December 6, 2025 • 28 mins
The Fork Reporter pays a touching tribute to Melinda Lee. Plus, KFI's traffic reporter and voice of an angel on The Tim Conway Jr Show, Angel Martinez, joins to talk about Pastathon & more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, it's Niel Savedra. You're listening to kfi EM six
forty the four Report on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Hey, Kayla,
when is turkey dinner bad for your health?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (00:13):
When when you're the turkey? How's a good one for once?
Let me teach you had it. Let me teach you
(00:34):
had Condam marry Nathan. Let me teach you had it.
It's a column arriage. Let me teach you how to.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Let me teach you.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Kf I am six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Why are you walking so slow? Are you all right?
What'd you do? Geez? Kayla just walked in like she
was ninety five. I went to jingle ball last night,
and you know, I think I'm a little bit old.
Did you jingle your balls? I jingle my balls?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Now?
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Well, see that's the problem. Yeah you this is mid thirties.
This is hard Yoh geez, let's see see these shoes
they're mid thirties too, see that same any who, Welcome
to the show. It's the Fork Report. I'm Neil Sevadra.
What do we do here? Well, we celebrate food. There's
(01:31):
just a lot, there's a plenty of stuff. I can't
stand that we are always focused on the negative. We
really are, and it's hard not to be. We're fed
it constantly. You are what you eat, right, So this
is just a sanctuary, sanctuary place three hours on a
Saturday that we can kind of shake off the heaviness
and the news and focus on the things that are
(01:52):
worth celebrating, like good food and company and connecting. Whether
you're eating out, having food deliver, going to a breast,
cooking or baking at home, we cover it all. You
like to tip a glass, we talk about that too,
and everything in between. So thanks for hanging out. Normally
at this stage of the show, the very beginning, I
(02:13):
usually do the first two segments called Technique of the Week,
and we focus on a technique, and I'll do that
in the next segment here. But we lost an amazing
broadcaster and human being a few days ago, and her
name was Melinda Lee. And I had the pleasure of
knowing Melinda Lee. I've been at KFI since ninety four,
(02:36):
came as an intern, and she was at KFI for
a while. She started on KNX doing a food show
in the late eighties, I believe, and then she came
to KFI and did a food show, and when David G.
Hall left to program KNX for a while, he took
(02:57):
her with him. They had a great relationship and that
was like going home for Melinda Lee. But at that
time here at KFI, I had the pleasure of knowing
her and what a neat human being she was, and
I believe is just not here on this plane anymore.
(03:21):
So I wanted to spend some time talking about her,
because you know, we don't stay in touch. She actually
didn't re sign with kN X many years ago because
she wanted to spend more time doing other things. She's
a fabulous writer, a wonderful speaker, she was an exceptional host,
(03:46):
and in the food category, there has never been anyone
like her or better than her before and since. I
would never ever put this show in the same category
except for spirit. That the spirit of this show comes
from what I learned from Melinda Lee, and that is
(04:09):
to be gracious and to have fun, have a sense
of humor, don't take yourself seriously, but take people's needs seriously.
When it comes to food, we're all intimidated by it,
and I hope I bring a little bit of that
to you, because what I learned from Melinda Lee, and
what I always saw in her, was this over the
(04:34):
airwaves hug of saying, honey, it's gonna be fine. It's
just cooking. You might even make a mistake, probably will
we all do, but it's gonna be fine, and it's
most likely gonna be edible. And the fact that you
try is a success in itself. And I can't sit
(04:54):
here and tell you every single thing I learned, whether
it was about being a good human being or food,
because they're too many to recount. But talking with my
wife Tracy this morning about her when I gave her
the news today because I just learned, I think it
was yesterday, and I think it was a couple days
ago of her passing. I don't even know how old
(05:17):
she was. Nobody ever said, she never ever said, I
think in any interview I saw I was reading some
old interviews that she said she was fifty something or whatever.
