Being thankful isn’t reserved for Thanksgiving dinner. You can spread good cheer throughout the holiday season with a Gratitude Gathering, a fun and intimate party focused on food and thanks!
Sound like Thanksgiving? Not exactly. This one’s so much more fun and unexpected. Here’s how to pull it off:
Create the Guest List
Who do you appreciate most? It could be family or maybe it’s your friends, your team or a special person in your life whom you can’t live without. Will there be a guest of honor? The key is to keep it intimate.
Decide on the Format
Dinner, lunch or brunch? Are you cooking, will your cook together, or is it a pot-luck, buffet, plated dinner or catered event? Do whatever will give you the most time with your guests.
Choose the Menu
Have fun with this! If there’s a guest of honor consider creating a menu around their favorites. If it’s a pot-luck then have everyone bring a dish made with the food for which they are most grateful (Hello, potatoes!).
Express your Gratitude for People
Share why your grateful for your guests/each other by going around the table and telling them publicly.
Express your Gratitude for the Food
If the focus of your party is gratitute for the food itself then have everyone go around the table and talk about why they’re grateful for that particular food. Make this a serious or as silly as you like depending on your crowd Try this for an ice breaker:
“I’m glad I can eat this/these____________________ (fill in the name of the food here) because it _________________________ (fill in whatever health benefit you’re getting from the food).”
Eating together has known nutrition, health, mental and social benefits. Pile on the gratitude this holiday season for even greater benefits.