The second biggest annual family-and-friends mega-meal occasion after Christmas, your Thanksgiving spread can be as involved and ornate as you care to make it. Whether you opt for a small, intimate gathering or a full-on banquet, look to the following shops for all the seasonal decorations and kitchen equipment you need to create the best ever Turkey Day dinner.
As its name suggests, this specialty shop carries a serious selection of cookbooks, but also a whole lot more, from oils and vinegars to chocolates and crackers and frozen foods such as soups and duck confit. Also find top-of-the-line kitchen gear from graters and whisks to Emile Henry bakeware. While you’re visiting The Cookbook Co., also pop into Metrovino at the back of the shop for wine and downstairs to Brûlée Patisserie for super-fine pastries.
Thanksgiving food preparation causing you consternation? Zest Kitchen at Dalhousie Station can help by setting you up with kitchen gear from turkey-slicing knives by Henkel to Italian tableware by Vietri and cookware by Le Creuset. Also find Thanksgiving themed napkins, and a selection of seasonal table decorations including centerpiece baskets and cloth pumpkins.
One of several city locations, Sunterra Keynote on the east end of Calgary’s Beltline carries both groceries and prepared foods in profusion. An unbeatable destination for searching out Thanksgiving food fixin’s, here you’ll find Sunterra-brand meats, Alberta-grown produce, cooking and baking products as well as one of the city’s best fish counters. And, yes, premium ready-to-cook turkeys are available. Also ask about Sunterra’s convenient cook-and-carve service.
A home decor shop located in Calgary’s Design District, Chintz & Company is all about unique and eclectic furnishings and decorations. The store also happens to employ its own florist. Call ahead for an appointment to discuss constructing a Thanksgiving-appropriate tabletop arrangement. Chintz also offers a selection of artificial flowers and topiaries that can be custom arranged to beautify your dining room.
For the Martha Stewarts among us, Michaels is sacred ground. The hobby supply shop’s many city locations include one in Signal Hill Shopping Centre. Table decoration supplies include a grand selection of artificial flowers. Also find fabrics, paper products and the tools to create placemats, settings and decorative centrepieces.
On the west side of Deerfoot Trail at 11th Street Southeast, IKEA is well supplied with kitchen and dining room decor. Among its tidily arranged room-themed aisles its home furnishings are complemented with bowls, baskets, candles, placemats, napkins and holders. Along with cooking and baking equipment and tableware, you’ll also find feast-friendly Scandinavian snacks.
Always offering a candy-coloured assortment of home decor items, gifts and wonderful whatnots, Steeling Home on 17th Avenue Southwest carries a light selection of kitchen and dining room appropriate decor items and accessories. Among them are candles, stylish tea towels and placemats, bowls and baubles as well as whimsical tableware.
Thanksgiving is an ideal time to share your good fortune with others. Artisans from Honduras to Uganda to Thailand create the fair trade home decor items, gifts and fashion accessories you’ll find at Ten Thousand Villages. Browse for handcrafted ceramic tableware, serving trays, salad forks and cheese knives, tablecloths and cloth napkins. For meal prep, find an array of spices and to accompany, find premium chocolates, spices, tea and coffee.