A party cracker earns its place at the table by giving everyone something to do before the food arrives. These Gold Leaf crackers from Meri Meri are the grown-up version of that ritual, gold on gold, and pitched at a Thanksgiving table rather than a December one. Set one across each plate and the table is dressed before you have lit a single candle, which is the quiet argument for crackers over a folded place card: they are decoration, activity, and favor in a single object. They earn their keep at a Friendsgiving where half the guests are meeting for the first time, since pulling a cracker is the least awkward icebreaker anyone has invented. They travel well as a hostess gift too, for the years when you are not the one cooking. Keep them boxed until the day, then lay them out last, once the plates and the glassware are already down.
What is a Thanksgiving cracker? A party cracker, also called a popper, is a paper-wrapped table favor set at each place setting and pulled open before the meal. Two guests take an end, the snap inside gives a soft crack, and out comes a paper crown, a joke or riddle, and a small keepsake gift.
