Happy Thanksgiving and happy birthday to our gourd-gous baby, Keira. This year, Twinspirational has a lot for which to be thankful! We recently crossed 75K social media followers and collaborated with many marquee brands. We couldn’t achieve all this success without the support of our wonderful family, friends and followers. Our holiday celebrations started with a festive Friendsgiving. We partnered with Jordan Winery and created a Squash themed dinner. We are excited to share our “Squash Goals” with you.
This year marked our fifth annual Friendsgiving. Friendsgiving is a holiday in its own right, apart from Thanksgiving. Anything goes at Friendsgiving. You can host a traditional Thanksgiving meal or switch it up for a modern take. Last year, we created a menu based on Orange Ingredients. This year, we created a seasonal menu that featured varieties of squash.
Squash is a gourd that is available all year round. Squash is categorized as a vegetable but they have seeds, so they are technically a fruit. Squash varies in size, color and texture, ranging from orange-hued, sweet-potato-like butternut squash to green, nut-like acorn squash. Different types of squash peak in the summer and winter. Winter squash tends to have a thicker, tougher rind. We used the winter squash as table centerpieces. Best of all you can roast this edible decor later in the week and enjoy it again.
Backdrops elevate tablescapes and one of our quick and easy tricks begins with colorful paper garlands. They are easy to use and store. Our beautiful Fall tablescape featured shades of burnt orange, vibrant green, silky ivory, soft peach and rustic brown. We strung up gold Friendsgiving balloons from Instaballoons. The backdrop coordinated perfectly with our table decorations.
Jordan Winery & Estate was founded in the Alexander Valley of Sonoma County, California by Tom and Sally Jordan in 1972. This family-owned winery overlooks 1,200 acres of rolling hills and vineyards. Jordan’s Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon are made in a French style and their winemaking techniques emphasize fruit and acidity over alcohol and tannin. We added some Twispiration to the wines by decorating them with Pumpkin and Turkey wine toppers.
We used Williams Sonoma’s Botanical Pumpkin linens and napkins. Next, we set the table with pumpkin plates, serving bowls and serving dishes.
We created our winter squash menu with Must Have Menus.
Archana prepared many of the dishes for Friendsgiving. What’s great about squash is that you can roast it and complete most of your prep the night before. 10 guests will never arrive at the same time, so we recommend having sparkling wine and hors d’oeuvres ready as guests arrive. We kicked off the meal with a delicata squash tart. Delicata Squash is a small, yellow and green winter squash with edible skin. We cut it into half-moon strips and roasted it with olive oil and shallots. We baked it with puff pastry and goat cheese. We paired this creamy tart with a Rosa Regale Brachetto, a sparkling red from Italy. This wine has notes of cranberry, strawberry and raspberry with crisp acidity and a dry finish.
Next, we served roasted acorn squash with burrata and pomegranates. This winter squash has a distinctive green, ridged exterior and orange interior. It is sweet and buttery and the skin is tender and flavorful. We roasted this squash with butter, blue agave, a touch of brown sugar and a pinch of crushed red pepper. We served this course with a crisp 2017 Russian River Valley Jordan Chardonnay. The crisp fruit flavors, vibrant acidity and lingering finish of this chardonnay paired nicely with the acorn squash.
Our main was a roasted turkey breast. Whole Foods has a rosemary marinated turkey breast that is a lifesaver. Just roast it in the oven for an hour or so depending on how many pounds it is, and check the temperature with a meat thermometer. When the thermometer reads 165°F, take it out of the oven and wrap with foil until you are ready to serve.
We served the roasted turkey with butternut squash mashed potatoes, stuffing and cranberry sauce. Butternut squash must be peeled before roasting. Then slice it in half, scoop out the seeds and roast it. We paired the main course with a Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon, a Bordeaux-style California wine with aromas of black cherries, pomegranate, dried cranberries.
We concluded our meal with pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin pie and a Blanc de Blanc. Pumpkin is a squash, gourd and fruit that can be cooked, baked or used decoratively. It’s great in soups, appetizers and dessert. A shortcut is to use pumpkin puree, but you can also roast a pumpkin and start from scratch.
Our holiday season is off to a wonderful start. We are especially thankful for these amazing friends and we are excited to celebrate Thanksgiving with our family.
It isn’t so much what’s on the table that matters, as what’s on the chairs
W.S. Gilbert
Wow! Really inspiring! I love the wine toppers
Such an Inspiration post. Thank you for sharing. Great post.
Can I invite myself to your Friendsgiving celebration next year? LOL ? Your meal looks so vibrant and delicious. I can almost taste the roasted acorn squash with burrata and pomegranates. Can’t wait to see what you come up with next year.
What a fabulous menu. It all looks delicious. I hope you all enjoyed the Friendsgiving party.
The dishes are delicious. You really have such lovely ideas and unique too. I love reading your articles. I get many suggestions for my house parties.
I love friends giving! Your menu and dishes looked absolutely delicious, especially that pie. Enjoy the holidays!
This sounds like such a fun evening spent with friends! The food sounds delicious and the decorations look amazing!
Wow so inspiring! I’am thinking to celebrate friends giving together with my friends this coming holidays I’m sure they would love this!!
That’s cute “friendsgiving”, thanking everyone for the gift of friendship. You are blessed to have so many great friends.
This year, we had a Friendsgiving with my neighbors. I think it’s important to celebrate and be grateful for all these moments and people who fill our lives with blessings.
This whole menu sounds delicious! Love the theme… Squash are so underrated yet so versatile!
This looks so good! Thank you so much for sharing. Hope that you had a fun time t your Friendsgiving.
Love this! So much inspiration, thank you x
What an absolutely fabulous Friendsgiving! You have definitely found your niche in event planning and D.I.Y. decorating.
Congratulations on achieving some amazing milestones this year!
Congrats on your social media following! That’s a lot of followers. The squash dishes look amazing too. I totally want to try that pie!
Congratulations, and if you ever need help with eating your delicious menu, I’m here to support you ?
That’s a wonderful Friendsgiving Party!
I love the word balloons and the idea of a menu! I’d love to do this next Friendsgiving!
Wow!!!!!!
Just look at the pictures. Trust me, they are luring enough to go to your party, even uninvited 😛 🙂
Love them.
Although a bit late. Still, just for this post itself! Happy thanksgiving <3