Give Thanks and Choose the Takeout

Leaving the turkey and trimmings to the takeout pros this Thanksgiving?

Well, you’re not alone. You’ll be among the increasing numbers of non-cooks who will flock to catering establishments, restaurants and hotels for help with the Thanksgiving feast.

This year even grocery chains, such as Safeway Stores, are joining the upscale takeouts supplying the holiday feast.

“Our research data indicate that the demand for convenience services has increased as working families leading hurried life styles strive for more leisure and convenience when they’re at home,” said John Rodgers, marketing operations manager for Safeway.

“We’re meeting that demand by expanding our deli service this year to include roasted turkey and trimmings, and even adding a toll-free line during the holiday season so people can order from home.”

Here are a few of the places you might be tempted to call upon for Thanksgiving fare, in cooking styles ranging from down-home to haute cuisine, at a wide range of prices. Or you might check with your neighborhood independent or chain store.

GENERAL

Safeway Stores with deli counters: Thanksgiving hot line through the holiday season: (800) 537-8987.

For a palatable $34.95 you get ready-to-carve roasted turkey (average weight, 9 1/2 pounds), plus 2 pounds corn bread dressing, 2 pounds giblet gravy and 14 ounces cranberry sauce to serve 10 to 12.

Also available are smoked turkey (same size and trimmings), also $34.95; a 3-pound boneless turkey breast with trimmings, $26.95; and smoked ham (about 3 pounds, average cooked weight) with green beans, yams, kernel corn and cranberry salad. You pay $18.95 for the 3-pound ham, and $28.95 for the 5-pound size. Honey-baked ham weighing 3 pounds with two quarts of vegetables and a cranberry salad is available for $19.95. Order a week in advance.

Gelson’s stores are offering roasted turkey without stuffing at $3.29 per pound, or with corn bread stuffing with chestnuts and sherried fruits at $4.19 per pound. The trimmings are priced separately: cranberry sauce, $4.39 per pound; gravy, $2.99 per pound; ginger jam souffle, $4.29 per pound (in 1/2-pound, 1-pound, 5-pound aluminum tins); winter vegetable medley, $3.99 per pound; corn bread stuffing, $4.19 per pound; wild rice stuffing, $4.19; pumpkin pudding, $4.29. Other meats available: roasted goose, $4.19 per pound; honey-glazed ham, $3.99 per pound.

Irvine Ranch Markets will all offer a 10-pound (approximate weight) wine-roasted turkey stuffed with onions, celery and carrots. Price of $39.50 includes two quarts mushroom gravy, two quarts corn bread stuffing and one pint cranberry-orange relish. Also available at separate prices are salads and hot vegetables. Allow a few days for orders; pickup anytime up to 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

Jurgensen’s Stores will offer roasted turkeys weighing 15 pounds, 19 pounds and 25 pounds, and will include bread stuffing. At all three stores; prices not yet determined.

WESTSIDE/HOLLYWOOD

Cheese & Pasta, 1415 Montana Ave., Santa Monica. (213) 451-1753. Roasted turkey comes at $3.50 per pound unstuffed, and $5 per pound stuffed, with traditional and corn bread sausage stuffing as well as regular traditional stuffing (gravy included). Cranberry sauce is $3.50 per pint; sweet potato and carrot casserole, $3.50 per half-pound; Swiss potato casserole, $3.50 per half-pound; Brussels sprouts with hazelnuts, $4.50 per half-pound; cranberry and pumpkin cheesecake, $16 per cake; plum pudding, 1 1/2 pounds $7.50 (serves six), or 2 pounds for $10. Brandy butter (hard sauce) is also available at $3.50 per half-pint.

Pasta Etc., 8650 Sunset Blvd. (at Sunset Plaza), Los Angeles. (213) 854-0094. Turkeys cooked to order on Weber barbecue are available at $3.95 per pound without stuffing. New England traditional bread stuffing is $7.95 per pound; smoked oyster stuffing, $8.95 per pound; Italian sausage dressing, $8.95 per pound. Also available is a raspberry-sour cream-walnut gelatin ring (in lieu of cranberry sauce), $15 for two-pound mold ($7 additional if you want a round mold and would like to keep the mold). Sweet potatoes with Parmesan cheese stuffed in shell to be reheated are $2.95 apiece. Gravy is $4.95 per pint.

Tutto Italia, 8657 Sunset Blvd. (at Sunset Plaza). (213) 659-0644 or 659-0261. Fully roasted 10- to 12-pound turkeys (serving 10 to 12 people) come with corn bread stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce for $85. Orders taken one week in advance for pickup the day before Thanksgiving. Instruction for reheating also provided.

CLAREMONT

Some Crust Bakery, 119 Yale Ave., Claremont. (714) 621-9772. Fully roasted turkeys weighing about 12 pounds are available at $5 per pound. Price includes red wine gravy, traditional bread stuffing (corn bread, whole wheat and white bread with fruit), or fruited wild rice stuffing. Whole boned turkeys also are available at $6 per pound, and they also include stuffing and gravy.

