Friendsgiving party
Friendsgiving is defined as “a gathering of friends to celebrate Thanksgiving with a feast, falling near or on Thanksgiving Day, in contrast to the traditional celebrations that typically involve family” per dictionary.com. It’s also a fabulous way to blow off some steam before the stress of the holidays.
Many of us will be hosting and thus have the pressure of pinning and making new recipes, traveling to be with our loved ones, or worse yet spending an extended amount of time with our not so favorite relatives.
Unlike our families, we get to choose our friends. This year we decided to celebrate our comradery with an adult only Friendsgiving party. Read on for the Laufty Life guide to keeping it relaxed and simple.
Friendsgiving Decor
One of my favorite stores for clothing, décor and from time to time even furniture is Marshalls. The day of the party, I bought a few décor pieces to accent our Friendsgiving Party. I combined them with some items I already had; my mom gave me a gorgeous granite platter with the gold trim, which became my inspirational piece and served as the cheese platter.
The wooden bowls I used for the Fairy Garden Themed Toddler Birthday Party and Boho Chic Baby shower Party were once again put into use. James and I happened upon an intimate wine bar in Waunakee, late last summer on a date night. The Brix wine lounge offers wine flights and served them in these small wine decanters. I loved the presentation and found a similar set on Amazon. The following items were new additions from Marshalls;
Décor:
- Large Bag of Potpourri with Acorns and Gold
- Wooden Sign Friendsgiving and Be Thankful
- Gold Tray
- Autumn Leaf Napkins
Signature Cocktails:
- Cinnamon Toast Crunch
- Apple Cider Mimosa
garnishes apples, brown sugar, lemon juice
Appetizers:
- Sweet and Spicy Meatballs
- Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings
- Twice Baked Pumpkin Seeds
- Green Bean Casserole Cups
- Fancy Cheese Platter
Friendsgiving Food
We invited five couples and decided on appetizers instead of a huge feast. With any luck, your friends are as amazing as my friends are and they are willing to contribute an app so that you can focus on 3-5 appetizers and a couple of signature drinks. We often have playdates with this same group of friends, however, everyone was thrilled that this event was designated adults only.
Friendsgiving Fun Activities
My husband cleared out the playroom and set it up with our ping-pong table from our pre-parenting life. We also love to break out the dice game Pig. Pig is a fast-paced game that is easy to learn and doesn’t take much focus, so you can continue to sip and chat as you play. If you want to make the game more challenging, my husband modified the house rules. Instead of earning 25 points when you roll snake eyes in his version you lose all your points accumulated from all rounds.
We primed the hot tub but once the drinks started flowing the time flew by and we never got in.
When Laufty Plans go astray…..
I wanted the green bean cups to stay warm, so I placed them back into the oven right before the guest arrived. Unfortunately, I forgot about them, and they remained untouched in the oven overnight and made their way to the trash, whomp, whomp, whomp! There was plenty of food so no big deal, it was just time sunk into unnecessary food prep.
For my 7th batch of pumpkin seeds for the season; I am obviously obsessed with pumpkin seeds. I stopped at a local farm and asked if they had any pumpkins remaining? The good folks at Mayr Farm were kind enough to let me go out into the field and take my post season pumpkins free of charge. So generous, the farm wife explained that the remaining pumpkins are usually left for the deer to graze on. She pointed me to the field and I was appreciative of her hospitality.
More Pumpkin Seeds Please
As I ventured onto the field, I stepped out of the truck and my fake Uggs sunk into the mushy ground. It was damp from the first light snowfall, I quickly scavenged out to fetch some pumpkins. I cannot be deterred when it comes to seeds.
I always feel like I have so much time until the last 45 minutes before the party starts, at this point the pressure is on. With the push of completing my other dishes and setting up, I was rushed and when the seeds cooled they didn’t have their usual crunch. Pumpkin Fail!
I did not allow my seeds to bake long enough to get crispy for the party and I ended up having leftovers. Once I baked the seed for an additional 15 minutes, Viola: a new recipe was born, twice baked pumpkin seeds! They tasted as good as ever! And I didn’t have to share! To find more of our recipes follow us on Pinterest. Here is my twice baked pumpkin seeds recipe:
Twice Baked Pumpkin Seeds
Ingredients:
1-2 TBSP of Melted Butter
¼-1/2 TEA of Each of the following Penzy Spices
Roasted Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
4s Seasoning
Dash of Cayenne and Paprika
Directions;
- Have your kids pick all the seeds out, if it’s your seventh batch it may cost you a couple dollar.
- Rinse off the pumpkin guts in a strainer.
- Let the seeds dry or pat them dry with a paper towel
- Preheat oven to 300
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Coat in butter or olive oil
- Every pumpkin has a range of seed count so gauge how much coating and seasoning you should use. A small batch is about 1-1.5 cups. A big yield is 2-3 cups of seeds. Use the range of measurements accordingly.
- Toss in seasonings
- Bake in 15 min increments toss and return to oven.
- Bake for 45-60 minutes
- If they cool and still don’t have a crunch bake again for 15 mins
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2019 Pumpkin Seed Addict Update
I am on my 8th pumpkin seed batch of the season and it’s only 10/16/19.
Every time I make them I play with the recipe. This week I turned up the temp to 325 and watched them. It still took about 55 mins. My gas oven runs hot and I check in and tossle them every 20-30 mins.
A couple tips for the perfect crunch:
1. You have to let them dry out a bit if you like them crunchie. Leave them overnight or at leasg a few hours on a paper bag or parchment paper & paper towel.
2. I use little olive oil and melted butter coat them first so the spices stick.
3. Bake on Parchment paper
4. Use good seasoning. I love Penzy’s spices.
5. It’s hard to give exact measurements because it depends on the yield from your pumpkin but you should be able to see the sprinkles of flavor on each seed. This batches mix:
- Northwoods seasoning
- Seasoning salt
- Garlic/Onion powder
- Pinch of Cayenne Pepper.
There are so many benefits to Vitamin K , usually found in leafy greens. Pumpkin seeds are an easy on the go alternative, read about the health benefits of Vitamin K here
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