FRIENDSGIVING

Are you anticipating Thanksgiving with both excitement and dread? Hoping this will be your first drama-free family Thanksgiving ever? (#DreamOn.) Get ready to break the rules and kick off the holiday season by hosting a new kind of Thanksgiving feast: Friendsgiving, which is a celebration for your family of friends. The Shops at Columbus Circle is here to help you create a new tradition that everyone will look forward to sharing. Here are some quick tips and products that will make it a huge success.

Plan the menu, but don’t do it all alone. Use technology to engage your guests: Post an online sign-up sheet for side dishes, desserts, and tasks to avoid duplication. Anyone need recipe inspiration? Hit the classics. No longer your grandmother’s cookbook, the 75th anniversary edition of the time-tested Joy of Cooking from Amazon Books ($20.55 for Prime Members) is updated with quicker, healthier meals for modern tastes. Fun idea: Have a contest for best and worst desserts.

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What’s Friendsgiving without a turkey? As the host, it’s your job to provide the bird and gravy, but don’t even think about cooking it yourself. You are doing enough. Order it ahead and have a 16-pound roasted turkey ($129.99) delivered from Whole Foods Market. Whole Foods can make sure that your vegetarian guests have options, too.

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Final survival tips:

• Everyone should bring a side dish and a bottle of wine.
• Keep appetizers simple — nothing that needs to be heated up or on a plate.
• Bags of ice are always a good idea.
• Delegate (did we mention that?).
• Provide plastic containers for takeaway leftovers (helps the cleanup!).

Happy Friendsgiving! Are we invited?