Looking for a girls night idea with a Thanksgiving theme? How about one that lets you taste and take home some brand new side dishes to go with your Thanksgiving turkey? Our girlfriend Carly just

phoned to tell us about a Thanksgiving Recipe Exchange and Side-Dish Swap she attended. Instead of making the same old green bean casserole (pictured), you can have your choice of new and delicious side dishes to serve at your Thanksgiving table. This is how it works: Each girlfriend prepares two batches of her side dish—one to taste and one to give away. In addition, each brings copies of her recipe to share. At your girls night, have a tasting buffet, with the recipes displayed beside each dish. Now how to decide who gets which dish to take home? You could:

-Draw straws

-Draw names out of a hat (with each girlfriend only entering for the dishes she wants, and then eliminated from the running after she wins a dish)

-Have the maker of each dish ask a trivia question about herself First girlfriend with the right answer wins the dish!

 Just make sure each girlfriend goes home with one new dish! We think this sounds like a fun, yummy and useful girls night idea. As Carly said, “You might feel you don’t have time to make two dishes, but once you get there, you will be so glad you did.” We agree. Everything worth doing takes time. And getting together with our girlfriends, especially around the holidays, is definitely worth the effort. 

So, there’s a quick idea for your Friday, girlfriends. Take it and run! And we’d love it if you would share your favorite side dish recipes (or links to them) below.