So I have no idea, but she always seemed like
somebody who lived life to the fullest. She loved a
good meal, she loved a good glass of wine, and
strangely enough, for being this sweet, she was never old,
(05:43):
but her spirit was like it had a gentle wisdom
about it that made her probably seem older than her years,
because she just didn't give a crap about the things
you shouldn't give a crap about, right that everybody weighs
their shoulders down with. She loved a good, let's say,
ribald joke. She would give a hearty laugh when she
(06:10):
heard something slightly blue or and I remember being because
you know, I've never tried to hide the fact that
I have a crass sense of humor. I come across
as mean sometimes to people I work with, and I'm
always floored. And then I listen back and go, Okay,
I hear that, but I don't I adore the people
I work with, or I don't work with them. You know,
(06:32):
I just don't want to. Life's too short. Melinda Lee
has told my wife one time, and she couldn't remember
the whole situation, but she thought maybe she was talking
with Bill Handle. You know, it's time for some news.
I'll talk more about her. She deserves any time that
I give her and more. Melinda Lee, the beloved Melinda
(06:55):
Lee that took all of our hearts when it came
to food and told us we could do it and
that we should try it. She passed away this past
week and I couldn't find one story written about her. Now,
it may just hit in the news cycle where, you know,
(07:15):
and there's not a lot of you know, radio writers
out there anymore, and it used to be more covered.
So this is not a slam on them. It's just
a news cycle thing. But I couldn't find anything, and
I just I just want her name to be in
the memory of all of us, those of us that
loved her and enjoyed what she did and and put
(07:37):
her on that pedestal as the queen of food, talk
and writing. I want us to remember her name. I'll
talk more about her when after we get some news.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
You're listening to The Fork Report with Nil Savedra on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Hey there, Happy Saturday to you. Look at this. We're
in December, the holidays are here, and for all our
Jewish brothers and sisters out there, Hankah is on the fourteenth.
Because if you ask, I don't care if religious non
religious jew You ask them when Hanakah is and they
will go I don't know, leave me alone. We just
(08:17):
know when it's here because it's not the same. Like,
even though Christ was not born on the twenty fifth
of December, everybody knows that's when it lands, so don't
give them a hard time. It changes all the time,
and it's eight days, so if you forget a couple
(08:38):
of the first days, you're fine. You'll be good. Anyways,
we're in the holidays. Even the weather's getting a little cooler.
The moon was gorgeous on Friday. Holy smokes in the
morning when I got up to do the Handle show.
Just amazing. Anyways, we got a lot to get to today,
including a restaurant they've been on the show before, but
a really great one to visit. Here in LA for
(08:59):
the holidays is just festive and colorful and great food
and stuff like that. And so stick around right now.
I'm just I changed things up a little bit to
just tip my hat and focus and do a tribute
to Melinda Lee. She did food news with Melinda Lee.
Most recently she did it on CANX. Prior to that,
(09:21):
she was on KFI for some time, and prior to
that she was on KNX. I think that's where she started.
But as a food writer. And if you didn't know
Melinda Lee or don't remember on the air, and I
don't know how you could be a fan of talk
radio and not know Melinda Lee. She is just the
(09:41):
She was the best at what she did. She put
her arm around you, said that you can do it.
And the story that I was telling right before the
break was one that my wife was retelling to me
this morning, because my wife worked in radio for years
as a producer, and she remember Melinda Lee talking she
(10:02):
thinks to handle and she said she laughed and cocked
her head back and just told handle. I think she goes,
you know what, you can train a monkey to do
what we do. It's about connection and personality, you know,
connect with a listener. She never thought of herself as
anything special. She was a caterer, I believe, and caterers,
(10:27):
I've said this before on the fork report to me
are the front line of the culinary arts. They are
at war when they work. The kitchen is different, the
setup is a different location to set like. You just
have to improvise, adapt and overcome on every single job.
(10:51):
So when she gave advice was that old uh was
it schwabs or whatever? I can't remember, but that old
commercial like when so and so speaks and then we'd
get quiet. Everybody listens some financial ad. But that's how
it was with Melinda Lee. And she threw these gems,
these pearls of wisdom out like they were no big deal.
