Need a little help with your baking this Thanksgiving? Apple pie from Bread Fellows in Andes is as artful as it is delicious. Photo from Bread Fellows' Facebook page.
November 28 is roaring up the calendar at us—are you ready to feast? Here’s a roundup of the many options for Thanksgiving throughout the Catskills, whether you’re celebrating around a family table or ditching the chores for a night out.
If you’re cooking at home, you’ve got just over a week to finish up the grocery list and the planning for the big feast. Fortunately, Catskills farms and food purveyors offer lots of options for locally grown meat and veggies, as well as baked goods that will convince your guests you mastered pastry school.
Your best bet for one-stop shopping for local ingredients are late-season farmers’ markets. The pre-Thanksgiving pop-up farmers’ market hosted by the Greater Stamford Chamber of Commerce runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23, indoors at the Frank W. Cyr Center, the sprawling former hotel also known as the Rexmere. This Saturday is also the last outdoor farmers' market of the season in Kingston's Stockade District; the Kingston farmer's market runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wall Street. In Sullivan County, the Callicoon market runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays at Callicoon Creek Park.
Don’t wait until the weekend to buy a locally raised turkey, though; Thanksgiving’s most popular entrée is quickly selling out at local farms and retailers. A few places to look: Migliorelli Farm, which is taking orders at its stand in Mount Tremper; Heather Ridge Farm in the Schoharie County hamlet of Preston Hollow; and online at Pure Catskills, which has a directory of local poultry farms.
As an alternative (or an addition) to turkey, Callicoon Natural Foods and Juice Bar is selling local pasture-raised, nitrate-free hams.
Side dishes are no problem here in the harvest season. Potatoes, you say? Winter squash? Root ‘n’ Roost Farm in White Sulphur Springs is offering “Thanksgiving Bountiful Bags.” For $25, you get 5 pounds of potatoes, two butternut or spaghetti squashes, Jerusalem artichokes, carrots, garlic, salad greens and cooking herbs. Pika’s Farm Table, which sells online and at local food retailers such as Pepacton Natural Foods in Roscoe and local farmers’ markets, is taking orders for appetizers such as lobster risotto cakes and butternut squash soup, with plenty of vegetarian and gluten-free options.
Above: Risotto cakes from Pika's Farm Table in Lake Katrine.
And then there’s dessert. Apples and pumpkins abound at local farms and orchards, and are available at local-food retailers. Dessert is also the easiest part of the meal to fake-make, and many area restaurants and bakeries take pre-orders for holiday sweets. If you have a favorite haunt for a slice of cake and a cup of coffee, chances are they will bake you a pie if you ask ahead. A few places we know are doing special treats: Narrowsburg’s Natural Contents’ Kitchen (order online by Nov. 20 for pickup on Nov. 27); Peck and Potter Farm in Jefferson; and Tantillo’s Farm Market in Gardiner, whose gorgeous “sky-high” pies were just featured in Ulster Magazine. Bread Fellows in Andes is baking pies and tarts, including pumpkin, apple, apple-cranberry, citrus and chocolate almond for pre-order by Nov. 23. The Flour Patch in Margaretville is also getting into the holiday spirit, with homemade pumpkin, apple, pecan and chocolate-pecan pies available for pre-order by Nov. 24.
It’s not just dessert you can dodge—it’s possible to have a delicious holiday meal without ever turning the oven on at all. Big Kev's BBQ in White Lake will cook your turkey for you. For $35, you get a 10 to 12-pound bird that's been brined and then cooked over a rotisserie fired by cherry wood, and it comes with an orange-cranberry barbecue sauce. Order by Nov. 22 for pickup on Thanksgiving Day.
Kingston’s Blue Mountain Bistro-To-Go has a large menu of a la carte appetizers, entrees, sides and desserts so you can customize your Thanksgiving menu, including traditional foods served at Hanukah, which occurs the same weekend. The full menu and order form are online; order by Nov. 24 for pickup on Nov. 27 or 28.
Windham’s Vesuvio Restaurant also offers a full-course dinner for take-out, featuring all the traditional trimmings; call for details (518-734-3663). Vesuvio is serving Thanksgiving in its dining room as well, along with a wide variety of Catskills restaurants. Also offering both take-out and dine-in Thanksgiving options: Cucina in Woodstock, whose Thanksgiving-to-go menu includes scrumptious vegetarian options as well as organic turkey and lasagna bolognese.
Let’s face it, avoiding cooking and dishes makes for a nice change of pace—or maybe a new annual tradition. We’ve gathered some options below for a Thanksgiving meal on the town. Please note: most require advance reservations; see links to individual venues for contact info.
The Andes Hotel, Andes: three-course prix-fixe Thanksgiving meal, 1 to 6 p.m., $32/adults, $16/children.
Aroma Thyme Bistro, Ellenville: traditional foods and regular menu options, plus gluten-free and vegan options, seating starts at noon, pricing varies.
Catamount Restaurant at Emerson Resort, Mount Tremper: all-you-can-eat buffet from noon to 5 p.m. $30/adults, $15/children 6-12, children five and under are free.
Catskill Rose, Mount Tremper: three-course prix-fixe (including seconds) featuring choice of apple-parsnip soup or shrimp bisque, local, organic, maple-glazed turkey, sides and choice of pecan or pumpkin pie, 2 to 8 p.m., $26.75.
Four Corners Country Inn, Mount Tremper: Three-course prix-fixe traditional menu, with local, free-range turkey and locally sourced side dishes, as well as a la carte options, 1 to 7 p.m. $26/adults and $13/children for the prix-fixe.
Grace & Son, Jefferson: traditional foods in a family-style setting, 4 p.m., free (let them know you’re coming, 607-652-2700).
The Heron, Narrowsburg: Prix-fixe traditional feast with locally sourced ingredients, plus a la carte menu, 4 to 8 p.m., $40/adults for the prix-fixe.
Peekamoose Restaurant & Tap Room, Big Indian: Three-course prix-fixe with choices for each course (full menu PDF here), 3 to 8 p.m., $38/adults, $16/children. A portion of the proceeds go to the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley.
Skytop Steakhouse & Brewing Co., Kingston: traditional foods served buffet-style, noon to 5 p.m., $24/adults, $12.95/children under 12.
For more Catskills local food news and features, check out our Catskills Food Guide, in print around the Catskills and NYC and online at watershedpost.com/food.
Correction: The Callicoon farmers' market runs on Sundays, not Saturdays, as we wrote in an earlier version of this post. Apologies for the error.
