The bird is the word – and with Thanksgiving less than a month away, it’s time to start planning your Nov. 22 feast:

At Whole Foods Market throughout the month of November, you can taste food from the store’s Thanksgiving menu that can be preordered online or in the store for pickup. The free tastings will feature dishes such as rosemary chestnut stuffing, green beans with caramelized garlic and chocolate bourbon Georgia pecan pie. Tasting dates and times are:
• Saturday, Nov. 3 from noon-2 p.m.
• Sunday, Nov. 4 from 4-6 p.m.
• Saturday, Nov. 10 from 4-6 p.m.
• Sunday, Nov. 11 from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m.

Culinard Catering is taking orders for their Thanksgiving/holiday dinners. From now until Nov. 19, you can place full dinner orders via phone. Each holiday order will serve eight to 10 people and will contain various traditional Thanksgiving dishes such as oven roasted turkey (12-14 pounds); honey glazed ham (12-14 pounds); cornbread dressing; brown turkey gravy; mashed potatoes; green bean casserole; sweet potato casserole; butter beans with applewood-smoked bacon, and pumpkin or apple pie. Dinners are $89 plus tax for orders with one pie, and $99 plus tax for orders with two pies.

Additional items such as dinner rolls, baguettes, sourdough bread, honey wheat bread, raisin walnut bread or pumpkin bread can be purchased for an additional $2.59 to $6 per order.

All orders must be placed by Nov. 19 and picked up at the Bakery at Culinard on Wednesday, Nov. 21. Warming instructions will accompany each dinner. Payment is due in advance. To place your Thanksgiving order, call Brooke Gillis at 271-8231.

At Tria Market in Homewood, you can order a variety of items from a Thanksgiving menu. You can choose from several sizes of all-natural, herb-roasted turkeys; Cajun-fried turkey; herb-roasted turkey breast; glazed hams (brown-sugar maple or apricot-sage chutney); fall vegetable gratin, sautéed fall vegetables; sautéed asparagus; garlic-mashed potatoes; sweet potato casserole; cornbread dressing (with chicken or oysters); three cheese macaroni; sautéed French beans; giblet gravy; mushroom gravy; cranberry sauce; breads; chocolate, key lime, pecan, pumpkin or apple pie; chocolate or pumpkin roulade; pumpkin chiffon cake; pumpkin cheesecake; and red velvet cake. Orders must be placed by Saturday, Nov. 19 at 6 p.m. and picked up by Wednesday, Nov. 21 at 3 p.m.