Give Your Leftovers New Life
Want to revive your Thanksgiving leftovers ahead of Friendsgiving? Try a simple remix. Leftover Thanksgiving casserole, chocolate-covered pumpkin pie bites, cold turkey sandwiches or sliders, and even pie milkshakes are all creative ways to use up your extra food (and ensure that you and your friends don’t accidentally show up with identical dishes).
If someone doesn’t have quite enough leftovers for a full dinner dish, have them bring it anyway, and use it as part of a pre-dinner snack board.
Showcase Fall Decor
By hosting your Friendsgiving gathering a day or two after Thanksgiving, you’ll already have your tablescape ready and your decorations set up. If you received a few extra bottles of wine as a hosting gift from your Thanksgiving guests, now is a good time to break those out—or you can rely on leftover bottled drinks.
If you’re braving the shops on Black Friday, you might even find a good deal on wines to snag for the occasion. Plus, any stores that do still have Thanksgiving-related dishes or decorations on hand will have marked them down at a significant discount the day after Thanksgiving, which means you can refresh your fall feast with a little extra food if you really need to.
More Guests, More Dishes to Try
Having a Friendsgiving gathering later than usual is a great way to try a wide range of different dishes, without doing double the amount of cooking. Plus, rather than having each person sign up to bring a specific dish, you can have your friends double up on leftovers to try classic Thanksgiving foods cooked in different ways. Whether you prefer your turkey spatchcocked or brined (or maybe even both), a post-Thanksgiving Friendsgiving allows for a spread of food that’s likely to be totally different than what you’d get otherwise.
You might even find that scheduling a Friendsgiving feast after Thanksgiving is a whole lot easier than hosting it beforehand. Friends who are in town for a few days around the holiday will be able to drop by, and having a long weekend makes hosting much less stressful. We have to admit that a Friendsgiving where no one actually needs to cook is a little more appealing, too.
