Shytsman - Friendsgiving: celebrate your family of friends

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FRIENDSGIVING. Copyright 2017 by Alexandra Shytsman. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

FIRST EDITION

ISBN 978-0-06-269819-3

EPub Edition September 2017 ISBN 978-0-06-274087-8

To my mom,

for teaching me the importance of home cooking

and the joy of gathering around a table.

And to all the wonderful people

I am lucky to call my friends.

Cover design by Mumtaz Mustafa

Cover photograph by Alexandra Shytsman

Cover illustrations Anastasia Panfilova / Shutterstock

Illustrations by Anastasia Panfilova/Shutterstock, Inc.

Photography by Alexandra Shytsman

Food and prop styling by Alexandra Shytsman and Rebecca Ffrench

Food styling assisting by Sean Arguelles

Friendsgiving is my favorite holiday of the yearalbeit a made-up one. Friendsgiving is everything you love about Thanksgivinghearty food, day drinking, good companywithout the things you dont love, like nagging family members and heated political discussions that make you question if maybe you were adopted after all...

Friendsgiving is a special tradition for me. As Ukrainian immigrants, my family and I did not always celebrate Thanksgiving. When my sister and I were in high school, my parents would hang out with their fellow immigrant friends on Thanksgiving Day (since everyone had the day off), leaving us home alone. Like any parent-free high schoolers on a federal holiday, we threw parties. But they werent your average house partiesthey were dinner parties where I first got to try my hand at cooking American Thanksgiving food. (Of course, Friendsgiving was the second dinner most of my friends were attending, but they made sure to save room.)

In the weeks leading up to my first Friendsgiving, I obsessively watched every single Thanksgiving special on the Food Network, where I learned how to combat a dry turkey and to make something so seemingly silly as stuffing (I mean, its basically old bread revived with some veggies and stock) actually taste good. Ill never forget the feeling of triumph when I pulled my first turkey out of the oven and proceeded to carve it as Id seen done on TV. I was as surprised as anyone to learn that it was in fact cooked through, juicy, and delicious. Another dish that appeared on my first Friendsgiving table was caramelized onion and goat cheese crostini. I dont recall where the idea initially came from, but I do remember my friends helping me assemble them as I was putting the final touches on the main meal, which ultimately became the inspiration for my .

Sure, back then we may have eaten off paper plates and had Jell-O shots for dessert, but I assure you my Friendsgivings were the most grown-up high-school parties in all of South Brooklyn. The tradition continued well into our college years and beyond, as there is no better way to usher in the festive spirit of the holidays than gathering your favorite people at home for a cozy meal. Each year I look forward to adding new dishes and flavors to the menu, and watching my friends excitement as they approach the dinner table. (Weve also graduated from paper plates to ceramic, thank you very much.)

Thus, I am thrilled to share my passion for hosting a proper Friendsgiving with you in this compact volume. I hope that as you make your way through this book, youll be inspired to start a Friendsgiving tradition of your own.

HAPPY FRIENDSGIVING!

This book consists of five themed dinner menus, a handful of appetizer ideas that can be mixed and matched, and three desserts that pair well with all the menus.

If youre having a smaller gathering, prepare either the ). If youre having a larger group, feel free to make as many appetizers and drinks as you like.

Each of the themed menus in this book is designed to create a unique Friendsgiving party. If youre a purist, go for the turkey-centric , is a take on a sophisticated vegan, gluten-free meal. With so many people adopting healthier lifestyles these days, I wanted to make sure theres something in this book for everyone. All five of the menus are scaled to feed six to eight guests family-style and list the recipes in the order they should be cooked.

Want to go rogue and design your own dinner menu? No problemchoose your favorite recipe from each section and go to town. For instance, theres no reason why the turkey from the Classic menu cant be served with the chickpea-celeriac puree from the Modern menu, the fried chicken from the Southern menu with the kale and butternut squash salad from the Italian menu, and so forth.

Want to host Friendsgiving in June? Thats cool, too! These recipes are versatile enough to adapt to any season or type of party.

As for dessert, two are always better than one. I always recommend serving some kind of pie or fruit tart, like my , or pick up some store-bought cookies and pastries.

Freaking out about hosting your first Friendsgiving? Take a deep breath and navigate to the aptly named . This breakdown will guide you through the whole enchiladastarting from two weeks out and taking you through that last hour before your friends arrive. Each menu has its own timeline, too, so youll know exactly when to chop, blend, and saut all the things.

At the beginning of each menu, youll also find tips titled A Little Help from Your Friends, which include answers to the inevitable Can I bring anything? question youll be asked. And if wine is the specific contribution you prefer, there are suggestions for that, too.

DISCLAIMER: If you are familiar with my blog, The New Baguette, you know that I am an advocate for plant-centric eating most of the time. However, I do believe there are times for indulging in celebration food, and Friendsgiving is definitely one of them. With that said, I urge you to pay close attention to the quality of your ingredients, using, whenever possible, local organic produce and pasture-raised, grass-fed animal proteins that were grown without hormones or antibiotics. While it may be a little pricier, its a worthy investment for your health and that of the planet.