(11:15):
I can remember many of them. If you've ever made
egg rolls at home or attempted to, and I love
making egg rolls, and you fry them and all those things.
She gave the best tip. One of the things is
people don't strain or dry out the filling enough. So
(11:36):
you put that filling into the wrapper and you deep
fry it and all that liquid comes out and makes
the soggy. That's a great tip, a simple one for her.
And that was I probably that was decades ago. Probably
when I heard that, it stayed with me, not only
the tip for being smart and practical, practical and appliable,
(12:00):
but it's just something you know by doing it all
the time, by being in those you know, oh crap
situations where you have to do a wedding or a
party or something, and you don't get to be bad,
you don't get to have an off day, because by definition,
caterers are warriors. They don't get invited for something dull.
(12:24):
They get invited to come out to prepare food for
life events. And that's who Melinda Lee was. She was
a warrior. She was graceful and generous and kind, and
I love the fact that she could tip a glass.
(12:46):
I love the fact that she loved a ryebald joke.
I've met a lot of people in this industry, starting
out when I was I don't know, eighteen nineteen something
like that, whatever it was, and now at fifty six,
there's you know, you find, there's people, you know, everybody's
(13:07):
got their own problems. But it's a weird industry, a
lot of insecurity, a lot of weird people. And I'm
not lumping on praise on Melinda Lee because she passed
away this week. I'm lumping on praise because she was praiseworthy,
just a neat person, funny and sweet and kind and
(13:29):
incredibly knowledgeable. And again, I would never put myself in
the category as much as I love food to capture
the magic that ol't to me. Only she did. And
there's beautiful, talented people that do things, you know, similarly,
that have their own voice that I you know that
(13:51):
I would put in the same category of strength and
wonderfulness chef Jamie Gwynn's a lovely human being and does
a great time. I'm not put down anybody at all.
I'm just lifting her up for all the work that
she did in this medium of radio, and Melinda Lee
was one of a kind. God bless her. All I
(14:13):
can think about is the rubbing of hands in heaven
as they go, oh my gosh, you know who's coming.
Finally we eat something good up here. It's like, God
bless her. And I hadn't talked to her for years,
but I always was a fan and always was thrilled
(14:34):
to have any time that I had to talk with
her or chat with her, ask her questions. And if
this show can be one thousandth of the light that
she was to the la audience that she brought with
food news and all of her insights, recipes and devotion
(14:55):
to the craft of cooking and baking, man, I would
be thrilled. So God bless you, God speed, Melinda Lee.
Radio has missed you for years, and I hope that
you got the rest and the introspection and time with
family that you sought out. And to all those that
(15:16):
live beyond her and her family, thank you for sharing
her For so long with us. I knew it took
her away from you, but we all got to call
her a little bit of our own family.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
You're listening to The Fork Report with Nil Savedra on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Hey, Happy Saturday to you. It is the Fork Report,
all things food, beverage and beyond. We celebrate food, the
people that make it, the culture behind it, cooking at home,
going out to eat, having a drink, all of these things.
And I am your friendly neighborhood Fork Reporter Neil Savedra.
Thanks for hanging out with us. We'll be with you
(15:55):
till five and then hand over everything to Tiffany Hobbes
and you'll hand over at seven the rains to Michael Monks.
So go nowhere. We have one of my favorite humans
on the line right now. You hear her Monday through
Friday on and beyond often on the Tim Conway Junior Show.
(16:17):
So guess what you got the voice of an angel
right here, Angel Martinez, Welcome to the Forkerport. I have
how you together we make one full Mexican wonder Twin
powers unite. Right, So, where are you out today? And
(16:39):
you have some news that ties into pastathon, which congratulations
for everything that Naughty your sandals brought in as well.
All right, yeah, I know, pretty exciting.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
But you're out in the great I am. I'm in
Hontington Beach right at the Peer Plaza top of the
pier on the Coast Highway in Main Street, right across
from Duke and I'm right here at the giving machine.