SOUTH BAY

Chez Allez, 1718 Pacific Coast Highway, Redondo Beach. (213) 540-8733. Free-range turkeys are available at $6.50 per pound, roasted. Trimmings are priced separately: turkey gravy, $3.95 per pound; sage and mushroom stuffing, $2.95 per pound; candied yams with pecans and maple syrup, $3.25 per pound; fresh cranberry relish, $2.95 per pound. Orders are being taken now.

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY

Gourmet Gourmet, 19014 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana. (818) 344-7111. For $13.95 per person you get a dinner of roast turkey, stuffing, gravy, butternut squash, broccoli souffle, mashed potatoes, fresh cranberry sauce, fruit ambrosia and pumpkin mousse pie. Minimum order for eight people necessary. Orders taken no later than Nov. 17, with 50% deposit required. Pick up on Thanksgiving Day between 10 a.m. and Noon. Credit cards accepted.

Le Cafe Market, 14637 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. (818) 990-6678. Roasted turkeys starting at 10 pounds are available at $4.95 per pound and include traditional bread stuffing and cranberry sauce. Orders taken at least one week in advance. Also available are sides dishes, such as rice, potatoes and other vegetables.

Chicks, 16656 Ventura Blvd., Encino, (818) 783-2445; and 23355 Mulholland Drive, Woodland Hills, (818) 704-6733. Foster Farms 12- to 14-pound turkeys roasted over wood fire, seasoned with herbs and spices, marinated in citrus juices, are $34.95. Orders taken until a few days in advance, but the sooner the better.

DOWNTOWN

Biltmore, 506 S. Grand Ave. Thanksgiving Hot Line, (213) 612-1560. Fully roasted 10- or 20-pound turkeys to go are available with trimmings. Thanksgiving package includes turkey, gravy, stuffing (corn bread), cranberry relish, and pumpkin pie. Price for 10 pound-turkey (serving 6 to 10 people) is $68; 20-pound turkey (serving 10 to 16), $98. Orders placed in containers. Deadline for orders is Nov. 23 at noon; advance payment required. Pickup at Court Cafe Restaurant on the day before Thanksgiving between 9 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.

PASADENA

Julienne, 2649 Mission St., San Marino. (818) 441-2299. Julienne supplies only the Thanksgiving trimmings to add to your own cooked bird, available for pickup the day before Thanksgiving. Soups at $8 per quart include: pumpkin bisque, Cheddar-Stilton soup, ginger pear soup and creamy corn chowder. Among the side dishes available at $2.50 to $3.50 per serving are: onions filled with broccoli and Parmesan, sweet potato and pear casserole, new potatoes with leeks and garlic cream, squash-apple-onion tart and braised red cabbage with chestnuts. Apricot-sausage stuffing is the featured dressing at $8 per quart. Rosemary raisin bread and rolls are available. For dessert: cranberry raisin pecan pie, Hungarian nut torte, Provencal pumpkin and apple pies at $20 per pie or $3.50 per serving; bread pudding with brandied cream is $3.50 per serving. Pumpkin spice bars are $2 apiece.

Bristol Farms, 606 Fair Oaks Ave., South Pasadena, (818) 441-5450. You can pick up the works, starting with a Grand Marnier-basted 12- to 18-pound turkey, including pound of stuffing per person and gravy, at $4.79 per pound. Other entrees available are lobster thermidor, $18.50 each; beef Wellington, $18.95 per pound raw weight; crown roast of pork, $8.95 per pound raw weight; stuffed baked salmon, $16.50 per pound raw weight; honey-glazed goose, $7.95 per pound raw weight. Among the side dishes available are a saute of winter squash, at $3.99 per pound; gratin of onions, $4.99 per pound; herbed new potatoes $2.99 per pound; homemade chunky applesauce, $3.99 per pint; fresh cranberry relish, $3.99 per pint; turkey gravy, $2.99 per pint. Stuffings available include blue corn bread stuffing, herbed apricot stuffing, wild mushroom stuffing, yellow corn bread stuffing with walnuts and golden raisins, all $3.99 per pound. Among the hors d’oeuvres available at $10 per dozen with a two-dozen minimum per item are: wild mushroom filo triangles, Brie with apples in filo, mini chicken-herb calzoni and mini Fontina-prosciutto calzoni; salmon in puff pastry, crab-stuffed mushrooms. Brie en croute, serves 10 to 12, $20; golden caviar mousse, serves 8 per pound at $9.99 per pound; mini chicken egg rolls with sweet-sour sauce, $6 per three dozen, and won ton with sweet-sour sauce, $12 per dozen.

Bristol Farms, 837 Silver Spur Road, Rolling Hills Estates, (213) 541-9157. If Grand Marnier sounds too rich, Bristol Farms’ Palos Verdes outlet offers a 14- to 16-pound butter-basted turkey with a choice of stuffings: pesto with pine nuts, wild rice and mushrooms or traditional corn bread at $3.29 per pound.