Happy Friendsgiving!

Thanksgiving has recently passed and many of us Americans sat around dining room tables and

expressed our thanks. Many of us were thankful for the food before us, the family and friends that surrounded us and our good health. A similar event took place 8 days before Thanksgiving in my apartment in Harrisonburg, VA. As a co-celebration of Thanksgiving and Max's 21st birthday (my roommate) we decided to have our very own Thanksgiving with our friends a week before the actual holiday. This is a tradition that is becoming increasingly popular in the U.S. and is becoming known as "Friendsgiving". NPR mentioned it on their Thanksgiving radio show this year, there are Pinterest
pages dedicated to Friendsgiving ideas and it is even defined by Urban Dictionary. Similar to the traditional Thanksgiving it is a potluck and one friend hosts the dinner and cooks a turkey and all other friends prepare their seasonal specialty. For college students I was impressed that we were able to come up with such a delicious meal. We had friends bring pies and cornbread, Katie brought her first-ever-made mashed potatoes and helped prepare the turkey, Carly brought over cranberry sauce and I prepared candied sweet potatoes and stuffing for the turkey! The sweet potatoes came from the Tuesday farmer's market and were delicious! I'll post the recipe below!

Something to consider is that we only just moved in this past August and we felt comfortable enough by mid-November to have all of our neighbors and friends over for a great dinner. We went around the table and discussed everything we were thankful for and for just about all of us we were most thankful for meeting each other. It is funny because 3 months prior to this dinner none of us were friends or even knew the others existed and now we are sharing a big meal together. There is something about the holiday season that forces people together and to be kind and cheerful and we did just that. As Christmas draws nearer I challenge you to bring a group of friends together and have a potluck and it may even serve as a reunion of old friends. 

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving and that you will hold a sense of joy in the upcoming weeks leading up to Christmas. Happy Friendsgiving Everyone!

~Ryan

P.S. I apologize for the long break from the last blog post to this one. I was busy with school and celebrating the holiday with friends and family. I thought you'd all understand! :) I will be posting more frequently once finals end next week.

"Tis an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers." ~ William Shakespeare

Candied Sweet Potato Recipe

Yield: 1 group of hungry friends

Ingredients:

5 lbs of Farmer's Market fresh sweet potatoes

1/4 cup of butter

1/4 cup of brown sugar

cinnamon

2 cups of mini marshmallows 

1/4 cup of mini marshmallows to sprinkle on top

1/4 cup of mini marshmallows to eat while cooking :)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a 9x11 pan with cooking spray

2. Wash, Peel and Cube the sweet potatoes

3. Boil sweet potatoes in a big pot of water for about 15 minutes or until slightly undercooked

4. Drain sweet potatoes and let sit in a bowl while preparing the next step

5. In a big pot over medium heat melt the butter, brown sugar and 2 cups of mini marshmallows

6. Stir in the boiled sweet potatoes until well covered by the butter mixture

7. Mash some of the sweet potatoes and keep others whole and sprinkle the whole mixture with cinnamon

8. Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly

9. Bake for 15 minutes

10. Remove from oven and sprinkle 1/4 cup marshmallows on top and bake for 3 minutes or until marshmallows are slightly browned.

11. Let cool and enjoy with friends!