Member Reviews

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Friendsgiving Cookbook by Taylor Vance is the perfect resource for those who want to enjoy the joy of Thanksgiving without the stress of family drama. This cookbook offers an easy-going approach to creating a fun and unforgettable occasion with friends. It provides insight and advice for hosting a drama-free gathering, where eating and drinking take the spotlight.

By starting your own annual Friendsgiving tradition, you can release yourself from the tension and stress typically associated with big family gatherings. The book features tantalizing recipes for Graze All Day Appetizers, Potluck Main Attractions, No Meat Sides for No Meat Friends, and an Extra-Long Dessert Spread. With 50 easy and delicious recipes, you’ll have plenty of options to choose from.

The Friendsgiving Cookbook also includes “A Little Extra…but in a Good Way” sidebars throughout the book. These provide valuable tips for food preparation, fun anecdotes, and helpful hints to make your Friendsgiving a super smash. The book encourages you to put new twists on old favorites for both the festivities and the feast.

The cover of this cookbook perfectly captures the essence of Thanksgiving. It is nicely laid out with colorful illustrations, photos, and easy-to-follow recipes. The inclusion of “little extras” such as tips and hints accompanying most of the recipes is a nice touch. Personally, I tried the “La Mia Famiglia Meatballs” and the “#Blessed Chocolate Bread,” and both were delicious! I am eagerly looking forward to making “The Best Stuffed Turkey Breast” this Thanksgiving.

One minor issue I had with this cookbook is that I wish there were more Thanksgiving-themed recipes. However, overall, The Friendsgiving Cookbook would be a great addition to anyone’s cookbook collection.

**ARC Via NetGalley**

Was this review helpful?

Friendsgiving has become a really popular event in the last few years. If you would like to host your own Friendsgiving this is the cookbook for you. It is full of fall recipes that will compliment you normal Thanksgiving menu without stepping on it's toes. It starts with some delicious looking appetizers that you can nibble on all day such as Make Me Mini Ham Quiche or Clique Me Charcuterie Board. Then we move on to the main attractions such as Thanksgiving Panini, Go Off Brisket, or Soy Grateful Salmon. There are vegan options for those friends that might fall into that category. Then there are sides; Steve Requested Fried Green Beans, Don't Kale My Chickpea Vibe, Roasty Toasty Brussels and Potluck Potato Salad. And let's not forget the desserts. Johnny's Already Gone Pecan pie Bites might make it to my table this year. Nutty Carmen's Caramel Apples look great too. Hope you will check out this cookbook whether you plan a Friendsgiving or not.

Was this review helpful?

The Friendsgiving Cookbook provides a lot of great recipes that seem easy to make and are crowd-pleasers. I loved the design and aesthetic of the book, especially the title pages for each section. The little accent images of pumpkins and leaves on the recipe pages just brings everything together. It's a good book to have around for Thanksgiving. The only thing I wish is that the main dishes had more vegetarian options. There's an entire section for meatless sides which is amazing, but the mains are lacking in that regard. Otherwise, I'd be happy to purchase this cookbook.

Was this review helpful?

The Friendsgiving Cookbook is a great compilation of recipes for various Friendsgiving gatherings. Whether your guests are vegetarian, vegan or have no dietary restrictions, this cookbook has options for all guests. The cookbook is split into appetizers, main entrees, dishes for "no meat friends," and desserts.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Friendsgiving Cookbook is precisely the book I have dreaming of! With gorgeous photos, delicious but approachable recipes, and a fun layout. I loved this book, and I can't wait to try the recipes!

Was this review helpful?

A comprehensive book of delicious recipes that=suit family cooking and special occasions with friends. I liked the variety of recipes throughout the book and how they could be combined in any fashion to make a great menu for entertaining.

Was this review helpful?

The Friendsgiving Cookbook is a nice collection of Thanksgiving dishes. It includes appetizers, potluck main attractions, vegetarian recipes, desserts, and drinks. I liked the extra notes that are on a lot of the recipes!

