As boldly declared in this month’s editor’s note: Thanksgiving is our holiday spirit animal. We love dressing our homes up for Christmas as much as the next girl, but it’s hard to beat a day strictly dedicated to family, football, food, and flexing the gratitude muscle. Just like pretty much everything in life, we take a very easy, borderline lazy approach to entertaining, so we applied that school of thought to our first annual Teamsgiving.

With a little text-planning, some stuff from our homes, help from a few friends in the creative businesses (though not absolutely necessary), we were able to pull together a simple brunch in about twenty minutes with only $60. Efficiency and cost aside, it was quite possibly the most relaxing, Instagram-worthy Thanksgiving fête to date. So easy, in fact, a few of us are repeating this scene on Thursday. Even more, we had plenty of time after shooting to celebrate our growing team and indulge once our phones were put away. 

The vibe. So, let’s get to it! Jillian’s charming brick backyard provided an open canvas for our setting as well as her marble coffee table for the food. We tapped into Distressed Rentals to borrow the black and white rug, leather and fur floor pillows, striped poof, and accent table to make it cozy. We also can’t take credit for the flowers, which were graciously designed for us by Antiqua Floral. Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to hire a florist or rent props! We wanted to make sure this first Teamsgiving represents our team but also provides fresh ideas for you, our friends. You can easily pull items from your space to recreate this or design your own using what’s in your own backyard. See what we did there?

The food. The goal was for a stress-free gathering where we could indulge in smalls nibbles, drink plenty of wine, and catch-up. We each elected to bring or contribute semi-homemade dishes that were dressed up to keep things simple. The menu consisted of: a charcuterie plate with Trader Joe’s cheeses and dry meats; a Butternut Squash & Caramelized Onion Galette, bread and butter, and finally Apple Pie Affogato. 

Plates, serving dishes, trays and flatware were all pulled from our homes because it takes a village!

menu

Charcuterie Plate

Cheeses used: Trader Joe’s Unexpected Cheddar, Dutch Gouda, and Manchego
Meats used: Salami, Proscuitto, Capocollo variety pack
Toppings: walnutes, cranberries, honey, sea salt
Served with crackers

Butternut Squash & Caramelized Onions Galette

See recipe here.

Apple Pie Affogato

Apple Crumble (Recipe from RecipeTinEats)

Ingredients

Apple Filling

• 2 lb / 1kg Granny Smith Apples( green apples), weight before peeling

• 1 tbsp plain flour

• 1/2 cup / 110g white sugar, preferably caster / superfine

• 2 tbsp lemon juice, or sub with water

• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Topping

• 1 cup / 90g cup rolled oats / oatmeal (quick cooking is ok)

• 1 cup / 150g plain flour

• 1 cup / 175 g brown sugar (loosely packed)

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp cinnamon powder

• 1/2 cup / 125g unsalted butter, melted

• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C.

2. Peel apples, then cut into 1.5cm/ 3/5” cubes.

3. Pile apple in a 1.5 litre/1.5 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with flour, sugar and cinnamon, then pour over lemon juice. Toss, then spread out evenly.

4. Place Topping ingredients in a bowl. Mix until clumps form, like wet sand. Spread over the apples.

5. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove, cover loosely with foil to keep warm and let stand for 15 to 20 minutes (let’s the apple filling come together).

6. To serve: scoop ice cream in small bowls or cups, top with warm apple pie filling and crumble, then drizzle espresso over and enjoy!

Bread & Butter

Slice baguette of choice on an angle and arrange with fresh rosemary; serve with room-temperature butter and flaky sea salt

The Sources: Photography – Greer Gattuso | Accessories – Distressed Rentals | Florals by Antiqua Floral | Bread bowl from Anthropologie | West Elm marble coffee table | vintage brass candle holders | similar flatware 

Although Très Américain launched less than two months ago, it’s been incredible knowing we have readers who, for a variety of reasons, return. It goes without saying we’re tremendously grateful for the opportunity to be here for you. Happy Thanksgiving!