This Is the Secret to a Stress-Free Thanksgiving (or Friendsgiving!) Potluck

Although my family’s annual celebration is reasonably organized after years of practice (and my mother’s almost-scary attention to detail), my pals and I are still trying to turn Friendsgiving into a smooth, stress-free operation. Our first year we learned that, yes, it is possible to have too many sweet potato side dishes, and last year, our gluten-free friend realized that she couldn’t eat anything except the salad that she’d prepared.

Even though the setup looked halfway decent, I think everyone wished that we’d just ordered pizza instead. We’re still learning from our experiences, and we now know that our biggest mistake has been the fact that we plan the event without a clear sign-up spreadsheet. I know, using the word “spreadsheet” automatically deducts about 50% of the fun from any celebration, but I’m trying to believe that this will make the entire situation much better.

Several of us got together for a pre-Friendsgiving planning session (I know, I know), and we’ve put together what we think is a simple-but-solid sign-up sheet for any potluck-style meal — not just the ones that involve several casserole dishes of stuffing. This works for Friendsgiving or even a standard potluck-style Thanksgiving. Here’s what we decided:

We’re using a shared Google Sheet, so everyone who’s attending can see the document and any changes that happen to the doc in real time. Plus, it’s free!

Our document is divided into sections for appetizers, breads, salads, main dishes, side dishes, desserts, and drinks. We debated listing each Thanksgiving meal component and then allowing everyone to claim what they’d like to bring, but decided to leave it open-ended instead. With the seven sections, people can look to see what needs the most help, and volunteer accordingly.

Each section has four columns. The first one is where people put their names (duh). The second is where they put the dish they’ll be bringing (more duh). The third is for people with food allergies or dietary restrictions so that we can denote any items that will be fill-in-the-blank-friendly for our food-sensitive friends. And the fourth column is for any notes about prep, reheating, or refrigeration needs so the host will be able to make space and plan accordingly.

Got it? Actually, you don’t have to — we’ve made our spreadsheet public for you to use. (See instructions for how to grab it below!).

To access the Thanksgiving/Friendsgiving Potluck Sign-Up Sheet, within Google Spreadsheets please go to File and Make a copy and save it to your own Google Drive. This will create your own version of the spreadsheet, which will only be accessible to you — and anyone you choose to share it with!