Give thanks for friends and food with a nontraditional holiday celebration

In college, when you spend so much time away from home, your friends can start to feel like your new family. When the holiday season rolls around each year, this feeling may seem especially true. One increasingly popular holiday among college students is Friendsgiving, a Thanksgiving dinner you celebrate with your friends. Here are some ways to plan a successful and delicious Friendsgiving feast:

1. Plan ahead: If you are having a lot of friends join your meal, then I recommend planning ahead. Decide what types of food you want to have, when you want to have the dinner, and so on. This proactive measure will give you and your friends enough time to plan your celebration.

2. Assign everyone a food to make: Making a meal can be incredibly time-consuming, not to mention expensive. If you delegate a dish to everyone attending, you can cut down on prep time and costs. Assigning different foods can be really easy too: Assign a few people to appetizers, a few others to sides, and a handful to dessert. All of your guests can bring something unique while also feeling they are involved in the Friendsgiving feast.

3. Create a signature food or drink: Any party can be more exciting with a special drink. Find a fun recipe on Pinterest, or make up your own. One of my favorite fall crowd-pleasers is apple juice with Stoli’s salted caramel vodka. The options are as bountiful as Thanksgiving dinner!

4. Be creative: A Friendsgiving dinner doesn’t have to resemble a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Get creative and be thrifty by finding ways to save money: Use a coupon for a turkey, make boxed potatoes since they’re cheaper than homemade, grab a can of cranberry sauce, or buy pumpkin flavored Oreos instead of buying a whole pumpkin pie. The beauty of a Friendsgiving celebration is that it can be as untraditional as you want it to be.

5. Remember it’s the company that matters: No matter where you celebrate the holidays, whether at school with your friends or at home with your family, remember to enjoy who you’re with. The holidays are a time to reflect, be thankful, and appreciate the company of those around you. Happy Friendsgiving!