If you don't have a Thanksgiving cookbook, this might be a good fit for you. There are a lot of tasty recipes, ranging from easy to more complicated, so if you need to bring a dish to pass for Friendsgiving, this will definitely give you some great ideas!

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this eARC in exchange for my honest review on the book!

Was this review helpful?

This is such a great collection of recipes! There is a large variety of types of food. They all seem relatively easy. I can't wait to try some out.

Was this review helpful?

I’ve been celebrating Friendsgiving with my social circle for the past few years, so I was very interested in checking out Taylor Vance’s 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬. My friends and I enjoy cooking and sharing new recipes with each other, and I was hoping to find inspiration for our next gathering here. This cookbook is divided into four sections—appetizers, main courses, vegetarian sides, and desserts. There were some unexpected dishes that I didn’t expect to find in a Thanksgiving-themed book—a few different charcuterie boards, chicken and waffles, and matcha sponge cake, to name some examples. I honestly wished there were more autumn-y recipes, but I did get a few ideas and appreciated the clean layout and beautiful photography. This made me excited for fall!

Thank you to NetGalley and RockPoint for the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. My review was posted online on July 26, 2023 to https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5723151398.

Was this review helpful?

While Thanksgiving is generally a holiday for family, Taylor Vance offers her insight in making the holiday more enjoyable by reducing the stress of difficult family members and inviting just those who get along and also friends. She has suggestions in her cookbook, The Friendsgiving Cookbook: 50 Recipes for Hosting, Roasting, and Celebrating with Friends.
The recipes include appetizers and several modern ubiquitous charcuterie boards – sans the homemade dishes that are usually served on special holidays (storebought, frozen, etc.). There are also soups, sides, salads, a few mains and desserts.

Some of the recipes call for ingredients not found on most pantry shelves, refrigerators, and home freezers, such as aquafaba (chickpea water), as well as frozen store-bought items like dumplings. Some of the dessert recipes also call for things like applesauce as a substitute for butter or other fats (which make them actually taste good and have a good texture), and some call for almond flour as opposed to regular flour. It makes it seem like the author is trying to promote tree hugger ingredients and punish those who like regular food that actually tastes good, instead of the traditional ones that are found in most family’s thanksgiving recipe repertoires. Many families and friends would object, and rightly so.

The cookbook includes beautiful professional photographs of most of the recipes, and the photos make the recipes seem more appetizing that they actually are after reading the ingredients.

All told, the premise of the book is nice – inviting your friends and family members that you actually like, but minus the homemade traditional foods that everyone looks forward to. There are however, several appealing recipes that might be good on other days and at other get togethers that aren’t beloved holidays like Thanksgiving that call for traditional offerings. With only 50 recipes, readers will feel cheated; there definitely should be more.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

Was this review helpful?

Nice collection of recipes that would be useful any time of year. A lot of them (the majority) require the use of a pressure cooker (Instant Pot or equivalent) or air fryer, so bear that in mind.

Back in the day, before I retired, I used to host Thanksgiving for my single co-workers who were not traveling home to share dinner with their families. It allowed me to polish up the good china and cook up a storm using many recipes passed down through my family and usually, one or two new recipe finds. A book like this would have been welcomed!

There's a good variety here -- appetizers (including three ideas for charcuterie boards -- you think you know how to put one of these together but in practice, it's more complicated than it looks), entrees, vegetarian/vegan, desserts, sides. The recipes themselves are very clear, with photos of most of them. Most use readily available ingredients and are easy enough for an advanced beginner/intermediate cook to produce with ease.

My only quibble is the abundance of "gadget" recipes. Unless you own both a pressure cooker/multi-cooker and/or an air fryer, you won't be able to produce many of the recipes here. For example, three of the seven "Potluck Main Attractions" require a pressure cooker (stuffed turkey breast, glazed salmon with bok choy, and beef brisket) and another requires an air fryer (chicken tenders). You're left with mac and cheese, chicken and waffles, or a panini sandwich if your kitchen doesn't include either of those conveniences. An experienced cook will be able to adjust the "gadget" recipes to accomplish preparation sans gadget, but beginning cooks will want to follow the recipes as written.

