A No-Fuss Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to gather family and friends together—and it’s all centered on a table laden with delicious comfort foods. If you’re hosting this year’s get together, why not spend your time relaxing with your guests, and let the pros provide the Thanksgiving feast? Or, for a real day off, dine out and leave the cooking and cleanup to someone else.

Here in Scotts Valley, we have some fabulous choices for a memorable holiday meal.

Café Max

Café Max at the elegant has an amazing spread planned for Thanksgiving Day from 2 to 8 p.m.

The buffet-style meal will feature a traditional turkey, apple-and-cranberry-stuffed pork tenderloin and prime rib. Besides the traditional sides, you can indulge in baked penne pasta with a four-cheese sauce, baby spinach salad, Caesar salad and fresh green bean salad. Top the whole meal off with pumpkin, apple and pecan pies, as well as crème brulee. Adults: $31.95; Seniors: $25.95; Children: $15.95; and children under 6 dine free.

Scotts Valley Market

With at the helm, you know you’re in for a scrumptious Thanksgiving feast from .

The holiday menu includes a traditional turkey dinner with organic Diestel turkey, green beans with shallots and almonds, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy cranberry sauce, dinner rolls and pumpkin pie. Serves eight for $149.99.

Or choose the spiral cut honey glazed ham with the same fixin’s as the turkey dinner with the addition of tarragon mustard. Serves eight for $129.99.

If you love the smell of the turkey roasting in the oven, cook that yourself and order up a variety of sides from the market.

Nob Hill Foods

also has some great choices for your holiday dinner. Their vegetarian butternut squash ravioli dinner sounds good enough to convert me (at least for a day) to a non-meat diet. Or, get the best of both worlds–enjoy your turkey on Thanksgiving Day and order the ravioli for the day after. The ravioli meal includes 34 jumbo ravioli with sage butter and walnuts, a hearts of romaine salad with creamy basil dressing, fresh green beans seasoned with garlic and julienned red onions, one dozen ciabatta rolls and a seven-inch cheesecake with raspberry sauce. Serves six to eight people for $59.99.

Other choices include a Diestel turkey dinner with all the trimmings: stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, maple-glazed sweet potatoes with cranberry and pecans, cranberry-orange sauce, dinner rolls and pumpkin pie. Serves 10 to 12 for $109.99.

Or, if you aren’t a traditionalist, opt for the prime rib dinner with horseradish sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, rolls and cheesecake. Serves six to eight for $89.99.

Safeway

has three full meals available for your Thanksgiving feast at bargain prices.

The traditional turkey dinner includes turkey (of course!), stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, rolls and pumpkin pie. Serves six to eight for $39.99. (All prices are club member prices).

A spiral ham dinner includes ham, scalloped potatoes, corn medley, green bean casserole, rolls and apple pie. Serves six to eight for $49.99.

Your third choice is a prime rib dinner with the same sides as the ham dinner. Serves four to five for $69.99.

Order Early

Remember to make your reservations or order your meals as soon as possible. Then kick back and have a relaxing Thanksgiving full of fun, family and friends!