What? It’s Thanksgiving week already?
If the holiday has crept up on you and you’re worrying about how to get all the cooking done, restaurants and businesses can help to round out your Thanksgiving table with some last-minute orders for sides, desserts and drinks.
Side dishes
Showstopper side: Jen Saffron of Sprezzatura in Millvale makes a side dish that doubles as a showstopper. She stuffs a roasted acorn squash, which has been cut in half, with a colorful mix of pork, cheeses, rice and pine nuts. Her sides are sold by the pan and serve six to eight people for $34 each.
Other Sprezzatura sides, all sold at the same price, include green beans with caramelized shallots and goat cheese, Brussels sprouts with pecans and garlic confit, roasted sweet potatoes and fall vegetables in browned butter, kale and Napa cabbage salad (with green apples, celery, capers and caraway), and traditional stuffing with fresh sage.
She also offers some desserts, including a cranberry curd and hazelnut pie ($15).
Order deadline is Monday for pickup Wednesday. Sprezzatura.com (click “Order Online” and scroll to the bottom of the page for Thanksgiving items).
Classic and newfangled sides: Trevett Hooper, owner of Butterjoint in Oakland, cooks dried sweet corn with butter and cream to make a Pennsylvania Dutch classic ($8 per pint) called Creamed Shaker Corn.
He also makes a rutabaga bake ($14 per quart) that is “better than it sounds — trust me,” he promised.
Spud options are Party Potatoes and buttermilk potatoes ($12 per quart). The former is a rich preparation of mashed potatoes; the latter is also a mashed potato dish that’s “lighter than Party Potatoes but not as good,” he said.
Other sides include stuffing ($16 per quart) made with Butterjoint Bakery bread, mushrooms, dried fruit and chicken stock, collard greens or black-eyed peas ($6 per pint), and cranberry sauce ($4 per cup).
Savory and sweet pies are available, too. His turkey potpie ($40) is ideal for a small group that doesn’t want to deal with a big turkey. Vegetarian quiches are $35. Sweet flavors include cherry ($28), apple ($19), pecan ($19), pumpkin ($15) and the tangy vinegar pie ($15).
Orders are being accepted on butterjoint.com (click on “Prepared Foods”), and pickups can be as late as Wednesday between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. All dishes come with reheating instructions.
Small sides: My Goodness Market in Regent Square offers sides for two. Choices include roasted maple yams with thyme and candied pecans ($8, vegan), stuffing with caramelized onions, apples and sage ($7, vegetarian), herb-roasted fingerling potatoes ($8.50), roasted carrots with thyme, sesame and tahini vinaigrette ($7.50), Brussels sprouts with bacon dressing ($7.50) and roasted beet salad with goat cheese, pecans and honey vinaigrette ($8.50).
For orders serving four or more, call 412-727-1657. Pickup is from noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday; delivery within 5 miles is $10 and is between noon and 5 p.m. Wednesday. mygoodnesspgh.com (click “Order Online”).
Melange of sides: If you don’t feel like making anything but the turkey, get takeout from the Capital Grille, Downtown. The chain restaurant offers a package of “Sides at Home” ($125) that serves four to six. It includes brioche stuffing, gravy, French green beans, cranberry-pear chutney, mashed potatoes, pecan-crusted sweet potatoes with hot honey, and seeded rolls. Pick up on Tuesday or Wednesday, store in the fridge and reheat on Thanksgiving Day. capitalgrille.com.
Desserts
Half cheesecakes: Serving a small group for Thanksgiving this year? DiAnoia’s Eatery in the Strip District is selling half cheesecakes in unique flavors. Each half cheesecake ($20) serves five. Flavors are cannoli, cranberry and white wine, dirty chai, lemon and pine nut, lemon raspberry, mixed berry, Nutella, plain and pumpkin.
Pickups are between 3 and 8 p.m. daily. Same-day orders must be in by 4 p.m. The restaurant is closed on Thanksgiving Day, so the final day for pickup is Wednesday. dianoiaseatery.com/product/cheesecake.
Pies and more: Not into the traditional pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving? Rania’s Catering in Mt. Lebanon has a specialty alternative — apple caramel crunch pie ($25). Owner Rania Harris also offers pumpkin pie, pecan pie and chocolate cream pie, all $25. Her alternative desserts include gingerbread with lemon sauce ($20) and cranberry rum tarts ($25).
The order deadline is Tuesday.
Rania’s closed on March 17 for what Ms. Harris thought would be a two-week shutdown. She didn’t reopen until Nov. 9. During that time, she catered small events and prepared food for pickup on an appointment basis. She has reopened Rania’s To Go for the holidays. For full Thanksgiving and holiday season menus, go to rania.com.
