No time to cook?

Area restaurants are putting out the spread this Thanksgiving

Susan Schell

of the Gateway

It’s time for Thanksgiving, but there’s a little problem at the Anderson house: Mom is on strike. She refuses to make dinner because nobody helped her clean up last year. At the Livingston house, grandma always makes the turkey, but she threw her back out last week. And Mrs. Gucci just delivered her baby, and her husband doesn’t have a clue how to even turn on the oven.

Thanksgiving signals a time each year to get together with family and friends, and sit down for a good old-fashioned home-cooked meal. But life doesn’t always follow a script and, like the unfortunate family in “A Christmas Story” who had their holiday bird gobbled up by a pack of marauding neighborhood dogs, sometimes the family just needs to pick up and go out to celebrate the holiday. Several Gig Harbor-area restaurants will offer a traditional turkey dinner this year, complete with all the trimmings — mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and dessert. And the best part is, somebody else will clean up the mess. Here is a taste of some local favorites:

Tanglewood Grill

3222 56th Ave. in Gig Harbor

Phone: 253-858-5555

Thanksgiving will start at noon with a turkey dinner, prime rib and fresh fillet of King Salmon. Side dishes include mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce; desserts are pumpkin pie and apple crisp.

The Harvester Restaurant

5601 Soundview Drive in Gig Harbor

Phone: 253-851-8500 Dinner will be served from 4 to 8 p.m. and it’ll include a traditional roasted turkey, prime rib and baked ham, soup or salad, pumpkin pie and a roll.

Each year, the Harvester brings out its delicious pumpkin-cream cheese pecan muffins:

Pumpkin-cream cheese pecan muffins:

Provided by chef Don Benoit

Pumpkin batter

3 cups flour

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 teaspoons pumpkin pie sauce

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups canned pumpkin

1 1/4 cups canola oil

4 eggs, beaten

chopped pecans

Cream cheese mixture

8 oz. cream cheese

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tins or line with paper cups.

Stir together the dry ingredients, mix pumpkin, oil and four eggs. Stir into dry ingredients until blended.

Whip cream cheese, one egg, vanilla and sugar until smooth. Fill muffin tins half full with pumpkin batter.

A With a pastry bag or spoon, add about 1 tablespoon of cream cheese mixture in the center of batter.

A Fill muffin cups with the remaining pumpkin batter to about three-quarters full.

Sprinkle with pecans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

The Inn at Gig Harbor

3211 56th St. NW in Gig Harbor

Phone: 253-858-1111

The Inn will serve Thanksgiving dinner from noon to 3 p.m.

The entree menu includes: Roast turkey with apple sage dressing and cranberry sauce

Beef tenderloin with mushroom demi glacé

Baked wild sockeye salmon with lemon thyme butter

Crab cakes with berry pepper sauce

White Cheddar Potatoes Au Gratin

Shared by catering manager Kati Wright

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: One hour, 30 minutes

Serves Four

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 pounds Idaho potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

1/2 cup grated white cheddar

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 1 1/2-quart baking dish with about 1 tablespoon of the softened butter.

Arrange a layer of potatoes in the baking dish, then sprinkle some of the cheeses over them. Continue to layer potatoes and cheeses until you’ve used them all, ending with a layer of potatoes.

In a small bowl, whisk the cream with the salt and pepper, and pour the mixture over the potatoes. Dot the remaining butter over the top and sprinkle with the paprika. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and golden brown on top.

Let stand for five minutes before serving.

Madrona Links Restaurant at Madrona Links Golf Course

3604 22nd Ave. in Gig Harbor.

Phone: 253-851-5465

Thanksgiving dinner will be served starting at 11 a.m.

Menu: Roasted turkey with giblet turkey gravy; fresh turkey, cooked by the chef

Garlic mashed potatoes, made from scratch

Apple, bacon and sausage stuffing with dried cranberries, made from scratch

Candied yams, made from scratch

Side salad, made fresh

Ginger pumpkin pie, made from scratch

Carrot cake, Sara Lee

Cranberry sauce, made from scratch

Roasted Turkey

Shared by chef John Heston

10-12 pound whole turkey

1 roasting pan, big enough for the turkey

salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoons butter at room temperature

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In the roasting pan, place the turkey and rub with the butter. Season the whole turkey with amount you prefer. Cover with foil or lid.

Place the turkey in the oven and cook 30 minutes for every pound. In this case, five to six hours.

In between each hour, pull the turkey out and baste with its own juices, then place it back in the oven, covered. This should be done five to six times.

Check the temperature of the turkey after three hours to see if it’s close to being done. The temperature should read 165 degrees or higher. Stick the temperature gauge in the thickest, meatiest part of the turkey.

Once the turkey reaches 165 degrees, pull it out of the oven and baste it again, then place the turkey back in the oven — uncovered — for 15 to 30 minutes to let the skin brown.

Once the skin is browned, pull out the turkey and transfer it to a cutting area or platter, and let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting.

Garlic mashed potatoes

6 large potatoes

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon fresh garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Peel and cut potatoes into threes, then place in a cooking pot. Fill the pot above the potatoes and bring to a boil.

Continue to boil until the potatoes become soft. Once the potatoes are done, drain them well and place them in mixing bowl.

Mash them well and add the butter, heavy cream and garlic, then mash them well again. Make sure the mixture is well-incorporated.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Apple, bacon and sausage stuffing with dried cranberries

20 slices of stale or old bread (can use heals)

4 slices of bacon

1 cup sausage (use any type you want)

1 medium apple, peeled and finely diced

1 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup white wine

2 celery limbs

1 onion, finely diced

salt and pepper to taste

3 to 4 cups of chicken broth

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely diced

1 tablespoon fresh sage, finely diced

1 tablespoon fresh basil, finely diced

1 tablespoon butter

Dice up raw bacon and cook in a saute pan. Once bacon is browned, drain it and set aside, leaving the bacon grease in the pan.

Add butter, diced onion and diced celery and cook until the vegetables are soft.

Meanwhile, cut up the bread in bite-sized pieces and place them in mixing bowl. In a separate pan, saute the sausage.

Once the vegetables become soft, de-glaze the pan with the white wine and pour the ingredients into the mixing pan with the bread.

Once the sausage is done, pour it into the mixing bowl with the bread and vegetable mixture. Add cranberries, diced apples and chicken broth.

Mix all the ingredients very well, and make sure the bread is soaked with the broth.

Dice very finely the rosemary, sage and basil, and add it to the bread mixture.

Again, mix very well.

Make sure the seasonings are extremely diced, and make sure it’s incorporated.

Place the mixture into a baking pan, cover and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Once cooked, take the cover off and cook for an additional 15 minutes to brown the top.