Within this blog post you’ll find everything you need to host your own Foraged Harvest Friendsgiving/Thanksgiving with a classic Thanksgiving menu (that is completely gluten free!). With some planning and organization, this entire party can be pulled together in just one day (or, two half days, like I did and recommend).
Here, I’ve compiled everything you need from suggested timelines, supply/decor links, the menu with full recipes, my planning thought process and more!
Foraged Harvest Friendsgiving/Thanksgiving
Helpful Links
Watch the dinner party come to life in video form by clicking the links below:
- Part 1 – recipe prep
- Part 2 – finishing recipes, arranging florals, setting the table and the final party
Supply/Decor Roundup:
Note: anything not linked was likely a HomeGoods find, second hand, something I’ve had for awhile or thrifted!
Exclusive Limited Time Napkin Collection:
The Timeline
Hosting and parties of all kinds (and especially Thanksgiving/Friendsgiving) can seem intimidating or stressful, but I make sure to plan for them in a way that creates the most low stress hosting experience possible so I can actually enjoy the event alongside my guests. Here is a rough outline of how I would recommend preparing for this specific themed party!
Month Prior:
- Secure the theme and start to map out decor/set up
- Invite your guests (of course!) as early as possible
- Draft a menu and grocery list, inclusive of dietary needs and taste preferences of your guests
- Take inventory of plates, linens & serve ware to ensure you’re covered based on the amount of guests and types of dishes/drinks
- Gather and/or order decor needs
- Order any supplies or ingredients that need to be purchased online
- Test out your recipes (or at least read through them completely to familiarize yourself with them)
Week Of:
- Main grocery shop of everything that can be purchased in advance
- Decorate your space in all the ways that can be done in advance (for example, if you’re planning to decorate for fall to give your home a feel throughout), starting as early in the week as possible depending on the extent of your decor
- Gather, organize and label all serve ware so it’s ready to be set out
Day Before:
- If needed, secondary grocery shop as soon as the store opens to get any final needs and so you have as much time as possible
- Prep any recipes and ingredients that can be made in advance (I made every recipe in full, aside from the dinner biscuits and apple crumble, but left the bake time for the day of. If you are caught up on decorating ahead of the party, you can easily make all of these recipes day of, but in order to have an empty dishwasher, I recommend doing it the day before!)
- Arrange any florals
- Any final decor touchups
- If you’re able (and don’t have cats like me), set the table
- Clean your house so it’s ready for your guests
Day Of:
- Finish any day of recipes, such as the dinner biscuits and apple crumble, in this case
- Finalize setting up your space and of course, get yourself ready!
- Get the food in the oven to bake or on the stove to reheat ahead of your guests arriving
- Set out the food right before your guests arrive or once everyone is there to ensure it’s warm
During:
- Ensure everyone has what they need (a drink, an understanding of the dinner items, etc)
- Bake the serve the apple crumble
- Enjoy!
Bonus Tips:
- Have food made in advance throughout the week that you can eat while prepping because you probably won’t want to be cooking when prepping multiple dishes for your party, plus it saves time!
- Run and empty your dishwasher before the party so you can load everything instead of hand washing and taking up counter space. The easier the cleanup the better!
- Clean your spaces the night before hosting then do last minute touch ups prior to guests arriving
THE MENU
Below is everything that I included on the menu. There are only a few recipes to make and overall is super customizable and in turn dietary inclusive. I always aim to make everything super easy to prepare when hosting so you won’t be stressed putting these together!
The below was more than enough food for 6 people and we had some leftovers. Every group is different so be sure to account for that!
The Drinks:
To keep things simple, I had water and sparkling apple cider at every seat and kept water on the table to refill. Then we also offered various wines to anyone that wanted some.
The Dinner:
Here is the recommended timeline (it was honestly so doable!):
Make the day before and allow to come to room temperature:
- Whipped Herb Butter
Make the day before and reheat on the stove:
- Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Bone Broth Gravy
Make/prep the day before and bake the day of:
- Roasted Maple Carrots, Classic Stuffing, Apple Crumble
Make the day of:
- Dinner Biscuits, Harvest Salad, Rotisserie Chicken (which just needs heated/no prep needed)
The Recipes:
Dinner Biscuits – click here for the recipe!
Whipped Herb Butter
- Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 bulb garlic, roasted
- 1 tbsp poultry seasoning
- Pinch Salt
- Instructions:
- Cut off the top of a bulb of garlic, drizzle olive oil on top then cover in foil. Bake for 40 minutes at 400°F.
- Whip room temperature butter with a mixer until smooth.
- Squeeze in the roasted garlic cloves and sprinkle in the seasoning to the butter.
- Mix until fully combined. Serve at room temperature.
Harvest Salad – click here for the recipe!
Mashed Potatoes & Gravy – click here for the recipe!
Roasted Maple Carrots
- Ingredients:
- 2 lbs Carrots (I like to use rainbow)
- 2 tbsp Butter (vegan, as needed)
- 2 tbsp Coconut Sugar
- 2 tbsp Maple Syrup
- Pinch Salt
- + 1 tsp Butter & 1 tsp Maple Syrup, optional to finish
- Instructions:
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Mix together melted butter, coconut sugar and maple syrup.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
- Peel carrots then cut into halves and spread out on the foil.
- Pour the butter mixture over top and toss to evenly cover the carrots, then sprinkle with salt.
- Cover the carrots with foil, then bake for 1 hour, tossing half way through.
- Mix together the additional tsp of melted butter and tsp of maple syrup, then pour over the carrots and enjoy warm!
Note: Be sure to bake these right before serving, however you can prep this recipe in full in advance and have it ready on the baking pan covered in foil in the fridge until it’s time to bake.
Classic Stuffing – click here for the recipe!
Rotisserie Chicken – heated in the oven and served on top of a bed of kale… who needs turkey?!
The Dessert:
Paleo Apple Crumble – click here for the recipe!
Hungry for more?
Click here to browse more of my Thanksgiving recipes! And no, you don’t have to wait until the fall to enjoy them!
A NOTE ON CALORIE COUNT, NUTRITIONAL INFO AND SERVING SIZES
Due to my past experiences, I do not include most of the above information within my recipes as it is unsafe for me to do so personally. While I try to share a rough estimate when it comes to the serving size, please note that it is very subjective as we all have different hunger levels both from person to person and even from meal to meal.
If any of the above information is important to you, I understand! We are all different and have various goals and needs. If you’d like, you are welcome to calculate the information needed based on the ingredients you use when making one of my recipes.
I hope you understand! This comes from a place of love and protection both for myself and others like me. If you ever have any questions, send me an Instagram message for the quickest response time! Thank you for being here!
FOLLOW ALONG
Be sure to follow me on Instagram and TikTok to see all of the behind the scenes of recipe creation as well as how to videos to watch them come to life! You can also head over to my Pinterest to save all of my recipes in one spot that you plan whip up in the future.
PS – If you make any of my recipes, I would be so grateful if you left a review so I can hear what you think! I also am happy to answer any questions you may have on here, but if you want a quicker response, be sure to shoot me a message on Instagram. Thank you so much and talk soon!
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