Thanksgiving shopping cheat sheet

Black Sheep sticky toffee pudding, vegan dinners, real mincemeat pie, and more

Get a Black Sheep sticky toffee pudding kit at the Farm Store

Thanksgiving gets people hyped for dinner like few dates on the American culinary calendar. A celebration of abundance, of pie, gravy, roast turkey, joyful for everyone but the beleaguered cooks. 

Facing chronic stress, no wonder so many get professional help. Pinch-hitters can handle the whole shebang, add a pie or side, or give you something to finish á la minute. Bring a new friend to the table, with help from a specialist.

If you ever loved The Black Sheep’s sticky toffee pudding, you can buy kits to make your own at the Farm Shop. If you ever yearned for a real mincemeat pie - made with meat and a tallow crust - you can order one from Moriarty Meats, along with locally raised animals in retail cuts, and a quart of duck fat for the potatoes..

If you’re planning to buy dinner, Southern Junction, This Little Pig, and Lexington Co-op have made it easy.

Seeking fine fromage? Try it before you buy it: Amabel Provisions holds a free cheese tasting event Nov. 14. 

With help from readers, here’s a bunch of ways to add a new ingredient to your traditional table.

Southern Junction, Buffalo’s celebrated Texas-Indian restaurant, will hook you up with a smoked ginger-soy marinated turkey with giblet gravy, brisket, ribs, milk bread rolls, or boozy chocolate pecan pie made with orange peel and Irish whiskey.

The Farm Shop is the only place in the known galaxy with The Black Sheep sticky toffee pudding make-at-home kits.

If that wasn’t enough reason to poke your head in, pies, scones, ice cream, and more artisanal small-batch sweet endings are available.

Lexington Food Co-op has vegan Thanksgiving covered, as well as the traditional animal-involved meals, with sides and full spreads. The co-op’s vegan Thanksgiving includes red lentil stuffed bell peppers,herbed vegan gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry citrus relish, mashed potatoes, lemon garlic brussels sprouts, traditional bread stuffing, and a 6-inch vegan pumpkin pie. 

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Moriarty Meats will make you a real mincemeat pie ($40), if you order it at least 48 hours ahead. (A reader asked, and Tom Moriarty said yes.) Gravy is $12.99 a quart, and Moriarty’s has backbone. Plus pork rillettes, salmon spread, and pâté de campagne, all housemade. Moriarty’s turkey supply is sold out, but you can find a whole menagerie in the butcher shop case.

Savage Wheat Project’s garlic cheddar rolls.

Savage Wheat Project’s unique lineup of baked goods made without refined flour, sugar, or fat is available for pickup at multiple sites, or delivery through FreshFix.

Pumpkin swirl cheesecake, carrot caramel cake, einkorn sourdough, and garlic-cheddar dinner rolls, and more are on offer.

To pick up in Clarence, and get to Root Down Farm 2 p.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 26.

To pick up in Holland, email order@savagewheat.com and get to Rise ‘N Swine Farm  Nov. 27.

To pick up in East Aurora, email mary@erbaverdefarms.com and get to Erba Verde Farms after noon Nov. 27.

To pick up in Akron, order at Healthy Living Farm.

An Extra Scoop delivers Thanksgiving fixes. Can’t go shopping but yearning for old-fashioned sourdough dinner rolls, or newfangled sides like roasted brussels sprouts with bacon, blue cheese and dried cranberries? 

You can get Anastasia's Artisan Bread’s rolls and baguettes, plus pumpkin and apple pies, twice baked sweet potatoes, and stuffing in sausage or vegetarian, right to your doorstep. Order by Nov. 21.

Miller’s Thumb Bakery’s sweets shine.

Miller’s Thumb Bakery & Cafe offers a flight of 6-inch pies: double-crust apple pie brimming with apples from Senek Farms, maple pumpkin with local syrup, and Midnight Pecan that takes inspiration from its midnight chocolate cookies. Dinner rolls, cranberry pecan loaf, and pumpkin gingerbread cake are added attractions. Orders due Nov. 23, pickup is Nov. 27. 

Amabel Provisions, Buffalo’s new cheese shop, invites neighbors for a try-before-you-buy event Nov. 14. 

Pimento cheese balls, take-and-bake mac and cheese made with fine cheese, and cheese boards are on offer. Charcuterie, chocolate, and plenty more party favors are on offer. 

This Little Pig has Prometheus, its main smoker, working overtime smoking turkeys and other fixings for its neighbors’ celebrations. Sides like collards braised with ham, pimento mac and cheese, and turkey-sage gravy are available by the quart. For dessert, consider caramel Dutch apple or classic pumpkin pies.

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