Bringing friends together to celebrate everyone's accomplishments over the past year and toasting the year ahead is one of the best traditions of the holiday season. And a Friendsgiving dinner with everyone sharing their favorite dishes sounds ideal, until three people insist on bringing their version of mashed potatoes and the meal becomes a mishmash of flavors. This year, keep it simple and follow these tips for throwing the easiest Friendsgiving feast.
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You can do it all yourself, but why would you? The whole point of a Friendsgiving meal is for friends to come together and enjoy each other, not to watch one person stress out about the meal. Even if you're foregoing the potluck dinner in favor of a fully planned, coordinated meal, there are still responsibilities to be doled out. Assign someone table-decorating duty, another person playlist duty, and someone bartender duty. Place someone in charge of after-dinner game duty and another person in charge of divvying up leftovers. Taking all of that responsibility off of one person should lighten the load significantly.
No one wants to spend the whole night mixing cocktails, and while wine is always a good option, it's fun to start off the night with a signature cocktail to set the mood for the evening. Big-batch cocktails have that craft feel, without all of the work. Make a batch, place it on the bar, and let your guests serve themselves. Try one of our all-time favorites, or a newer recipe created by NYC bartender A-K Hada:
Boun-tea-ful Punch
One 750 ml. bottle Grey Goose Vodka
One 750 ml. bottle Rockey's Milk Punch
16 oz. cranberry sherbet
24 oz. In Pursuit of Tea peppermint tea (cold steeped)
Combine all of the ingredients in a punch bowl over a large block of ice. Ladle and serve.
Garnish with an assortment of grapefruit segments, nutmeg, and mint leaves on the table.
There are meal kits aplenty these days, and each offers up their own version of a holiday feast, but when the food's the star of a show, why not turn to an expert for a guaranteed memorable meal? No, we're not talking about hiring a private chef, though it will taste like you did. We're talking about the Holiday Dinner by Grey Goose, a meal kit packed with food by famed chef Jonathan Waxman. Chef Waxman and bartender A-K Hada are serving up a ready-to-eat kit that will feed eight people, including a roast chicken with fresh salsa verde, sides of Japanese turnips and multicolored carrots, crispy potatoes with rosemary and Pecorino Romano, and ingredients for A-K Hada's Winter Star cocktail, made with vodka, rosemary syrup, peach bitters, and tonic. The kit is available until Dec. 31 and sells for $200, with $20 of the cost being donated to Meals on Wheels America.
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4Make Dessert a Potluck
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More likely than not, your friends have a signature dessert they either love to bake or buy for special occasions. Whether it's Aunt Betty's famous pecan pie, a family recipe for chocolate chip cookies, or the newest hot bakery's piecaken, invite your guests to bring their favorite desserts for an after-dinner treat bar that will get everyone talking.
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5There Are No Mistakes — Only New Inventions
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Most of all, remember that mistakes will happen. Don't sweat it. If the cake won't release from the pan, spoon it out, put some ice cream on top of it, and call it deep dish. If the marshmallows burn on the sweet potato casserole, peel 'em off and start again (and see if the marshmallows can top a dessert). If the mashed potatoes are too gluey, spread 'em out in a pan, sprinkle some breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese on them, and bake 'em again for a new side dish. Remember, no one will remember the flubs if you don't make a big deal out of them.
