Did this week's holiday sneak right up on you?
Sam Tenney / The Citizen
Meg Hogan, owner of Auburn's recently opened Make and Take Gourmet, stands in the shop with her twin son's Max, center, and Jack, both 11. She believes with the help of premade foods, such as side dishes from Make and Take, families can find more time to spend together instead of in the kitchen.
Meg Hogan, owner of Auburn's recently opened Make and Take Gourmet, stands in the shop with her twin son's Max, center, and Jack, both 11. She believes with the help of premade foods, such as side dishes from Make and Take, families can find more time to spend together instead of in the kitchen.
With Thanksgiving falling earlier this year, many may need some additional help pulling together a menu. Luckily, all kinds of tricks and tips are now available to local residents who seek the key to a Thanksgiving made easy.
Ted Tomandl, owner of Old Erie Restaurant in Weedsport, encourages cooks to roast their turkeys at home, filling the house with that familiar holiday scent, but to also seek out alternatives for side dishes and desserts, the two greatest time-consumers of the holiday.
“Don't be afraid to order a half-pan of mashed potatoes, a half-pan of stuffing. Make a couple of desserts yourself, and then buy a couple,” said Tomandl.
Other tricks of the time-saver also suggested by Tomandl, are the use of frozen dough and pre-made rolls.
He urges smart planners to make use of the culinary tools now available, such as the peeled, washed and cut butternut squash available at Wegmans.
He also advises to make use of the human resources available in the house. Meals broken down into tasks take the burden off one host, provide for a social atmosphere in the kitchen and, as the old adage says, “many hands make for light work.”
At the new Make and Take Gourmet in Auburn, owner Meg Hogan is finished with packaging up Thanksgiving to Go orders, but she still has some side dishes left. Side dishes at the Make and Take include garlic mashed potatoes, which are a creamy mix of potatoes, sour cream, milk, butter and herbs topped with cheddar; traditional stuffing; green bean casserole; broccoli casserole, which includes broccoli, mayonnaise, onion, broccoli soup and eggs mixed together and topped with cheddar and stuffing mix; sweet potato bake, and spicy corn bread.
Hogan says that the Auburn Make and Take Gourmet will overstock its front cooler with side dishes ready for sale today.
On its December menu, Make and Take has many convenient appetizers. For the 10 days after Thanksgiving, the preparation center is working to make Christmas cookie baking easier by featuring 16 types of make-your-own Christmas cookies, which customers put together at the store and take home to bake later.
Make and Take Gourmet founder Michele Bellso, a Syracuse advertising executive, is a big fan of ready-made Thanksgiving feasts.
“(The store) did it last year,” she said, “and I had so many of our customers come in and say we changed their entire holiday because they were able to come in and pick up all of their side dishes. It's the side dishes that take up all the time.
“It's the last minute stress of making the gravy and whipping the potatoes,” she added.
With the help of Make and Take, Bellso received several comments on how families had more time to spend with each other rather than just in the kitchen.
“They had so much time to spend with the their families,” she said. “It's exactly something to be thankful for.”
She lauds the ready-made techniques of Make and Take Gourmet because everything is homemade and ready to pop in the oven, as well as enclosed in disposable containers which can be tossed out.
“I had a woman come in the other day who said her new family tradition is to make a family holiday much more relaxing. Last year they actually went out and bought beautiful paper products. I thought, that's a good idea,” Bellso recalled.
“We all forget what the meaning of Thanksgiving is,” she begins, “it's to be thankful for things and not to be stressing about everything.”
Order out
• Old Erie Restaurant can be reached at 834-6641 for side ordering
• Visit makeandtakegourmet.com, call the store at 258-9077 or stop in at 171 Grant Ave., Auburn, to pick up last minute sides
Ted Tomandl, owner of Old Erie Restaurant in Weedsport, encourages cooks to roast their turkeys at home, filling the house with that familiar holiday scent, but to also seek out alternatives for side dishes and desserts, the two greatest time-consumers of the holiday.
“Don't be afraid to order a half-pan of mashed potatoes, a half-pan of stuffing. Make a couple of desserts yourself, and then buy a couple,” said Tomandl.
Other tricks of the time-saver also suggested by Tomandl, are the use of frozen dough and pre-made rolls.
He urges smart planners to make use of the culinary tools now available, such as the peeled, washed and cut butternut squash available at Wegmans.
He also advises to make use of the human resources available in the house. Meals broken down into tasks take the burden off one host, provide for a social atmosphere in the kitchen and, as the old adage says, “many hands make for light work.”
At the new Make and Take Gourmet in Auburn, owner Meg Hogan is finished with packaging up Thanksgiving to Go orders, but she still has some side dishes left. Side dishes at the Make and Take include garlic mashed potatoes, which are a creamy mix of potatoes, sour cream, milk, butter and herbs topped with cheddar; traditional stuffing; green bean casserole; broccoli casserole, which includes broccoli, mayonnaise, onion, broccoli soup and eggs mixed together and topped with cheddar and stuffing mix; sweet potato bake, and spicy corn bread.
Hogan says that the Auburn Make and Take Gourmet will overstock its front cooler with side dishes ready for sale today.
On its December menu, Make and Take has many convenient appetizers. For the 10 days after Thanksgiving, the preparation center is working to make Christmas cookie baking easier by featuring 16 types of make-your-own Christmas cookies, which customers put together at the store and take home to bake later.
Make and Take Gourmet founder Michele Bellso, a Syracuse advertising executive, is a big fan of ready-made Thanksgiving feasts.
“(The store) did it last year,” she said, “and I had so many of our customers come in and say we changed their entire holiday because they were able to come in and pick up all of their side dishes. It's the side dishes that take up all the time.
“It's the last minute stress of making the gravy and whipping the potatoes,” she added.
With the help of Make and Take, Bellso received several comments on how families had more time to spend with each other rather than just in the kitchen.
“They had so much time to spend with the their families,” she said. “It's exactly something to be thankful for.”
She lauds the ready-made techniques of Make and Take Gourmet because everything is homemade and ready to pop in the oven, as well as enclosed in disposable containers which can be tossed out.
“I had a woman come in the other day who said her new family tradition is to make a family holiday much more relaxing. Last year they actually went out and bought beautiful paper products. I thought, that's a good idea,” Bellso recalled.
“We all forget what the meaning of Thanksgiving is,” she begins, “it's to be thankful for things and not to be stressing about everything.”
Order out
• Old Erie Restaurant can be reached at 834-6641 for side ordering
• Visit makeandtakegourmet.com, call the store at 258-9077 or stop in at 171 Grant Ave., Auburn, to pick up last minute sides
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