And guess what, k of my listeners are not only
the smartest, but they're also the best looking around. And
I've got a whole group of them here right now.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Wow, look at that.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
They are just donating their little hearts out. So what
we have, Tapion might be over that. You can still
donate not only the Katerina's Club, but to so many
other worthy charities. All you have to do is find
one of these giving machines and select a worthy charity.
And you can do that at many locations right here
(17:40):
in southern California. Now, as I mentioned, I'm here in
Huntington Beach today, and we've got a lot of charities
you can choose from. There's things like therapy dogs at
the Chalk Foundation, you know, the Children's Possible of Orange County.
Of course, there's many from Katerina's Club. You can donate meals,
(18:01):
you can donate to the Scholarship Foundation. You can donate
also fresh produce, hot launches. There's a housing assistant as well,
and so many others. So Honeyton Beach today until three thirty.
And you know what, Neil, what's that we've got. We've
got beautiful gifts for anybody that donates while I'm here.
(18:26):
So I am here until three thirty, and those gifts
are available while they flash. But if you're not in,
if you're not in Huntington Beach, don't worry about it.
If there's other locations, you can find a giving machine
Tyler Mall in Riverside. It's right in front of Mazy's
Old Town San Diego Twig Street parking lot, see the
(18:48):
grove in LA. Now, this one is only for the
fire relief related charity. But there is another machine popping
up in San Clemente starting on December twelfth, and it'll
be right by a gap store. Now, this one here
in Huntington is here until the tenth of December, so
you've got a couple of days to come on down
(19:08):
make a donation. You can take a picture. They've brought
a cool little surfboard and you can go ahead and
pop that on your socials and you know, it's a
fun place. This machine is beautiful too.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Oh they're insane. So imagine this. It's like a big
it's a big screen that you can you can kind
of scroll through and pick any of the charity. And
I think it's sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ
Latter day Saints if I remember correctly, at least the
one that was out there at the posathon was. And yes,
(19:44):
it's this neat technology that they partner with charities and
you basically can go like this to this Kiosk slash
vending machine if you will, and you can, you know,
put in money for your favorite charity, you know what.
Hang tight, Angel, can you come on the next segment?
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Yeah, you got it?
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Yeah. I hate to sound like Tim Conway Junior, but
could I hold you over?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Problem, Okay, So stick around Angel Martinez out there in
Huntington Beach. We're gonna talk to her again when we
come back on how you can still give to not
only other charities, but you can give to the pastathon still.
So go know where you're.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Listening to the Fork Report with Nil Savedra on demand
from KFI AM.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Six forty, KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the
iHeartRadio app. Happy Saturday to you, It's the Fork Report.
I'm Neil Savedra. We've got some guests we're gonna introduce
you to if you don't recall them, they've been on
the show before. The folks from l Coyot in Hollywood.
It's just one of those amazing places, but during the
(20:51):
holidays even more wonderful, So stick around for that. Right now,
we're talking with Angel Martinez. She's out in Huntington Beach,
which is not abnormal anywhere near the beach rain or snow,
but she's out there greeting KFI listeners. She's out by
the Giving Machine. And we were talking about this wondrous machine,
(21:12):
this kiosk that you can go up to and you
can put in or look for different charities and right
there you can give to the charities. And tis the season.
So what brings you out specifically today?
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Well, today I'm out here to say hi to KAFI
listeners and also give away some gifts for people that
donate while I'm here, So some gift cards, I've got
some ornaments, I've got those special collectible ornaments that Jennifer
Conway makes for postis On. Oh yes, they're beautiful, a
(21:47):
lot of commodity.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Yeah, she's a maker. Yeah, she's a wonderful maker and
artist and she does all kinds of really neat things.
And those those ornaments are spectacular.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Oh they're gorgeously. And what else do I have. I've
got some hats, I've got other ornaments, I've got some
of those ding Dong coins and all kinds of cool stuff.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Yeah. So if you haven't seen the coins, they're these
aluminum pressed coins with the the face of Tim Conway
Junior himself pressed on them and then on the tails
side it says ding Dong. So I don't know, maybe
they're lucky. I have a couple at home.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, are.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
You kidding me?
