A Cranberry FriendsGiving!

Friendsgiving is all about celebrating Thanksgiving with your closest friends – either on Thanksgiving or the weeks before or after. Whether your family is far away, or you just love to throw a dinner party with pals, Friendsgiving is the perfect excuse to enjoy delicious cranberry dishes and cocktails with your besties!

The Friendsgiving Planner Checklist: (also available here)

• Create an invite list. Include your nearest and dearest friends. The more, the merrier!

• Plan the menu. Potluck is the popular choice for Friendsgiving, so ask your friends to bring their favorite dishes, desserts and drinks! Challenge their cooking skills by encouraging them to incorporate cranberries into their recipes for a chance to enter and win the #FriendsgivingCranberryContest.

• Incorporate cranberries. Cranberries are America’s Original Superfruit® and a perfect fit for your Friendsgiving celebration. Fresh, frozen, dried, juice or sauce – you can use them in any type of recipe. Try them in a salad, or bake them in pie. You can surprise your friends with a cranberry mojito, or even use them for decoration! For more information on incorporating cranberries into your Friendsgiving, follow @uscranberries on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook .

• Decide on décor. Set the celebratory tone with a festive tablecloth or stunning centerpiece – or create your own party decorations with some fresh or dried cranberries.

• Plan ahead. Whether fancy or disposable, make sure you have enough utensils, plates, glasses and napkins. Don’t forget to have plenty of ice on hand. Try freezing fresh cranberries with water into ice cubes to dress up your drinks.

• Don’t forget entertainment. A fun post-dinner game that accompanies cranberry cobbler is never a bad idea.

• Always have an extra pie handy (preferably cranberry!). You never know who else will stop by.

• Enter to win! Tag your pictures with #FriendsgivingCranberryContest and remind your friends to enter their favorite cranberry creations in the Cranberry Friendsgiving Photo Contest. One winner will receive a $2,000 dinner party!! (www.cranberryfriendsgiving.com).

Check out some of these cranberry recipes on our Market Street website for inspiration.

Whether you celebrate Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving or both, cranberry dishes, decor and drinks are a vibrant and delicious tradition at the table.