Not A Single Fork

Our pursuit of hotline help continues with the cranberry and the mother of all cranberry producers, Ocean Spray.

Who doesn't remember or recognize the distinctive "slurpppp, plop" of the jellied cranberry sauce slipping out of the can onto a plate with it's measured rings for slicing? That is a favorite of so many people although when I was growing up, my mom ALWAYS made her own, of course. So, actually, I never had the canned cranberry sauce until I was in high school and experienced it at a friend's house. And, sorry Mom, but I think it tastes pretty good.

In this episode, we examine many cranberry topics, including the viral skateboarding TikTok video of the guy drinking cranberry juice living his best life. Ocean Spray apparently appreciated the plug (and the free publicity) and gave him a truck loaded with cranberry juice. Also, Fleetwood Mac became a fan as he used the famous "Dreams" as his soundtrack. Thank you, Stevie Nicks!

We also revisited the jello shot "fiasco" (could have been worse) with some ideas for how to improve on it next time, talked the making of my mom's cranberry sauce and tried coming up with ways to use cranberries...besides making jellied sauce.

OH! And, we did talk to Ocean Spray! Not sure that the number we called would qualify as a hotline but we managed to sneak in a question and it's the one we were most curious about. I think by doing that (Clever Natalia!), we figured out how to get someone to talk to us on the podcast so you'll have to listen for that.

You'll find the Ocean Spray Hotline highlight as well as some others below:

01:45 - The making of my mom's cranberry sauce

05:50 - Jello shot making alternatives

07:35 - The TikTok viral video (Natalia gets kinda frustrated with me, HAH!)

10:57 - The Ocean Spray hotline call begins!

17:10 - A question is answered!

20:10 - Things to do with cranberries

25:50 - The baked brie issue

There's lots more to listen to so we hope you play (and download) the entire episode. This was another fun one for us...but then we always have fun!

We're making it easier than ever for you to join the conversation.

EMAIL US at [email protected].

Tell us what's on your mind because we're going to start an email segment during the episodes...as soon as we get some emails. So, we hope you like our new podcast website home. It really is www.notasinglefork.com.

We're still on Apple Podcasts and all your other favorite listening places.

We have one more episode before we take our holiday break and head into Season 6 in the spring. Be sure to tell us what you'd like to hear more about!

As always, thanks for listening! We love you guys!!

Our pursuit of hotline help continues with the cranberry and the mother of all cranberry producers, Ocean Spray.

Who doesn't remember or recognize the distinctive "slurpppp, plop" of the jellied cranberry sauce slipping out of the can onto a plate with it's measured rings for slicing? That is a favorite of so many people although when I was growing up, my mom ALWAYS made her own, of course. So, actually, I never had the canned cranberry sauce until I was in high school and experienced it at a friend's house. And, sorry Mom, but I think it tastes pretty good.

In this episode, we examine many cranberry topics, including the viral skateboarding TikTok video of the guy drinking cranberry juice living his best life. Ocean Spray apparently appreciated the plug (and the free publicity) and gave him a truck loaded with cranberry juice. Also, Fleetwood Mac became a fan as he used the famous "Dreams" as his soundtrack. Thank you, Stevie Nicks!

We also revisited the jello shot "fiasco" (could have been worse) with some ideas for how to improve on it next time, talked the making of my mom's cranberry sauce and tried coming up with ways to use cranberries...besides making jellied sauce.

OH! And, we did talk to Ocean Spray! Not sure that the number we called would qualify as a hotline but we managed to sneak in a question and it's the one we were most curious about. I think by doing that (Clever Natalia!), we figured out how to get someone to talk to us on the podcast so you'll have to listen for that.

You'll find the Ocean Spray Hotline highlight as well as some others below:

01:45 - The making of my mom's cranberry sauce

05:50 - Jello shot making alternatives

07:35 - The TikTok viral video (Natalia gets kinda frustrated with me, HAH!)

10:57 - The Ocean Spray hotline call begins!

17:10 - A question is answered!

20:10 - Things to do with cranberries

25:50 - The baked brie issue

There's lots more to listen to so we hope you play (and download) the entire episode. This was another fun one for us...but then we always have fun!

We're making it easier than ever for you to join the conversation.

EMAIL US at [email protected].

Tell us what's on your mind because we're going to start an email segment during the episodes...as soon as we get some emails. So, we hope you like our new podcast website home. It really is www.notasinglefork.com.

We're still on Apple Podcasts and all your other favorite listening places.

We have one more episode before we take our holiday break and head into Season 6 in the spring. Be sure to tell us what you'd like to hear more about!