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Have you gotten lucky with them?
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Well? I was curious he should have put ding on
one side and Dong on the other, like I got
a dongo, But I don't know if that's heads or
tails AnyWho. Yes, but Angel Martinez is out there encouraging
people to donate. You can still donate to Pastathon. We're
(22:52):
thrilled of all the kindness and you were saying about
the KFI Listener, and I concur one thousand percent. There
is just something about the KFI Listener. They're incredibly generous.
They have been such good friends and partners over the
years fifteen years now with the pastathon and Katerina's Club
(23:14):
feeding over twenty five thousand kids a week with Chef
Bruno Serrato and his cohorts and all of his partners
in it. It's just freaking amazing. And I wasn't out
there by the time you guys went on last Tuesday
or this past Tuesday, but it looked like a huge
(23:35):
crowd was just thrilled to be there and see everybody
and the return of the foushe.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Oh yeah, yeah, get your tissues.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
That was come on. Now everybody thinks of the Conway
Show as being hilarious but touching. Come on, that was
tough boy. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
So you know, Katerina's Club is one of the many
charitable foundations that you can donate to at the Giving Machine,
So why don't mean to tell you some of the
other ones away, and.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
If you can give the locations of the ones that
you know about as well, again, would be great.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Absolutely, So I'm at the one in Huntington Beach, which
is right at Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in
front of the pier across from Dukes and I'm here
until three thirty. But there's also a giving machine in
Riverside at the Tyler Mall. It's right in front of Macy's.
There's one in San Diego Old Town, San Diego Twig
Street Parking Lot C. And starting on the twelfth of December,
(24:39):
San Clementy is going to get its own giving machine
right at the San Clementy Outlets right next to the
Gap and the Grove in La also had the giving machine.
That one is only for the fire recovery related charities,
but the other machines donations can be made to Waymakers,
(25:00):
Community Action Partnership, Lifting Hands, Boys and Girls Club, unie F,
Chalk Foundation, and of course Kattering.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
And the Lost.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Lots of options. You can give to one, give to
a few, gifts to them all and you can get
your picture taken also at the surfboard right in front
of Santa Claus. So beautiful day in Huntington Beach.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Nothing says Southern California more than having your picture taken
with sant in front of a.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
You know, surfboard I know, and then you know right
at the beach as well, so you can't go wrong.
It's a gorgeous day today. Get out in the sunshine,
have some fun and give.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I also look at Love the Fact Angels that at
the grove, you know, famously owned by Rick Caruso who
ran for mayor and unfortunately lost to care of baths,
and it has been very vocal about the fires and
(26:10):
the mishandling of the fires by her. Yeah, has this
cost where you can only donate to the fires like
which is great, but it's also like you messed up
with every day. It's just a little thumb in the
eye that I just found funny appropriate. Yeah, well, sorry
(26:30):
about that. I'll take care of it, don't you. Don't
you worry you you go off and do whatever you
want to do. I'll just take care of things here
at home. Well, I think that's awesome. Thanks for taking
your Saturday to get out there. I know that the
KFI listeners are thrilled to meet you and see you
out there and in giving gifts and all of those things.
(26:51):
But I appreciate you, and I know that the station
does you take in your own time to be out
there today making sure people know that they can still give,
not only paston all those worthy charities right now when
people are in need.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
So thanks, my friend, you got it, You got it.
Come on down. I'm here until three point thirty and
these vending machines will be out through the end of December.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
And let's say somebody donates and then they think, but
you know what, I still need a gift for my
girlfriend or whatever, Pasha, I would like to get some sandals.
Do you know anywhere where I could get some sandals?
Where would they look?
Speaker 2 (27:29):
You know, I happen to know a play what where
Naughty USA dot com handcrafted right here in sunny southern California.