Still, there are enough good ideas here to warrant adding this to your collection.

Was this review helpful?

This a very entry easy book for recipes to cook with your friends or for a gathering under 30 minutes. Unfortunately, many recipes were super obvious and you await to read and try something new when you are taking a cookbook.
I liked that there are revenues from different cuisines and ingredients are easily affordable.
Would really love to try some recipes from it

Was this review helpful?

Very basic and rather unimaginative for the most part, the recipes here weren't quite satisfactory and I don't think there's much that I'd personally make an effort to prepare. It's very low effort, and I'd have liked something more creative than the choices offered.

Was this review helpful?

Friendsgiving has become a thing. It is when you leave the family squabbles behind and celebrate a holiday with friends. This book will help with that! There are 50 recipes for entertaining.

The book is divided into sections on appetizers, potluck mains, vegetarain sides and desserts. The author notes that you can make it all the way from drinks to desserts with recipes that are do-able.

This title is charmingly illustrated. There are also many photos. The very first entry for crostini, so easy that ANYONE could do it. There are also little sections called A Little Extra…But in a Good Way; these are helpful.

Just a few of the recipes are those for Angelic Deviled Eggs, Chicken and Waffles, Roasty Toasty Brussels, Pumpkin Cake Poppin, and Thank You So Match Sponge Cake.

This is a nice cookbook. It is well worth a look.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.

Was this review helpful?

Thanks to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Rock Point for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I don't celebrate thanksgiving (i'm not American) but I'm so impressed by this book. There are so many yummy things in there, from starters to desserts. There's even enough to please vegetarian people.
I really love that there's a photo for each recipe also. I think there's just enough recipes to please everyone in this book. Yum.

Was this review helpful?

First off, I'm from the UK and have American friends and thought this book would be really great to try some American recipes. Some ingredients aren't typical here e.g Kosher salt, pickle juice but no issue. Can substitute with other ingredients. I feel this book is aimed at the younger cooks or even beginners. Great to see recipes for air fryers or pressure cookers. Have made a note of 3 recipes which piqued my interest. Otherwise, not a book that I would personally use in the kitchen but that's just my personal choice.

Was this review helpful?

This is a really cute, entry-level cookbook with a focus on approachable, cozy recipes that are perfect for sharing with friends. The vibe puts an emphasis on "found family", which I thought was really cute, and many of the recipes have quirky, punny names (ie: "Hot Girl Shrimp").

I think this book would be perfect for a "new adult" aged 17-25, or someone who is just learning to cook and wants to know more about how to pair certain flavours together. I can appreciate that this book uses lots of pre=purchased convenience staples in the recipes, which would be less intimidating for newbies, but if you're a from-scratch cook, this may not be for you.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

This cookbook is a short stint of what I’d guess as crowed favorites, including the kids! From the chicken and waffles to whipped hot chocolate, these recipes seemed easily approachable to whip up and crowd pleasers. I haven’t tested any, but can’t wait to give the crostini and chicken tenders a try.

Was this review helpful?

As you can probably guess from the title, this book is a cookbook that focuses on having friends over for thanksgiving, but it does also work for any occasion that you are having friends or family round for food.
There is a mix of traditional dishes and not so traditional dishes, and some of the traditional dishes have been given an update with a bit of a twist.
The book is filled with great illustrations for each of the recipes and there are some delicious sounding and looking recipes.
I liked this cookbook and there are definitely a few recipes that I would love to try.
My thanks to the author, the publisher and to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book. I am leaving this review of my own volition.

Was this review helpful?

This is the cutest Friendsgiving cookbook!
I had so much fun reading the little quirky puns and side notes. I have no doubt this would make the cutest hostess gift, a bestie gift with a couple of the ingredients, or a fun white elephant gift. I think the mix of recipes between appetizers and drinks is so perfect for holiday gatherings. The images were so beautiful and clear and I loved the font throughout the book!

Was this review helpful?