As always, thanks for listening! We love you guys!!

Hotlines were not needed in the making of this episode, Thank God!

Happy to say, Natalia and I made it through the Thanksgiving holiday. My sciatica would disagree but I had a massage after Monday's workout and we're all feeling much better, thank you very much.

So what was there to say at this point other than we survived? Well, a lot as usual. And, as usual, we both had very different Thanksgivings and not just because of COVID. Natalia has a big immediate family who all live here and I have my daughter, Shea. Of course, we have to share how we all spent our day, I hold forth on the virtual dinner and cornhole while Natalia has a few things to say about rude family comments and the dog show.

Seems like topics were all over the place but they actually are representative of Thanksgiving as a whole.

So here's to the weirdness! If you're interested in jumping around the show to hear what we consider to be the highlights, here you go:

01:57 How about some restaurant-style French toast?

05:33 The tale of the cranberry jello shots and cranberry jello, in general

11:45 Trying to find ingredients

12:50 The rest of Natalia's Thanksgiving

18:23 Thanksgiving 2020 was the cheapest in 35 years

20:00 Virtual dinners aren't all what they're cracked up to be

22:46 Tell me about your costume and Thanksgiving with grandparents

24:17 The dog show

There's lots more to listen to so we hope you play (and download) the entire episode. This was another fun one for us...but then we always have fun!

We're making it easier than ever for you to join the conversation. Email us at [email protected]. Tell us what's on your mind because we're going to start an email segment during the episodes...as soon as we get some emails. So, we hope you like our new podcast website home. It really is www.notasinglefork.com. We're still on Apple Podcasts and all your other favorite listening places.

We hope you made it through Thanksgiving unscathed. Onward to Christmas, Hannukah and Kwanzaa!

As always, thanks for listening! We love you guys!!

Hotlines were not needed in the making of this episode, Thank God!

Happy to say, Natalia and I made it through the Thanksgiving holiday. My sciatica would disagree but I had a massage after Monday's workout and we're all feeling much better, thank you very much.

So what was there to say at this point other than we survived? Well, a lot as usual. And, as usual, we both had very different Thanksgivings and not just because of COVID. Natalia has a big immediate family who all live here and I have my daughter, Shea. Of course, we have to share how we all spent our day, I hold forth on the virtual dinner and cornhole while Natalia has a few things to say about rude family comments and the dog show.

Seems like topics were all over the place but they actually are representative of Thanksgiving as a whole.

So here's to the weirdness! If you're interested in jumping around the show to hear what we consider to be the highlights, here you go:

01:57 How about some restaurant-style French toast?

05:33 The tale of the cranberry jello shots and cranberry jello, in general

11:45 Trying to find ingredients

12:50 The rest of Natalia's Thanksgiving

18:23 Thanksgiving 2020 was the cheapest in 35 years

20:00 Virtual dinners aren't all what they're cracked up to be

22:46 Tell me about your costume and Thanksgiving with grandparents

24:17 The dog show

There's lots more to listen to so we hope you play (and download) the entire episode. This was another fun one for us...but then we always have fun!

We're making it easier than ever for you to join the conversation. Email us at [email protected]. Tell us what's on your mind because we're going to start an email segment during the episodes...as soon as we get some emails. So, we hope you like our new podcast website home. It really is www.notasinglefork.com. We're still on Apple Podcasts and all your other favorite listening places.

We hope you made it through Thanksgiving unscathed. Onward to Christmas, Hannukah and Kwanzaa!

As always, thanks for listening! We love you guys!!

ICYMI

Keep your butt at home for Thanksgiving! We can almost see that light at the end of the tunnel so hang in there, folks! And, we are here to help you navigate this uncommon and un-traditional holiday time.

We've got suggestions from virtual dinners to "porch-lucks". It's also an opportunity to start new traditions that you might like even better than what you've done year after year. If you want to keep cooking, great! If you don't want to cook anything, GREAT! If you want to grab a bottle of wine and sit in a hot tub in the woods, STILL great!

The important thing to remember is: you really CAN'T do it wrong this year, How freeing is that? That's my personal favorite for all this craziness...you can't do it wrong. You may not have that Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving but you may have one that is more satisfying than ever because to borrow from Frank Sinatra, you do it your way.

And, finally! We talked to folks at a holiday hotline. Butterball comes through once more and what a lovely call it was. We talked with Barb who is one of their supervisors and she had some great suggestions along with a super, heart-warming story about some US engineers stationed in Dubai wanting to celebrate the holiday. So, THANK YOU, BARB! You have no idea how hard it's been to reach someone to talk to us.

