NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) – Everyone’s ready to celebrate – and nobody does holidays like Bishop’s Orchards, in Guilford. Owner and COO Sarah Bishop DellaVentura visited the Studio Kitchen to tell our viewers about how they can make Thanksgiving easy for people this year. The holidays are meant to be enjoyed, and all too often, everyone is running around, stressing about the groceries and making sure they have enough of everything.

Sarah says that, “We can do the whole thing for you from start to finish, or we can just do a couple little things to make again life easy.” “To start, the first thing, when your company comes, should be to offer them a drink. So, whether it’s the kids or adults, your typical your sweet apple cider – which we make and produce ourselves with our own apples on site – a great option. If you want to fancy it up for the adults and have an earlier drink, I will say a cider mimosa is wonderful.”

Many people don’t realize that Bishop’s Orchards also makes their own wines, right on-site.
Sarah adds, “..Of course, I bought three of our fall wines that, you know, typically pair really well with the meal. So, we have our Faulkner Spice, which is an apple wine with mulling spices. Everything you would have in a in a warm cup of cider and it’s a great wine that’s warmed up. It’s nice, maybe after dinner.” “And there’s Amazing Grace, which is an apple cranberry wine – kind of very fitting. And then Celebration, which is just a straight apple wine.”

Next, Sarah reveals whats’ in the cans, featured in her holiday display. “They’re our hard cider, which are my favorite, preferably. So, we make a number of different hard ciders, again with our own apples.” She says, “Even with Heirloom apples that we started growing a few years ago, we have everything from, if you like, the sweeter hard cider, all the way to a very dry, hard cider. Those hard ciders have become so popular.”

Now, onto the main meal..which is all about Turkey. Sarah says, “We have fresh turkeys, if you want to cook it yourself. We are taking orders now to make sure. We do not carry turkeys regularly, so, we do recommend ordering ahead of time, if you want to cook your own Turkey. We still have them available. We’ll be taking orders through Saturday.”

She continues, “Then, of course, we have the whole meal and our culinary team is non-stop the week of Thanksgiving. We have several turkey options: You can buy just the turkey and the gravy, or you can buy the whole meal.  And the whole meal is everything that you see right here.”

“It’s, you know, a little over $100 dollars. You get 3lbs. of Turkey; you get butternut squash and stuffing; a green bean casserole; mashed potatoes; you get the mashed sweet potatoes; rolls; and then the pie, you could add on top, if you want your dessert.”

Sarah says, “So everything we have right now is the for the full meal. It serves 4 to 6 people. So, if you’re having more than that, obviously, you would just double, or triple, according to what your needs are.” “$100 dollars to not have to slave over the stove all day is well worth the investment.”

“And remember, you have the option to just buy the cooked turkey by itself. It’s based on breast weight, breast meat, and then it comes with gravy, too. Sara says, “It’s ready to go, and then you can do your sides yourself.”

You do have to add in the pies, separately. But, you wouldn’t want to miss that! Sara describes which ones she brought to the studio, “We have your traditional pumpkin pie, apple pie, and of course, apple crumb pie, which happens to be my favorite.” “But we also offer apple, cranberry and fruit, to the farm, and blueberry and peach. So we have the whole run. Anything that you like. It’s your tradition. It’s what you want to eat. So, order what you’d like and need.”

And don’t forget about buying fresh apples from Bishops, if your family tradition is to make your own apple pies for the holidays.

Sarah wants everyone to know that there are lots of fun activities going on in December, at their Holiday Barn, a new location this year. She says, “The first three weekends in December we have visits with Santa Claus; we’ve got cookie decorating for kids, and crafts, you name it; apple train and wagon rides through the orchard with blankets; and what’s nice is that the tickets go on sale this Friday, so when people are picking up their Thanksgiving meal, they could pick up some tickets as well.” “Everything is easy, at the click of a button, online. So, right on the website, they can get their tickets for the holiday barn, but they can also place their order online for their holiday meal.”  

One important tip that Sarah wanted to share is that, in order to prevent any confusion this Thanksgiving when picking up your food order, be sure that the person picking up (often the husband) uses the same last name that was used when the order was placed. With many spouses having different last names, customers have had some moments of panic, in the past, when they have tried to pick up using a different last name, and nobody could locate the order. Usually, a call to home can resolve the issue. Bishop’s had it all along. Smooth sailing ahead.

To pre-order your Thanksgiving food & drink, be sure to visit www.bishopsorchards.com. Just don’t wait too long!