I make and design them myself. And we've got some
custom sandal kits this year that you can design your
(27:49):
own straps and then we build a pair of sandals
around them. So that makes a great gift for super
cool And.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
They're beautiful and they're beautiful. They really are well made.
And it's naughty, like nautical, not like put your pants
back on.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Oh yeah, that's for sure. M a U TI USA
dot com.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Excellent. All right, my friend, have a wonderful day. You're
out there until three thirty. Angel Martinez, Ladies and gentlemen,
all right, stick stick around. We'll be back with more.
Go Nowhere a great place to go for the holidays,
for festivities and lights and brightness and volity. When we
come back. This is the Fork Report. I'm Neil Sebedro.
(28:32):
This is KFI heard everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. You've
been listening to the Fork Report. You can always hear
us live on KFI AM six forty two to five
pm on Saturday, and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Hey, it's Niel Savedra. You're listening to kfi EM six
forty the four Report on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Hey, Kayla,
when is turkey dinner bad for your health?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (00:13):
When when you're the turkey? How's a good one for once?
Let me teach you had it. Let me teach you
(00:34):
had Condam marry Nathan. Let me teach you had it.
It's a column arriage. Let me teach you how to.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Let me teach you.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Kf I am six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Why are you walking so slow? Are you all right?
What'd you do? Geez? Kayla just walked in like she
was ninety five. I went to jingle ball last night,
and you know, I think I'm a little bit old.
Did you jingle your balls? I jingle my balls?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Now?
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Well, see that's the problem. Yeah you this is mid thirties.
This is hard Yoh geez, let's see see these shoes
they're mid thirties too, see that same any who, Welcome
to the show. It's the Fork Report. I'm Neil Sevadra.
What do we do here? Well, we celebrate food. There's
(01:31):
just a lot, there's a plenty of stuff. I can't
stand that we are always focused on the negative. We
really are, and it's hard not to be. We're fed
it constantly. You are what you eat, right, So this
is just a sanctuary, sanctuary place three hours on a
Saturday that we can kind of shake off the heaviness
and the news and focus on the things that are
(01:52):
worth celebrating, like good food and company and connecting. Whether
you're eating out, having food deliver, going to a breast,
cooking or baking at home, we cover it all. You
like to tip a glass, we talk about that too,
and everything in between. So thanks for hanging out. Normally
at this stage of the show, the very beginning, I
(02:13):
usually do the first two segments called Technique of the Week,
and we focus on a technique, and I'll do that
in the next segment here. But we lost an amazing
broadcaster and human being a few days ago, and her
name was Melinda Lee. And I had the pleasure of
knowing Melinda Lee. I've been at KFI since ninety four,
(02:36):
came as an intern, and she was at KFI for
a while. She started on KNX doing a food show
in the late eighties, I believe, and then she came
to KFI and did a food show, and when David G.
Hall left to program KNX for a while, he took
(02:57):
her with him. They had a great relationship and that
was like going home for Melinda Lee. But at that
time here at KFI, I had the pleasure of knowing
her and what a neat human being she was, and
I believe is just not here on this plane anymore.
(03:21):
So I wanted to spend some time talking about her,
because you know, we don't stay in touch. She actually
didn't re sign with kN X many years ago because
she wanted to spend more time doing other things. She's
a fabulous writer, a wonderful speaker, she was an exceptional host,
(03:46):
and in the food category, there has never been anyone
like her or better than her before and since. I
would never ever put this show in the same category
except for spirit. That the spirit of this show comes
from what I learned from Melinda Lee, and that is
(04:09):
to be gracious and to have fun, have a sense
of humor, don't take yourself seriously, but take people's needs seriously.
