The Holiday season is off to a beautiful start here in our tiny apartment. Every room is filled with fresh flowers and greens, we’ve given in to listening to Christmas music, the fridge is full of left overs, and the dishwasher is running for the fourth time in the past 24 hours.
This weekend my husband and I hosted our first ever friendsgiving gathering in our Des Moines home. We invited just a few close friends (considering that we only have six dining room chairs) and planned a spread of food that was anything but traditional. This post is a peak at this lovely occasion.
The place settings were curated by one of my dear friends, Roxie. We went the minimalist route when planning our Friendsgiving tablescape which included fresh sprigs of seeded eucalyptus and tiny name tags with handwritten lettering. When you’re planning your own table settings, don’t feel like you need to spend a ton at the florist. Our entire decoration budget was $5.98. Thank you, Trader Joe’s!
Another shot of Roxie’s incredible handwritten lettering — she is so talented!
Here’s a peak into our apartment home! Needless to say, we LOVE our windows.
Our Friendsgiving menu was inspired by a few Adventure. Gather. Eat. recipes from this season, a few found recipes from friends and bloggers, and a new original recipe (coming soon!). The star of the meal was this festive pot roast made in a cast iron dutch oven. I found the recipe for this Cranberry Pot Roast from the food blog, Half Baked Harvest — a stunning food blog full of only delicious and beautiful food. This menu includes links to all of the available recipes!
A Friendsgiving Gathering Menu
- Autumnal cheeseboard
- Sparkling Cider + Thyme Mocktails
- Honeycrisp + Arugula Salad with Maple + Mustard Vinaigrette
- Cranberry Pot Roast
- Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Brown Butter + Thyme
- Three Layer Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting – by Suzanne
This here was our drink of choice. A cider + thyme punch mocktail. Be watching for a recipe post soon!
All the credit for this stunning three layer carrot cake goes to Suzanne! The cake was spicy and moist and was perfectly complimented by the tangy cream cheese frosting. I absolutely love the natural look of leaving a layered cake like this one bare on the outside and just using the icing for the layers.
Our autumnal cheeseboard was filled with cheeses, of course, crackers, nuts, meats, and fruits. We kept is seasonal and in tune with the Thanksgiving theme by including fresh persimmons and a cranberry goat cheese log.
Cranberry Pot Roast! So colorful and festive, oh, and delicious! I’m sure it’s some sort of sin not to serve turkey at a Thanksgiving gathering, but to be honest, I’ve never been to excited about any roast turkey I’ve come across. I know everyone has their secrets, tips, and tricks for a “moist and flavorful” bird, but I decided to go with a cut of meat that was a little less risky for hosting my first Friendsgiving.
Last but most importantly, photo credit goes to Roxie Mae and Jonathan! Thank you so much for the beautiful shots! And thanks to all of our friends for making the journey to Iowa and contributing your creative minds to our gathering.
Happy Thanksgiving from Adventure. Gather. Eat.!
Looks amazing! Thanks for sharing the recipes you used as well!