Cheese plates and veggie platters are classics, but for your next party, go worldly with EthniCity Catering.

Operated by the Centre for Newcomers, the catering collective creates edible delights from around the world including East Asian flavours, Latin American staples and South Asian items. Impress your guests with pakoras ($2.29) to start, followed by fatouche salad ($3.99) and a main dish of chicken korma with rice ($7.49). The aforementioned classics are also available but your guests will be too busy noshing on samosas and baked fatayer.

EthniCity Catering, 125-920 36th St. NE, Calgary, 403-537-8809, www.ethnicitycatering.ca

When it comes to growing up, you’re not truly there until you’ve hosted your first Thanksgiving.

But since the bird is enough of a project without having to worry about all the rest, this year, give thanks for Manuel Latruwe’s Thanksgiving 2 Go.

The Belgian Patisserie and Bread Shop has crafted a large menu of “We Make-You Bake” hors d’oeuvres, quiches, breads and desserts.

If the turkey is taking a little longer than expected, keep serving the shrimp croquettes ($18.15) or a mushroom goat cheese quiche ($14 for large). Fill your guests up with turkey-shaped sourdough and if all else fails, wow them with the cappuccino cake, an almond-coffee cake soaked in amaretto syrup with chocolate crème brulee and cappuccino mousse ($7.50 to $67.50).

Gobble, gobble indeed!

The shop requires 48 hours notice on all orders. Manuel Latruwe, 1333 First St. SE, Calgary, 403-261-1092, www.manuellatruwe.com

In a perfect world, our personal chef would create every meal and we’d have a catering team on hand for entertaining.

That culinary dream just got a little closer with new store CRMR At Home. Known for its three mountain lodges, the Canadian Rocky Mountain Resorts (CRMR) group also includes four Calgary restaurants.

The specialty store offers sauces, stocks, meat pies, breads, pastries and other items from the CRMR restaurants. Think: Cilantro’s famous gorgonzola and pear pizza and the restaurant’s divine mussel sauce, Divino’s fig jam and CRMR elk and buffalo. High-end Italian glassware, kitchenware and Global knives are also on-hand.

As for that entertaining, the store also provides catering services.  

Now sit back and let someone else do the work.

CRMR At Home, 330 17th Ave. SW, Calgary, 403-532 0241, www.crmr.com/athome

The in-laws are coming for dinner and you’ve already served your famous lasagna. Twice. Save yourself from your mother-in-law’s critique with ready-to-go dishes from Red Tree.

Pair the organic quinoa patties ($4.95 each) and chickpea salad with red pepper vinaigrette ($4.95) as a first, and then serve the perfectly formed pasta bundles with turkey meat ($6.95) for the main.

What your mother-in-law doesn’t know can’t hurt you.

Red Tree, 1245 Kensington Rd. NW and 2129 33 Ave. SW, Calgary, 403-242-3246, www.redtreecatering.com

When it comes to wine shopping, we’ve all found ourselves aimlessly circling the Californian, Italian and Chilean aisles, not sure where to touch down.

The newly launched Wine Collective hopes to alleviate some of that decision making with its monthly delivery service.

The process is easy: Sign up online, choose from four different packages (starting at $42.50 per month for the Jacques Cartier two-bottle up to $295 per month for the Oenophile four-bottle package), and sit back while you anxiously await the delivery of the good stuff.

Each package comes with an in-depth review of the wine including its history, food pairing options and suggestions on how to experience the bottle. You’ll have to relinquish all control—the monthly deliveries are chosen by the experts without any input on your part.

Now your toughest decision is whether to open that second bottle (we say yes!).

www.winecollective.ca

Sometimes, a girl has got to cheat. We can’t all be good at everything, even if we like to pretend.

We’re talking about baking, of course.

If it’s not your forte or, if you just don’t have the time to bake that bundt cake, we’ll let you in on a little secret. That poppy seed strudel loaf we brought over for dinner last week was not homemade—well, not in our home at least. While perusing the newly expanded Community Natural Foods, we came across a variety of Christmas baking. We’re talking fruitcake, butter tarts and cookies galore. Impress your health-nut friends with the wheat-free and gluten-free offerings that you made all on your own (wink, wink).

Now, if only our grandmother could be fooled.

Community Natural Foods, 1304 10th Ave. SW, Calgary, 403-229-2383 and 202 61st Ave. SW, Calgary, 403-541-0606, www.communitynaturalfoods.com