If you'd like to skip through the episode to the REALLY good parts, here are some highlights and where you can find them throughout the episode.

04:00 - CDC guidelines and how to make Thanksgiving your own

05:56 - It doesn't have to be traditional

06:32 - "Porchlucks" and virtual dinners

10:33 - Cranberry Jell-O shots...what?

13:42 - Donate to a non-profit food provider and shout out to the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, Chefs Jeff Marlow and Jeremy Johnson

16:52 - Natalia is having pizza

17:45 - How about deviled eggs?

23:37 - Natalia has a few things to say about COVID fat

31:41 - We actually talk to Butterball (Barb is delightful, btw)

37:08 - You can TEXT Butterball while you're grocery shopping

38:55 - Hang in there, we're almost through this thing

There's lots more to listen to so we hope you play (and download) the entire episode. This was another fun one for us...but then we always have fun!

Also, we hope you like our new podcast website home. It really is www.notasinglefork.com. We're still on Apple Podcasts and all your other favorite listening places.

Now I've got turkey stock and pumpkin pies to make...we're cooking for lots of people who are choosing to not cook so much for Thanksgiving.

Please have a safe and joyful Thanksgiving! Do your own thing and enjoy every second of it. This will be one to remember for years to come!

As always, thanks for listening! We love you guys!!

ICYMI

Keep your butt at home for Thanksgiving! We can almost see that light at the end of the tunnel so hang in there, folks! And, we are here to help you navigate this uncommon and un-traditional holiday time.

We've got suggestions from virtual dinners to "porch-lucks". It's also an opportunity to start new traditions that you might like even better than what you've done year after year. If you want to keep cooking, great! If you don't want to cook anything, GREAT! If you want to grab a bottle of wine and sit in a hot tub in the woods, STILL great!

The important thing to remember is: you really CAN'T do it wrong this year, How freeing is that? That's my personal favorite for all this craziness...you can't do it wrong. You may not have that Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving but you may have one that is more satisfying than ever because to borrow from Frank Sinatra, you do it your way.

And, finally! We talked to folks at a holiday hotline. Butterball comes through once more and what a lovely call it was. We talked with Barb who is one of their supervisors and she had some great suggestions along with a super, heart-warming story about some US engineers stationed in Dubai wanting to celebrate the holiday. So, THANK YOU, BARB! You have no idea how hard it's been to reach someone to talk to us.

If you'd like to skip through the episode to the REALLY good parts, here are some highlights and where you can find them throughout the episode.

04:00 - CDC guidelines and how to make Thanksgiving your own

05:56 - It doesn't have to be traditional

06:32 - "Porchlucks" and virtual dinners

10:33 - Cranberry Jell-O shots...what?

13:42 - Donate to a non-profit food provider and shout out to the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, Chefs Jeff Marlow and Jeremy Johnson

16:52 - Natalia is having pizza

17:45 - How about deviled eggs?

23:37 - Natalia has a few things to say about COVID fat

31:41 - We actually talk to Butterball (Barb is delightful, btw)

37:08 - You can TEXT Butterball while you're grocery shopping

38:55 - Hang in there, we're almost through this thing

There's lots more to listen to so we hope you play (and download) the entire episode. This was another fun one for us...but then we always have fun!

Also, we hope you like our new podcast website home. It really is www.notasinglefork.com. We're still on Apple Podcasts and all your other favorite listening places.

Now I've got turkey stock and pumpkin pies to make...we're cooking for lots of people who are choosing to not cook so much for Thanksgiving.

Please have a safe and joyful Thanksgiving! Do your own thing and enjoy every second of it. This will be one to remember for years to come!

As always, thanks for listening! We love you guys!!

Not to be deterred...we found a short-term solution to our holiday hotline dilemma.

We're talking to Alexa. And, frankly, one of the things we decided is that maybe hotlines are not so popular anymore because of devices like Alexa and Siri and Google Home. What do you think?

Anyway, we decided to talk to Alexa during this episode since no one else has been willing to talk to us "on the record" so far. We are still holding out for Butterball and hoping that we'll have a nice chat with one of their people but that is still to come.

Probably the most entertaining part of this episode is Natalia's battles with Alexa. She just can't seem to make herself understood so her exchanges with Alexa are frustrating for her but hilarious for us. I am now the official Alexa questioner so that we can get some information.

