A turkey sat at the center of a table at the Hormel Historic Home by a bottle of wine and near bowls of mashed potatoes, white cheddar macaroni and cheese, and green bean casserole. Even with an aroma of cinnamon and nutmeg from a pumpkin pie cooling on a side table, this traditional Thanksgiving meal doesn’t feature grandmother’s pumpkin pie or an aunt’s stuffing.

The bronzed turkey and three sides are just one example of the meals Hy-Vee has cooked up for more than 20 years to give mom and grandma the year off.

Each Thanksgiving season, Hy-Vee prepares meals for about 120 families as a way to help them avoid the hassle and time of cooking.

“They want to have the time with the family,” kitchen manager Mark Kanne said.

Hy-Vee cooks the meals, but the food is picked up cold and heated at home with instructions.

“All you have to do is go home and heat it up,” Kanne said.

Catering manager and assistant kitchen manager Willy Stephenson said the prices are comparable to what people would pay for ingredients and unprepared food in the store, so many families see it as a way to save on the preparation time to have more time to enjoy the holiday with family.

Typically, Thanksgiving meals are more traditional, though packages for the holiday offer countless customization options.

A traditional $80 turkey meal serves eight and includes three sides, gravy and rolls. Ham can be substituted for the same cost, while substituting prime rib costs $135. A $50 boneless turkey breast option is great for smaller groups as it will serve four with three small sides and rolls. A $135 boneless pit ham package, which serves 12, includes six medium sides, gravy and rolls.

Bigger groups may prefer the $125 family feast, which serves 12 and includes six sides and a larger turkey, along with rolls and gravy. A $225 gourmet feast serves 18 to 20 with a large turkey, prime rib, six sides and a choice of a cheesecake or chocolate cake.

Sides offer countless options for customizing a meal, and more can be added at a cost. Along with holiday staples like pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing, Hy-Vee offers many other popular dishes like the white cheddar mac and cheese and green bean casserole that graced the Hormel Home’s table. Other popular options include edamame salads, yams, sweet potato casserole, cornbread stuffing, scalloped corn, turkey gravy and many more.

“Basically anything that you want, we can get,” chef Kristine Wolner said. “That just may fluctuate the price a bit.”

Along with meal packages, Hy-Vee sells many meat and cheese trays, vegetable trays, fruit trays and more, along with hors d’oeuvre packages.

Hy-Vee delivers meals for a fee, but they prefer not to on Thanksgiving day, since it’s too busy and most people want meals delivered around similar times. In the past, people who have moved will call and have a meal delivered to family.

Plus Hy-Vee is bustling with activity on Thanksgiving Day as many stop in to pick up their meal packages, while others stop in for last-minute ingredients and sides. The grocery store also serves a Thanksgiving Day buffet.

“Thanksgiving Day is our busiest day in the kitchen,” Kanne said, noting Hy-Vee’s kitchen and catering staff totals about 35 to 40 people.

Thanksgiving Day is a team effort. Along with workers manning a line to divvy out the meals, other lines form to sell the key side items and pies for families stopping in for the final items for their holiday feast.

Since it’s so busy, the kitchen prefers to take orders about a week in advance. However, Hy-Vee typically cooks up a few extra pre-cooked cold turkeys on Thanksgiving Day. Stephenson is used to seeing a few people come in on Thanksgiving after forgetting to order it ahead of time. Others have called in after overcooking their turkey to ask if they still have pre-cooked ones available.

They usually do.

“With the years of experience, you know that you have to kind of think ahead a little bit,” Stephenson said.

Though busy, Kanne described the holiday as a fulfilling day and compared the meals to Hy-Vee catering a wedding or event: The staff gets to know the customers, what they want and what they like.

“When they get their meals from us, it’s almost like we’re part of their family get together,” Kanne said.