I’m not really one for Thanksgiving. The history of the holiday is… eh, kinda icky?
But, FRIENDSGIVING?! I can totally get behind Friendsgiving!
Unfortunately, I’m out sick this holiday weekend (not COVID!) and Ryan is downstate with his family, but I was lucky enough to have most of my close (all fully-vaccinated, mind you) Flagstaff friends over for a Friendsgiving dinner last Friday.
(I’m still working that four-month assignment out in northern California I mentioned, but due to housing issues, I’m physically back in Flagstaff for a few weeks.)
I was noooot about to cook a 12-person dinner on a work night, so we did it potluck style.
We did everything super traditional, and lemme tell ya, IT WAS SO GOOD!
We started with charcuterie boards, and then rolled out the turkey and sides.
Ohhhh sides. We had mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, candied carrots, salad, rolls, mushrooms and corn casserole.
And wine.
We also had pumpkin pie, apple pie cookies and brownies for dessert.
It was my first time ever planning a traditional Thanksgiving dinner of sorts, which is a little weird! My last experience with a “traditional” Thanksgiving was during my Peace Corps service in Ukraine, where my Ukrainian friends made a traditional dinner the weekend before I met up with my American friends in Lviv for a very untraditional Friendsgiving dinner composed of Thai food and cheesecake.
Last year, Thanksgiving was Chinese takeout in a hotel room due to COVID, and back when I lived in Chicago, I spent most every Thanksgiving holiday working in the newsroom.
Front row, left-to-right: Mel, Davita and me!
So, it was really nice to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with my closest friends here in Flagstaff!
Oh, and a MASSIVE shoutout to Jane for cooking not only her stuffing, but also the big ol 14-pound turkey I pre-ordered from Whole Foods.
(Like I told my friends: You do nooooot want the vegetarian cooking your Thanksgiving turkey.)
Now that Ryan and I have this gorgeous, spacious centrally-located apartment, I’m super excited to be able to host all of our friends for things like this!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, from my friends and family here in northern Arizona.