Pumpkin bombe: Bella Frutteto in Franklin Park makes a unique fall dessert, the pumpkin bombe ($8), a decadent substitute for a traditional pumpkin pie. It serves two and consists of a pumpkin spice blondie on the bottom, pumpkin mousse in the middle, an outside shell made with vanilla Oreos, and a drizzle of vanilla crème sauce. Owner Sandy Rook said it’s based on a chocolate bombe that the restaurant serves the rest of the year.
Order deadline is Monday, and the bombe can be picked up between 3 and 8 p.m. Wednesday. 724-940-7777; bellafrutteto.com.
Drinks
Curated Wine To-Go Box: Barsotti Wines in the Strip District has selected three versatile wines that go well with a Thanksgiving meal: Maidenstoen Lafond Vineyard Riesling, Left Coast Cali’s Cuvee Pinot Noir and Preston Farm and Winery Petite Sirah. To order a to-go box ($74) with the three bottles, a tasting sheet and some snacks, e-mail ruth.barsotti@barsottiwines.com.
Thanksgiving Beer Pairing Box: Bierport in Lawrenceville is offering a Thanksgiving Beer Pairing Box with beer tasting notes and six-packs to pair with Thanksgiving dinner staples. The premade six-packs are designed to pair with Thanksgiving classics like turkey and pumpkin pie.
Beer recommendations are available for those who want to build a do-it-yourself Thanksgiving beer pack.
Owner Brian Mendelssohn said with COVID-19 having disrupted the typical Thanksgiving plans, it is a “small thing we can do to make the day more fun and festive.”
Pairings include ambers and brown ales that go well with roasted turkey or tofurkey, Belgians to pair with mashed potatoes and semisweet ciders that balance the tart cranberry sauce.
Stop by the shop for premade sixpacks or to build your own. Curbside pickup is also available if you order ahead. bierport.com; 412-904-4248.
Food events
Buy Fresh Buy Local Virtual Harvest Tasting: Farm to Table has taken its annual Harvest Tasting event virtual this year. Enjoy live music by Elias Khouri in between cooking demos and other videos and enjoy food samples that you’ve picked up ahead of time. The program runs from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday. Food sample pickups are available at six sites around the region or by mail for an extra $25. Tickets (which include online access and the box of food samples) are $25. farmtotablepa.com/local-food-tastings/harvest-tasting.
Sweets Sale: It features nut rolls, apricot rolls, poppy seed rolls, nut horns and lady locks. Order by Nov. 30 at htsoc.com; pick up between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Dec. 5 at Holy Trinity Cathedral, Mt. Lebanon. Preorders only. Questions? Email htcnutroll@gmail.com.
Progressive Holiday Mingle 2020: Mingle your way down East Carson Street, stopping at participating restaurants for craft cocktails and small plates. 6 p.m. Dec. 2 on the South Side. $200 for four guests. South Sid Chamber of Commerce has designed this evening for groups of four, with limited ticket sales to minimize risks. southsidechamber.org/mingle-tickets-4.
Wine & Cheese — The Perfect Pairing: GoodTaste! Pittsburgh presents a virtual wine and cheese night designed to support local businesses. Each participant will receive a bottle of Dreadnought wine, a pound of four artisan cheeses from The Marketplace at Emerald Valley, a mini-loaf from Mediterra Bakehouse, and olive oil and bread dip from Oakmont Olive Oil. Participants can tune in to a 6 p.m. Dec. 6 online presentation on “Navigating the Gourmet Cheese Counter” by Alisa Fava-Fasnacht from The Marketplace at Emerald Valley, “Building a Gorgeous Holiday Cheese Board” by event planner Deborah French Gorman and “Pairing Perfectly” by Deb Mortillaro of Dreadnought Wines. $65. Supply pickups are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 4-5 at Dreadnought Wines in Lawrenceville, or order by Dec. 1 to have your kit shipped anywhere in Pennsylvania for $25. goodtastepittsburgh.com/wine-cheese-the-perfect-pairing.
Cookie Walk and Soup-To-Go: Boxes of two to three dozen cookies ($25) and quarts of soup (tortellini, wedding, turkey chili, tomato bisque, beef vegetable, tomato-spinach-bean and vegan butternut squash, $10) are available for drive-through pickup. Orders must be placed by Dec. 5, and pickup is between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Dec. 12 at Waverly Presbyterian Church’s Forbes Avenue parking lot in Regent Square. waverlychurch.org/cookiewalk.
Holiday Sweet Treats Cookie Campaign: LifeSpan needs 450 dozen cookies to distribute half dozen to each of its senior Meals on Wheels clients this holiday season. The office is accepting donations of two to three dozen homemade cookies between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays at 314 E. Eighth Ave., Homestead, through Dec. 11. Information: 412-464-1300 or lifespanpa.org.
Rebecca Sodergren: pgfoodevents@hotmail.com; @pgfoodevents.
First Published: November 20, 2020, 12:30 p.m.
