TURKEY DAY MADE EASY: No-hassle holiday

Local restaurants offer alternatives for Thanksgiving feasts

Thanksgiving is about food, but who says you have to slave over a hot stove for days to share the holiday meal with friends and family?

Henderson restaurants offer many options to bring the feast home or to dine in and let someone else do the clean up, too.

Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas

The Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas' new chef de cuisine, Michael Klinger, has created a new Thanksgiving menu to kick off the holiday season.

The Thanksgiving Feast will be a buffet-style meal in the hotel's ballroom to be served from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

The meal will include holiday favorites, including turkey, ham or carved roast beef, plus accompaniments for $65 per adult and $25 per child.

A more formal, sit-down Thanksgiving dinner will be available from 5 to 9 p.m. in the Medici Café and Terrace for $95 per adult and $40 per child. The three-course meal will offer an array of appetizers, main course choices and side dishes, topped off with a warming spot of Calvados or The Ritz-Carlton's own spiced holiday cider.

Klinger said his menu will include traditional Thanksgiving fare, as well as terrine of duck, which is made with a leg confit, spice roasted breast, warm brioche toast; diver scallops and seared foie gras, made with celery root puree and red wine butter; and pumpkin gnocchi, served with roasted chestnuts, baby arugula and sage brown butter.

Klinger said although the kitchen might not be prepared to serve everything off the normal menu on Thanksgiving, he will do whatever he can to accommodate guests.

Diners also can take the turkey to go with a meal that includes traditional fresh turkey and stuffing or a honey-glazed ham, cranberries, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, fresh vegetables of the season and the choice of apple or pumpkin pie. Turkey to Go may be picked up at the hotel's front drive from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day and costs $175 for up to eight people or $225 for up to 12. Orders need to be placed by Monday.

Sunset Station

Sunset Station's Sonoma Cellar Steakhouse will serve up portobello mushrooms stuffed with shrimp and lump crab for $15, a roasted tom turkey entree accompanied with sage dressing, mashed potatoes with giblet gravy, sweet yams, seasonal vegetables and cranberry sauce for $32, and pumpkin ginger crème caramel with candied pecans for $7.

The Costa del Sol Seafood House, another Sunset Station restaurant, will have butternut squash soup for $7, an oven-roasted turkey with dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables and cranberry sauce for $25, and a Chef's Creation dessert for $7.

Sunset Station also has Thanksgiving dinners to go, starting with a whole roasted tom turkey with sage stuffing, giblet gravy and cranberry sauce or a baked, bourbon-glazed ham with raisin sauce for $99. Each dinner serves up to 10 guests and includes baked yams with marshmallows, whipped potatoes, green beans and baby carrots, corn bread and rolls with butter, and the choice of a pumpkin, pecan or apple pie.

Reservations for the Thanksgiving to-go meals are needed by Nov. 20. Pickup will be on Thanksgiving Day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Guadalajara inside the hotel. For reservations, call 547-7800.

Mimi's Cafe

A 10- to 12-pound, whole cooked turkey, homemade mashed potatoes, Mimi's own turkey gravy, whipped sweet potatoes, cornbread stuffing, fresh steamed vegetables, cranberry relish, fresh baked carrot raisin nut bread and a whole pumpkin pie with whipped cream is what you'll get for $79.99 from Mimi's Cafe's Traditional Feast To-Go. The meal serves six to eight people.

The cafe also has a dine-in menu for $14.99 for adults and $6.99 for kids. Guests get a full meal, including white or dark turkey meat, all the trimmings that come with the to-go meals, plus soup or salad and additional dessert choices.

Albertsons

Albertsons will offer a packaged dinner in need of re-heating.

There are three types -- the spiral cut ham dinner, turkey dinner and USDA Choice prime rib dinner. Prices range from $39.99 to $59.99, depending on the number of people to be fed and whether you choose a classic or ultimate package.

Dinner packages come with sides like home-style bread stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, scalloped potatoes, green bean almandine, cranberry sauce and a 10-inch pumpkin pie.

All meals are fully cooked, assembled at a central location and distributed at your area store. Allow two to three hours at home for re-heating.

If you decide to go this route, take note that Albertsons requests 48-hour advance notice.

"Ordering early is essential because they sell like crazy," said Lilia M. Rodriguez, corporate public affairs manager.

Orders are taken at the Albertsons deli counter.

Rainbow Club Casino

The Rainbow Club Casino in downtown Henderson will start serving Thanksgiving dinners at 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. For $5.95, ham or turkey dinners include the choice of soup, green or holiday salad, stuffing, candied yams, vegetables, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce and a roll with butter. All diners also get a free slice of pumpkin or minced pie.

Marie Callender's

Marie Callender's, located at 530 N. Stephanie St., will open its doors at 7 a.m. on Thanksgiving for diners to pick up to-go orders and pies. The whole turkey, turkey breast, ham or combo feasts serve six to eight people and cost from $89.99 to $139.99. In addition to the main attraction feasts, sides such as apple-sage stuffing, fire-roasted yams, cranberry sauce, fresh mashed potatoes and turkey gravy, vegetables, fresh baked cornbread, whole pumpkin or apple pie, and Marie's Special Blend Coffee also are available.

And for dessert, there are more than 30 pies to choose from, including the traditional pumpkin, mince and apple, and some other year-round favorites, such as banana cream, lemon meringue, chocolate cream and coconut cream.

At noon, the restaurant will open for a dine-in feast including a full Thanksgiving meal. Only turkey and ham dinners will be available. Meals are $17.99 for adults and $7.99 for kids.