The Saturday before Thanksgiving, we hosted our second annual Friendsgiving!  Just like last year we hosted a big crowd to eat, drink, and celebrate the holiday together before we headed home to our families.

A big meal?  Friends?  Wine?  I ask you, what’s better than that?

Menu planning with champagne, of course.

Lots and lots of kale.

Now let’s talk about the menu.

We started off with homemade hummus, roasted and pressed peppers soaked in oil, and some cheese and crackers.  The main event: barley and rye loaves, corn muffins with feta and leeks, coq au vin, creamed brussel sprouts, swiss chard and sweet potato gratin, caramelized shallots, stuffing, kale salad, orange cranberry relish, and pumpkin mac and cheese.  And for dessert: pumpkin, pecan, key lime, pear and raspberry pies, a fruit tarte, and a Russian apple sheet cake.

A huge thank you to all the chefs, and everyone who helped!

We reused the same banner from last year’s Friendsgiving, and again asked our friends to write what they were thankful for on some pre-cut and pre-stamped cards.  It’s always fun to see everyone’s answers.  A lot of us were thankful for cheese.

-Maggie