With Thanksgiving around the corner, it’s hard to avoid the excitement of the holiday season. Being that it’s a day to give thanks for the important things in life, Friendsgiving is the perfect way to celebrate at school before going home for the *much-needed* break. Our USC chapter threw the ultimate Friendsgiving, complete with almost every type of pumpkin dessert imaginable. Follow this guide and make your own epic Friendsgiving feast.
Don’t do the cooking alone
Cooking for all your friends may sound like a fun project to take on, but when it comes time to actually use the stove, you’ll realize that it isn’t as fun as you thought. Ask each member of your Spoon Chapter or friend group to bring something to the feast so you’re not overwhelmed with food preparation and cooking on the day of the event. This way, everyone can bring their specialty dish and you can eat even more baked goods than you thought you could consume in one sitting. For our celebration, a few of us got together an hour before it started to help our friend Hannah keep the kitchen under control.
Get creative
Friendsgiving is the perfect excuse to experiment in the kitchen! Use the opportunity of cooking for a group of people to try out a new recipe or introduce them to dishes they may not have already tried. A highlight of the Spoon USC-giving was undoubtedly this cauliflower crust pizza, topped with roasted butternut squash puree and sautéed broccolini, onion, and chickpeas. All of our friends — gluten-free, vegan, and lactose-intolerant alike — could appreciate the flavorful goodness this pizza brought to our lives.
Don’t forget about the staples
As much as we all love our plant-based pizzas, we shouldn’t ignore our old-time favorites. A traditional fall dish to a Friendsgiving celebration will always be welcomed and it serves as a great balance to your friend’s zucchini-pasta lasagna. For example, this roasted potato platter was one of the biggest hits at our dinner, because, let’s face it, who doesn’t love potatoes?
Dessert is the star
I will admit, our Friendsgiving celebration was definitely heavy. on the sweets, but I’m definitely not mad about it. Since baking is fun, stress-relieving, and delicious, it seemed like most of our Spoon members preferred to bring some type of dessert. We had a huge array of pumpkin breads, pies, muffins, and even cake balls to get us feeling festive. One of my personal favorites, though, were these insane chocolate peanut butter brownies that are pretty much everything I want out of life.
Enjoy the company
Most importantly, sit back, relax, and enjoy the meal with your friends. What better way to celebrate the best holiday than doing it twice — this time with other people that love food too!