When it comes to food, we're all intimidated by it,
and I hope I bring a little bit of that
to you, because what I learned from Melinda Lee, and
what I always saw in her, was this over the
(04:34):
airwaves hug of saying, honey, it's gonna be fine. It's
just cooking. You might even make a mistake, probably will
we all do, but it's gonna be fine, and it's
most likely gonna be edible. And the fact that you
try is a success in itself. And I can't sit
(04:54):
here and tell you every single thing I learned, whether
it was about being a good human being or food,
because they're too many to recount. But talking with my
wife Tracy this morning about her when I gave her
the news today because I just learned, I think it
was yesterday, and I think it was a couple days
ago of her passing. I don't even know how old
(05:17):
she was. Nobody ever said, she never ever said, I
think in any interview I saw I was reading some
old interviews that she said she was fifty something or whatever.
So I have no idea, but she always seemed like
somebody who lived life to the fullest. She loved a
good meal, she loved a good glass of wine, and
strangely enough, for being this sweet, she was never old,
(05:43):
but her spirit was like it had a gentle wisdom
about it that made her probably seem older than her years,
because she just didn't give a crap about the things
you shouldn't give a crap about, right that everybody weighs
their shoulders down with. She loved a good, let's say,
ribald joke. She would give a hearty laugh when she
(06:10):
heard something slightly blue or and I remember being because
you know, I've never tried to hide the fact that
I have a crass sense of humor. I come across
as mean sometimes to people I work with, and I'm
always floored. And then I listen back and go, Okay,
I hear that, but I don't I adore the people
I work with, or I don't work with them. You know,
(06:32):
I just don't want to. Life's too short. Melinda Lee
has told my wife one time, and she couldn't remember
the whole situation, but she thought maybe she was talking
with Bill Handle. You know, it's time for some news.
I'll talk more about her. She deserves any time that
I give her and more. Melinda Lee, the beloved Melinda
(06:55):
Lee that took all of our hearts when it came
to food and told us we could do it and
that we should try it. She passed away this past
week and I couldn't find one story written about her. Now,
it may just hit in the news cycle where, you know,
(07:15):
and there's not a lot of you know, radio writers
out there anymore, and it used to be more covered.
So this is not a slam on them. It's just
a news cycle thing. But I couldn't find anything, and
I just I just want her name to be in
the memory of all of us, those of us that
loved her and enjoyed what she did and and put
(07:37):
her on that pedestal as the queen of food, talk
and writing. I want us to remember her name. I'll
talk more about her when after we get some news.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
You're listening to The Fork Report with Nil Savedra on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Hey there, Happy Saturday to you. Look at this. We're
in December, the holidays are here, and for all our
Jewish brothers and sisters out there, Hankah is on the fourteenth.
Because if you ask, I don't care if religious non
religious jew You ask them when Hanakah is and they
will go I don't know, leave me alone. We just
(08:17):
know when it's here because it's not the same. Like,
even though Christ was not born on the twenty fifth
of December, everybody knows that's when it lands, so don't
give them a hard time. It changes all the time,
and it's eight days, so if you forget a couple
(08:38):
of the first days, you're fine. You'll be good. Anyways,
we're in the holidays. Even the weather's getting a little cooler.
The moon was gorgeous on Friday. Holy smokes in the
morning when I got up to do the Handle show.
Just amazing. Anyways, we got a lot to get to today,
including a restaurant they've been on the show before, but
a really great one to visit. Here in LA for
(08:59):
the holidays is just festive and colorful and great food
and stuff like that. And so stick around right now.
I'm just I changed things up a little bit to
just tip my hat and focus and do a tribute
to Melinda Lee. She did food news with Melinda Lee.
Most recently she did it on CANX. Prior to that,
(09:21):
she was on KFI for some time, and prior to
that she was on KNX. I think that's where she started.
But as a food writer. And if you didn't know
Melinda Lee or don't remember on the air, and I
don't know how you could be a fan of talk
radio and not know Melinda Lee. She is just the
(09:41):
She was the best at what she did. She put
her arm around you, said that you can do it.
