Friendsgiving

Last night, our good friends Sean and Anna hosted their annual 'Friendsgiving' - a Thanksgiving dinner with friends!

It's a great time to get together and celebrate, eat lots of good food, and play games/watch football.

I volunteered to bring one of my family's favorite holiday sides, broccoli casserole. It's not the healthiest dish, but it sure tastes good!

Broccoli Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1.5 sticks of butter (divided)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 c rice (uncooked)
• 2 pkgs frozen, chopped broccoli
• 1 8oz jar of Cheez Whiz
• 1 can condensed cream of celery soup
• 3 c cornflakes

Directions:

• Melt 1 stick of butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until softened.

• Meanwhile, cook the rice according to the package directions.

• And cook the broccoli according to the package directions, then mash with a fork.

• Add the broccoli, rice, soup, and Cheez Whiz to the onion mixture. Mix well, until combined.

• Transfer mixture to a large casserole dish.

• Melt 1/2 stick of butter and pour it over the corn flakes in a large zip-top bag. Crush the cornflakes and mix well with the butter. Spread evenly over the top of the casserole.

• Bake at 325F until golden (about 30 minutes.)

It is so tasty! And a big hit at the party.

We also brought a salad with pears, pecans, dried cranberries, and blue cheese. And Katie picked up a growler of the seasonal Ebenezer ale made at our local Upstream Brewing Company.

There was so much good food at the party. And Anna did an amazing job decorating the tables - so festive!

I had salad, a roll with butter, green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, mashed potatoes, cornbread with honey butter, and cranberry sauce.

Plus some un-pictured puppy chow for dessert. Mmmmmm.

After eating, we watched the sad, sad Husker game, mingled, and took turns wearing the turkey hat.

And then we played a few rounds of The Game of Things. Have you played this game? SO FUN! Everyone secretly provides an answer and you have to guess who said what. (ex: Things you wouldn't want to find in your Christmas stocking...) Turns out I have some very creative friends!

What a great night spent with great friends. Thanks Anna & Sean!