If you're interested, here are the highlights of this episode:

01:07 - Kitchen cleanup (you'll understand when you hear it)

07:00 - The problem solution

10:35 - The many uses for pumpkin puree

16:45 - Flour is the glitter of the cooking world

21:12 - Alexa hates Natalia

22:35 - Even more cook along information

There are, of course, lots of other funny segments in the show. We hear that it takes 21 hours to prepare a turkey and 5 hours to thaw it in the toilet. Yes, I know, you'll just have to listen because otherwise, we'd be listing the entire episode.

Also, we hope you like our new podcast website home. It really is www.notasinglefork.com. And, we're still on Apple Podcasts and all your other favorite listening places.

As always, thanks for listening! We love you guys!!

Not to be deterred...we found a short-term solution to our holiday hotline dilemma.

We're talking to Alexa. And, frankly, one of the things we decided is that maybe hotlines are not so popular anymore because of devices like Alexa and Siri and Google Home. What do you think?

Anyway, we decided to talk to Alexa during this episode since no one else has been willing to talk to us "on the record" so far. We are still holding out for Butterball and hoping that we'll have a nice chat with one of their people but that is still to come.

Probably the most entertaining part of this episode is Natalia's battles with Alexa. She just can't seem to make herself understood so her exchanges with Alexa are frustrating for her but hilarious for us. I am now the official Alexa questioner so that we can get some information.

If you're interested, here are the highlights of this episode:

01:07 - Kitchen cleanup (you'll understand when you hear it)

07:00 - The problem solution

10:35 - The many uses for pumpkin puree

16:45 - Flour is the glitter of the cooking world

21:12 - Alexa hates Natalia

22:35 - Even more cook along information

There are, of course, lots of other funny segments in the show. We hear that it takes 21 hours to prepare a turkey and 5 hours to thaw it in the toilet. Yes, I know, you'll just have to listen because otherwise, we'd be listing the entire episode.

Also, we hope you like our new podcast website home. It really is www.notasinglefork.com. And, we're still on Apple Podcasts and all your other favorite listening places.

As always, thanks for listening! We love you guys!!

We may not be talking to a lot of hotline people but we sure are having a lot of fun!

So far, we’ve found that any person we have reached on a cooking or baking hotline has to refer us to their supervisor for comment. Seriously?! All we want to do is ask you a question or two to help our listeners with their holiday cooking. Is it really that hard? The answer is apparently: YES!

But we are undaunted and we will continue calling hotlines until someone talks to us. In the meantime, we just get crazy and tell you all kinds of stories and give you other information about cooking that actually is helpful.

Here are some of the highlights from Episode 3:

11:39 - There was no call back from Fleischman’s Yeast

12:43 - Let’s talk about butter

22:46 - How about Libby’s?

30:39 - There is no gin

31:55 - We loved doing the United Way fundraiser

32:15 - A brand new cook along

Enjoy the craziness…here’s episode 3.

Don’t forget, you can find us all over the place now! We're on Amazon Music now so you really can tell Alexa, "Hey Alexa, play the podcast, Not A Single Fork!" and she will play the podcast. I tried it last night and it works! But wherever your favorite podcast listening place is, we’re probably there. Take us on the road anytime you like with Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play or with our player right here.The podcast is moving! You will find Episode 4 and beyond at www.notasinglefork.com, the podcast-only website. This page will still be here but if you just want podcast stuff…you’re welcome!Thanks for listening. We love you!!

We may not be talking to a lot of hotline people but we sure are having a lot of fun!

So far, we’ve found that any person we have reached on a cooking or baking hotline has to refer us to their supervisor for comment. Seriously?! All we want to do is ask you a question or two to help our listeners with their holiday cooking. Is it really that hard? The answer is apparently: YES!

But we are undaunted and we will continue calling hotlines until someone talks to us. In the meantime, we just get crazy and tell you all kinds of stories and give you other information about cooking that actually is helpful.

Here are some of the highlights from Episode 3:

11:39 - There was no call back from Fleischman’s Yeast

12:43 - Let’s talk about butter

22:46 - How about Libby’s?

30:39 - There is no gin

31:55 - We loved doing the United Way fundraiser

32:15 - A brand new cook along

Enjoy the craziness…here’s episode 3.

Don’t forget, you can find us all over the place now! We're on Amazon Music now so you really can tell Alexa, "Hey Alexa, play the podcast, Not A Single Fork!" and she will play the podcast. I tried it last night and it works! But wherever your favorite podcast listening place is, we’re probably there. Take us on the road anytime you like with Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play or with our player right here.The podcast is moving! You will find Episode 4 and beyond at www.notasinglefork.com, the podcast-only website. This page will still be here but if you just want podcast stuff…you’re welcome!Thanks for listening. We love you!!