which everyone piles onto the nearest couch or finds a corner on the floor.

While there’s certainly nothing wrong with that every now and then, sitting down at a beautifully set table seems luxurious and special and provides so much opportunity for conversation and laughter. Which, in my opinion, is SO lacking in this day and age. Oops – on my soapbox again!

I didn’t go too overboard on the table decorations – just enough to set a fall mood for my favorite guests. I’m a big fan of white plates, which are versatile enough to be used any time of year. Add the right charger, maybe an unmatched plate or bowl for color, themed napkins and linens and you’re set no matter the season.

Dinner Time

Because I do enjoy cooking, I planned a pretty cohesive menu, which consisted of a salad, cauliflower soup, turkey roulade, duchess potatoes, brussel sprouts, and pumpkin chai cheesecake. And, like I always do when I host events, I spent most of the day in the kitchen getting ready for my guests. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I don’t mind a bit. Feeding my friends actually feeds my soul!

The menu started with Pear & Pomegranate Salad, which is ideal for the fall or winter season. I found this recipe over at Chelsea’s Messy Apron quite some time ago and have served it a number of times. The raspberry vinaigrette is amazing and the pears add such a robust flavor, while the candied pecans provide the always-needed crunch!

After the salad course, I served a wonderful Roasted Cauliflower and Aged White Cheddar Soup that I found over at Closet Cooking. I’m a total soup lover and was really curious to see how this soup tasted. Who better to serve as guinea pigs but your girlfriends 🙂 As an aside, it was a lovely soup and the aged white cheddar flavor came through beautifully. Definitely something I would serve again.

The main course consisted of a stunning Turkey Roulade, Duchess Potatoes and Balsamic Roasted Brussel Sprouts.

The Turkey Roulade I found over at Food Network not only looked amazing, but tasted pretty wonderful too! It’s definitely a wow recipe that I would make again in a heartbeat. And, it’s the perfect alternative to serving a full turkey.

The Duchess Potatoes, from Homemade Interest, had an impressive appeal aesthetically and tasted lovely. At it’s core, they are an upscale mashed potatoes, piped and baked to give them an elegant appearance. What’s even better is that you can totally make these ahead and freeze them. Woot woo! Easy, peasy, people!

Although I’m personally not a huge fan of the brussel sprout, the folks over at I AM baker may just have changed my mind with their Balsamic Roasted Brussel Sprouts. The caramelization you get from roasting them with the balsamic glaze is to die for.

For dessert, I made a Pumpkin Chai Cheesecake, which turned out absolutely amazing. Many thanks to the folks at Ohio Eggs for this amazing recipe. It’s one of those that I’ve put in my recipe bible to continue serving year after year. As an aside, this recipe was an Ohio State Fair award winner.

Craziness Ensues

After dinner and plenty of cocktails, we played a fun game I found – sort of like charades. You had to act out what was on this little stick. We started off on the front porch and took plenty of videos to commemorate our insanity.

And I’m not going to lie – I was beyond toasted! Usually, I have to drive home, but since we were at my place, I was tucked in for the night! Doesn’t happen very often, so I took full advantage 🙂

In this first video, Christine had to pick a song to sing while Heidi danced to it! Ummm…you’ll certainly hear my thoughts in the background.

Warning – this second video is full of adult language and a raunchy moment or two! Not for children – scroll if you must! My potty mouth comes out when I’m a bit looped! Oops 😉

Heidi apparently doesn’t know the difference between the Chicken Dance and the Hokey Pokey?

Julie seems to think she’s a ninja with this improv? I don’t know about you, but I DIDN’T see it 🙂

Although the girls and I are diligent in our quest to spend one special day a month together during, this girls’ day definitely goes down in the books as top notch. There’s a quote (not sure who said it) that says, “If you have crazy friends, you have everything.” Well…I apparently have it all, because I’m privileged enough to have a bunch of crazy ass broads in my inner circle.

Until next time, spend time with your friends, make bestie memories and document every last one of them. Someday, you’ll thank me 🙂 And, while you’re at it, get your own Friendsgiving on the books.