{"id":27334,"date":"2015-11-17T07:40:58","date_gmt":"2015-11-17T12:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=27334"},"modified":"2015-11-17T07:34:03","modified_gmt":"2015-11-17T12:34:03","slug":"thanksgiving-dinner-doesnt-have-to-be-stressful-or-even-home-cooked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=27334","title":{"rendered":"Thanksgiving dinner doesn\u2019t have to be stressful or even home cooked"},"content":{"rendered":"

Great local options and online resources can\u00a0help make your feast easy and enjoyable for all<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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By Cathy Branciaroli,\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Food Correspondent, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Thanksgiving is at least a week away and there are many options so that the host or hostess can enjoy the day as much as the guests.\u00a0 Not everyone has the need to prepare an elaborate feast, serving a large turkey, tons of side dishes and desserts. Of course there are the obligatory traditional dishes that everyone craves, so make them.\u00a0 But in fact, simple is better these days for many families.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Here are some suggestions for making the day pleasant for everyone.\u00a0 First of all, if you are going to serve turkey, make sure to thaw the bird in the refrigerator, not on the counter, for at least three days and remember to remove the bag of innards before cooking.\u00a0 I failed to do these things in my first Thanksgiving cooking outing and it didn\u2019t go well.<\/p>\n

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\"thanksgiving<\/a>

While a well-roasted turkey with beautiful decorations is the traditional picture for Thanksgiving, there are many other ways to prepare for this annual event.<\/p><\/div>\n

Next, plan ahead. Right now, avian flu has affected turkey producers in the Midwest so don\u2019t wait till the last minute to go get your bird.\u00a0 Same thing with canned pumpkin, but for different reasons.\u00a0 Weather problems have resulted in allocations so if pumpkin pie is a must-have part of the dinner make sure to go get your supply now.<\/p>\n

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A whole roasted turkey can be a big deal to prepare.\u00a0 Perhaps a roasted turkey breast will satisfy guests.\u00a0 Boneless turkey breasts can be prepared in less than an hour.\u00a0 Smothered in gravy, they will deliver the same delicious flavor with much less work.\u00a0 If you are not inclined to make pie dough etc. for a pumpkin pie, do what my mother does and bake a crustless pumpkin \u201cpie\u201d in a lasagna pan and top with canned whipped cream.<\/p>\n

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Then there are the non-traditional options for Thanksgiving dinner.\u00a0 Try cubing sweet potatoes and roasting them with olive oil and rosemary instead of the ultra-sweet traditional preparation.\u00a0 And brussel sprouts are totally under-rated.\u00a0 These too can be cut in half, drizzled in olive oil and roasted with herbs for a delicious side dish to replace green bean casserole.<\/p>\n

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If you really don\u2019t feel like cooking, more and more local places will provide pre-prepared meals as take out.\u00a0 But the deadline for ordering these is looming.\u00a0 Most of the places I spoke to said that their ordering deadline is this week.\u00a0 Here is a selection of those options:<\/p>\n

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Wegmans<\/u> (Downingtown or Concordville):\u00a0 Wegmans offers several options for different size meals including a pre-cooked turkey, side dishes including mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry and orange relish and pies.\u00a0 Prices range from $89 \u2013 to $135.\u00a0 Their arrangement is \u201cfirst come, first serve\u201d and when supplies are exhausted that\u2019s it. Concordville:\u00a0 100, Applied Card Way(484) 785-9900; Downingtown:\u00a01056 E. Lancaster Avenue; Downingtown.<\/p>\n

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Country Butcher<\/u> (145 S. Walnut Street, Kennett Square, 610-444-5980) \u2013 Dan is offering 2 sizes of pre-cooked turkeys accompanied by stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy and cranberry sauce along with pumpkin or apple cranberry pie.\u00a0 Prices range from $175-$225 and orders must be placed by 11\/20.<\/p>\n

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Talula\u2019s Table<\/u> (102 West State Street, Kennett Square 610-444-8255) \u2013 Pre-cooked whole or carved birds can be ordered with an array of customizable side dishes and desserts.\u00a0 One can order from their website or by phone and cost depends on the package that\u2019s ordered.\u00a0 Orders must be placed by 11\/21.<\/p>\n

Here are a few other helpful resources:<\/p>\n

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Thanksgiving Planner Courtesy of New York Times<\/p>\n

http:\/\/cooking.nytimes.com\/thanksgiving\/menu-planner?em_pos=large&emc=edit_ck_20151111&nl=cooking&nlid=69646329<\/a><\/p>\n

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In case you really get stuck, the Butterball Turkey Hotline will be manned all day on Thanksgiving:\u00a0 800-288-8372<\/p>\n

Cathy Branciaroli also writes about her adventures in the kitchen on her award-winning blog <\/em>Delaware Girl Eats<\/a><\/p>\n

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Great local options and online resources can\u00a0help make your feast easy and enjoyable for all   By Cathy Branciaroli,\u00a0Food Correspondent, The Times   Thanksgiving is at least a week away and there are many options so that the host or hostess can enjoy the day as much as the guests.\u00a0 Not everyone has the need […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[7745,2476,7744,7746,3050],"class_list":["post-27334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-easy-option-thanksgiving-dinner","tag-talulas-table","tag-thanksgiving-dinner","tag-the-country-butcher-kennett-square","tag-wegmans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27334"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27335,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27334\/revisions\/27335"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}