Amayzine

This is how you celebrate Friendsgiving

Tomorrow is one of America's most important holidays and also one of my favorites, even though I don't have the nationality: Thanksgiving. I grew up with it: every year a chair was kept free for me at American friends' houses or at the table with my ex-boyfriend from Boston and his family. Turkey with stuffing; by far one of my favorite dishes. Especially everything that is left over, so you can practically make turkey sandwiches for yourself for a week. Divine.

But well, it is and remains a American holiday so it is a bit strange if you suddenly celebrate it in the Netherlands, unless you make a different variant of it, namely Friendsgiving, because inviting your friends to your home for an elaborate meal is always welcome, especially when it is difficult to plan something with everyone for Christmas due to family obligations. The rules of Friendsgiving? Here they come:

  1. As the host of the Friendsgiving party, there are three things you are responsible for: the turkey with accompanying gravy and the stuffing. The responsibility for the rest of the dishes (mashed potatoes, cornbread, green beans, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie) you divide among the rest of your guests.
  2. Actually, there should also be enough options for side dishes. Take mashed potatoes, for example. Make a regular version and also a sweet potato puree, and honestly, just pumpkin pie as dessert is of course not enough during this feast. Think of cheesecake, apple pie, cupcakes – you name it, you make it.
  3. At Christmas, you also take the time to set your table nicely, so do this for Friendsgiving as well.
  4. Everyone must bring a bottle of wine.
  5. The music is also not entirely unimportant. Let one of your friends make a playlist for during your dinner.
  6. Then the annoying part of the evening: the cleaning. It's easy to let the host do this, but that's not really fair. So cleaning, you all do that together.
  7. A little about the clothing. Wear your loosest pants so that food baby (because you know it's going to happen) has room to grow.

Happy turkey day! Gobble gobble.