I love sharing special and festive gatherings with you here on this blog. It gives me an excuse to hang out with friends, loved ones and take great photos!
This is my first annual Friendsgiving event, which is essentially an excuse to test and eat Thanksgiving-style recipes with my friends and to create new recipes that my readers can use for their own Thanksgiving feasts.
And just when I thought eating lots of holiday food couldn’t get better, Pyrex announced their gorgeous Love limited edition collection. I, of course, already covet their storage solutions and serving ware every time I go to the store; they have, after all, an entire wall space in the store! It’s a meal-prep and food storage obsessed person’s dream!
You probably have quite a few of their pieces in your kitchen, since for more than 100 years they’ve been made in the USA. I own many of their glass prepping, baking, and storage containers in both my house and the Studio but I’m always scooping out the aisles for more since they are durable and an excellent solution for my cooking and storage needs.
This first Friendsgiving celebration is a tribute my close friends and family that support me and my dreams. I’m grateful for their constant smiles, support via text and late-night calls, and endless coffee chats.
The simplicity of our friendship is what inspired the decor. Simple, elegant, a few fall touches, and with delicious food showcased in timeless Pyrex pieces. I’m a very practical gal and don’t have a lot of special occasion dishes; plus, with Pyrex, I can take leftovers straight to the fridge! And well, I’m all about leftovers –but I don’t have to tell you that, right?
Some of the dishes we served at this Friendsgiving gathering are my Roasted Brussels Sprouts recipe, Southern Cornbread, Fall Salad, Pumpkin Pie, Sausage Stuffing, roasted turkey with gravy and my famous Homemade Cranberry Sauce recipe, and more.
I kept things simple by texting an invitation to my small group of friends and decided that a weekday lunch would be best; so my friends with kids could take their lunch hour at the Studio and then leave with enough time to pick up the kids from school.
I also wanted to give everyone the chance to write down a few things they were grateful for; and although it wasn’t quite Thanksgiving, this early start to be more mindful of all the things we have (our health, our family, each other…) are a great start to all the wonderful celebrations the month of November brings.
To pull off the Friendsgiving celebration at noon on a Monday, I did a lot of food prep over the weekend. I made the cornmeal, the stuffing, prepped all the vegetables, and side dishes so I could quickly warm them in the oven the day of, and be able to focus on the main attraction, the turkey!
The cranberry sauce was also made ahead of time and stored in my trusty containers. I also made some extra to send some home with my friends since a few of them showed up without their own storage containers – although I did not send out a BYOC note.
After a fun and delicious luncheon, everyone agreed that this gathering was the start of a new tradition. While the food, recipes, and table setting were important, the main ingredient is love; it’s the thing that binds all of us together year-round and fun to celebrate this time of the year and share it with Pyrex.
You can find our Friendsgiving menu here.
Do you celebrate Friendsgiving? What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving traditions?
Sarah
My most memorable thanksgiving was ten years ago now. Our first born was just three months old and the family thought we should host since our new apartment was so spacious. I remember feeling nervous, it would be my first thanksgiving for so many things. The house was filled with love and laughter and I was so happy to have my own little family. I will never forget that thanksgiving :-).
Sandra D.
My most memorable Thanksgiving was when we smoked our first turkey. It was delicious! We cook it that way every year now.
Amy Wahl
I always watched the Macy’s Day parade on tv and would call my grandma to talk about each float.
Kathy Coy
My most memorable Thanksgivings were when I was younger and we would go out to my grandma’s where all the cousins came and we played all day long and had wonderful food.
Marion
Helping my mom in the kitchen, making pies and gravy. I know do this with my little ones passing on the traditions and recipes.
Be
Just participated in the 2nd annual Friendsgiving last week…I think it’s great to spend time with friends that we wouldn’t typically see around the table and share in laughter. Truly thankful for the group of friends that I have and to get the opportunity to share a holiday with them.
Melissa
I just love cooking, eating, and spending time with my family.
Melissa
Thanksgiving has always been a small affair, mostly because the family is small.
Melanie
I am the baker in the family. Every year I love going to my Parents home and getting to bake pies and make my favorite salads and side dishes. Last year I completely flopped on the pie crust! It was as if I had never made a crust in my life and I have been doing this since I was a teenager, I’m older than 38 but younger than 42. At least the inside was very nummy! I always make extra crust for my Mom to use later when I’m not around. She did. I had forgotten to throw the horrible failed crust away and she made pie with it but couldn’t figure out why She was struggling with it, lol. The occasion was for my Aunt and Uncle. At least, they enjoyed sharing stories of all of their kid’s, collectively, and The Not So Joys of Cooking food that they have had to eat. Well, this year my Mom has already bought costco pies. I am thankful that I can safely travel and not need to be anxious about pies. Are they going to let me in the kitchen at all? Lol. Happy Thanksgiving!
Erin
Our tradition is to keep a thankfulness calendar the whole month of November. We always do something different every year for Thanksgiving Day but the calendar is something all 6 of us share and I keep them to look back on years past.
Laura Fuentes
I love this tradition!
Sadia Mustofa
Every year we cook a whole chicken for Thanksgiving instead of Turkey. I help my mom out making the other dishes and at the end of the day, my grandmother and my aunt and uncle and cousin come over to my house. I remember how there were so many leftovers, that I’d take some of it to school for lunch in my pyrex container.
Meshia Horn
I love Thanksgiving. It’s a great holiday to spend with the ones you love. I enjoy eating with my family and catching up on old times. I love seeing the kids gather and play.
Claudia
I love my husband’s stuffing! I need to learn how to make it 🙂
Candy Conrad
Love all your recipes Laura!
The past couple of years we have gone to our friends’ ranch for Thanksgiving. Everyone brings their horses and a dish to share. We ride in the morning and then eat! It’s a lot of fun!
Angie
My favorite tradition is each having the opportunity to put into words what we are grateful for! This tradition started as I child and now as a mom, with children of my own, it feels my soul to hear my kids express gratitude for family, friends, good food and so many other heartwarming sediments.
latanya
each year, everyone gets to say what they are thankful for and it is special to me because it helps to show what other things I can be thankful for.
Amy J.
My family always invited “strays” to join us for dinner. I didn’t realize til the kids started asking this year, but apparently watching the parade has become an important tradition to the them :).
Faith M
Favorite tradition was watching the parade in the morning and then after eating watching movies.
Lisa
Now that my two eldest are in college, I love having them home for the holidays and sharing our day with their girlfriends.
Talia B
I have a thankfulness journal. Each year I write down what everyone is thankful for and go back and read the best from previous years.