While Thanksgiving is often associated with spending time with family and friends, for many, the food is just as much the highlight.
“I love waiting all year long and thinking about something that’s incredibly delicious,” said Eric Skokan, co-owner of farm-to-table restaurant Bramble & Hare, referring to pecan pie, his favorite Thanksgiving dessert. “I love the build-up.”
Whether you’re hosting, bringing a side dish or dining out in Boulder on Thursday, here are five options for discovering locally sourced ingredients, handmade baked goods and a Thanksgiving meal at a Boulder restaurant.
A Thanksgiving box from Cure Organic Farm
As Cure Organic Farm wraps up its harvest, pulling up the last carrots and parsnips of the season, you can make sure some of this produce ends up in your kitchen by ordering a Thanksgiving box. Priced at $55, the box includes three pounds of potatoes, two garlic bulbs, three onions, two pounds of carrots, a bundle of celery, two butternut squash and three pounds of apples.
Order a box online (as supplies last) and pick it up through Wednesday, Nov. 22, at 7416 Valmont Road from noon to 4:30 p.m., or at one of two sites in Denver.
Bread art at Great Harvest Bread Company
Great Harvest Bread Company is offering dozens of Thanksgiving sides and desserts. You can order a turkey or pumpkin made out of honey wheat bread to serve as your table’s centerpiece. (If you’ve missed this year’s deadline, consider bookmarking for next year.) Alternatively, you can choose from a selection that includes a six-pack of dinner rolls, Kentucky bourbon bread made with fruit and nuts, pumpkin chocolate chip teacake or a pumpkin log — a rolled pumpkin cake with vanilla cream cheese filling. The bakery features a rotating menu of sweet and savory options that change daily, so be sure to check the menu before picking up at 2525 Arapahoe Avenue.
Indulge in specialty pies
Several local spots are offering specialty pies for the season. At Spruce Confections, you can order pumpkin, cherry, pecan, pecan with Belgian chocolate, peach raspberry streusel and apple streusel pies — all with butter crusts. Prices range from $22.50 to $27, and orders must be made by 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 20 for pickup at 767 Pearl Street.
For gluten-free options, check out Sweet Sisters Bake Shop at 641 S. Broadway. Order a 9-inch pumpkin, pecan or coconut cream pie for $30 (if it’s not too late), and pick it up Nov. 21 or 22 in time for Thanksgiving. The shop also sells baguettes and take-and-bake cinnamon rolls for Friday morning, in case you didn’t eat enough the night before.
Meals on Wheels, a volunteer-driven service providing food to Boulder residents regardless of age or income, bakes 60 to 100 pies daily. While apple, blueberry, cherry and strawberry-rhubarb pies are available year-round, pumpkin is added to the lineup in November. Full-size pies cost $15, and 6-inch ones are $7.50. All proceeds support the organization. Pick up a frozen pie until Nov. 22 at 3701 Canfield Street, open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Turkey still available at Blackbelly Market
Blackbelly Market, awarded a Michelin Green Star for environmental sustainability in September, quickly sold out of its annual Thanksgiving pies orders this year. The bourbon pecan pie, Dutch apple pie and pumpkin cheesecake are all unavailable.
But Blackberry Market is still selling turkeys in various sizes. While small Heritage Black turkeys are sold out, broad-breasted white turkeys are still available at $7.99 per pound from Barber’s Foods, a Colorado-based food company that began raising turkeys in Broomfield in 1949.
To order, fill out a request form for an extra-large turkey (24 to 28 pounds for around 20 people) or a jumbo one that feeds about 26 people and weighs up to 32 pounds. You can also add brine to your order or a $12.99 one-pound bag of maple sage, sweet Italian or hot Italian sausage to use for stuffing. Thanksgiving Day meat pickups are available at 1606 Conestoga Street from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 20, 21 or 22.
Tradition continues at Bramble & Hare
If you’re looking to eat out on Thanksgiving, Eric and Jill Skokan have been hosting the holiday since 2007, the year after their first restaurant, Black Cat, opened. Due to Black Cat’s closure during the pandemic and its relocation from 13th Street to the Longmont farm that supplies both Black Cat and Bramble & Hare, Thanksgiving was hosted last year at Bramble & Hare in a space twice the size.
Explaining the tradition’s origins, Erik Skokan said, “Restaurants are sort of all consuming, so we knew we couldn’t go away for Thanksgiving to visit our family and close the restaurant down. We couldn’t afford anything like that.” Now, 16 years later, and two months after Michelin awarded Bramble & Hare a Green Star, the Skokans continue the tradition, serving families and enjoying a staff dinner after guests have left.
On Thanksgiving Day, at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., Bramble & Hare will host a three-course meal featuring the farm’s in-season ingredients, like root vegetables, kale and garlic. The menu includes an appetizer of pork shoulder confit with apples and parsnips, and an entree of turkey or ham, with fish and vegetarian options available for each course.
Every table is served family-style sides of mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, cranberry sauce, gravy, plus a sampler platter of desserts with pumpkin pie, chocolate mousse torte, and Skokan’s favorite, pecan pie.
“The goal that we’re shooting for is to make the table so full of side dishes that it’s slightly uncomfortable,” Skokan said. Thanksgiving Day tickets are $95 per person, excluding alcohol, tax or service charge.