The underachiever's guide to Thanksgiving

If you’re overwhelmed by the thought of inviting your nearest and dearest over to eat a labor-intensive, days-in-the-making feast cooked by you, several restaurants around town are offering to take over bird duty.

Considering how central food is to the Thanksgiving experience, perhaps you should leave it to the professionals at Cosmos (601 N. First Ave., 612-312-1168). On Nov. 26, $45 gets you four courses. The menu will feature items available only on Thanksgiving, from the kitchen's take on the standard holiday meal (Wild Acres turkey with pistachio stuffing and cranberry compote) to seafood (butter-basted diver scallops, confit of halibut) to dessert (pumpkin praline custard, chocolate tart with pecans, apple tarte tatin).

Firelake Grill (31 Seventh St. S, 612-216-3473) is also getting in on the holiday action, offering cider-cured, applewood-smoked Wild Farms turkey, wild rice stuffing, cheddar-herb mashed potatoes with cider gravy, and, to top it all off, deep-dish pumpkin-cranberry pie.

If the usual Thanksgiving fare is starting to lose its luster, maybe it’s time to try the contemporary Indian cuisine at Dancing Ganesha (1100 Harmon Pl., 612-338-1877). The lavishly decorated restaurant is putting a twist on the traditional, with options including tandoori turkey and curry stuffing.

But maybe you enjoy the non-culinary elements of hosting: place card calligraphy, decorative gourd arranging, etc. Byerly’s and Lunds (several metro locations, see lundsandbyerlys.com) have standard takeaway spreads ranging from $69.99 to $99.99, but if you’re feeling especially festive you can spring for the $179.99 Gourmet Wild Acres Turkey Dinner. For the price of what you may have paid for your first car, you can mock the idea of mere mashed spuds with leek-and-white-cheddar smashed potatoes and other delectable sides.

If you can handle sticking a turkey in the oven and walking away for a few hours, but don’t want to deal with making the sides to go along with it, your local co-op has you covered. For $49.99, you’ll get a tasty batch of prepared food while still feeling somewhat accomplished. For an extra $12.99, you can even get an individual serving plate to show the picky vegan in the family how considerate you are. (See themix.coop for more details.)