And the story that I was telling right before the
break was one that my wife was retelling to me
this morning, because my wife worked in radio for years
as a producer, and she remember Melinda Lee talking she
(10:02):
thinks to handle and she said she laughed and cocked
her head back and just told handle. I think she goes,
you know what, you can train a monkey to do
what we do. It's about connection and personality, you know,
connect with a listener. She never thought of herself as
anything special. She was a caterer, I believe, and caterers,
(10:27):
I've said this before on the fork report to me
are the front line of the culinary arts. They are
at war when they work. The kitchen is different, the
setup is a different location to set like. You just
have to improvise, adapt and overcome on every single job.
(10:51):
So when she gave advice was that old uh was
it schwabs or whatever? I can't remember, but that old
commercial like when so and so speaks and then we'd
get quiet. Everybody listens some financial ad. But that's how
it was with Melinda Lee. And she threw these gems,
these pearls of wisdom out like they were no big deal.
(11:15):
I can remember many of them. If you've ever made
egg rolls at home or attempted to, and I love
making egg rolls, and you fry them and all those things.
She gave the best tip. One of the things is
people don't strain or dry out the filling enough. So
(11:36):
you put that filling into the wrapper and you deep
fry it and all that liquid comes out and makes
the soggy. That's a great tip, a simple one for her.
And that was I probably that was decades ago. Probably
when I heard that, it stayed with me, not only
the tip for being smart and practical, practical and appliable,
(12:00):
but it's just something you know by doing it all
the time, by being in those you know, oh crap
situations where you have to do a wedding or a
party or something, and you don't get to be bad,
you don't get to have an off day, because by definition,
caterers are warriors. They don't get invited for something dull.
(12:24):
They get invited to come out to prepare food for
life events. And that's who Melinda Lee was. She was
a warrior. She was graceful and generous and kind, and
I love the fact that she could tip a glass.
(12:46):
I love the fact that she loved a ryebald joke.
I've met a lot of people in this industry, starting
out when I was I don't know, eighteen nineteen something
like that, whatever it was, and now at fifty six,
there's you know, you find, there's people, you know, everybody's
(13:07):
got their own problems. But it's a weird industry, a
lot of insecurity, a lot of weird people. And I'm
not lumping on praise on Melinda Lee because she passed
away this week. I'm lumping on praise because she was praiseworthy,
just a neat person, funny and sweet and kind and
(13:29):
incredibly knowledgeable. And again, I would never put myself in
the category as much as I love food to capture
the magic that ol't to me. Only she did. And
there's beautiful, talented people that do things, you know, similarly,
that have their own voice that I you know that
(13:51):
I would put in the same category of strength and
wonderfulness chef Jamie Gwynn's a lovely human being and does
a great time. I'm not put down anybody at all.
I'm just lifting her up for all the work that
she did in this medium of radio, and Melinda Lee
was one of a kind. God bless her. All I
(14:13):
can think about is the rubbing of hands in heaven
as they go, oh my gosh, you know who's coming.
Finally we eat something good up here. It's like, God
bless her. And I hadn't talked to her for years,
but I always was a fan and always was thrilled
(14:34):
to have any time that I had to talk with
her or chat with her, ask her questions. And if
this show can be one thousandth of the light that
she was to the la audience that she brought with
food news and all of her insights, recipes and devotion
(14:55):
to the craft of cooking and baking, man, I would
be thrilled. So God bless you, God speed, Melinda Lee.
Radio has missed you for years, and I hope that
you got the rest and the introspection and time with
family that you sought out. And to all those that
(15:16):
live beyond her and her family, thank you for sharing
her For so long with us. I knew it took
her away from you, but we all got to call
her a little bit of our own family.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
You're listening to The Fork Report with Nil Savedra on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Hey, Happy Saturday to you. It is the Fork Report,
all things food, beverage and beyond. We celebrate food, the
people that make it, the culture behind it, cooking at home,
going out to eat, having a drink, all of these things.
And I am your friendly neighborhood Fork Reporter Neil Savedra.
Thanks for hanging out with us. We'll be with you
(15:55):
till five and then hand over everything to Tiffany Hobbes
and you'll hand over at seven the rains to Michael Monks.
So go nowhere. We have one of my favorite humans
on the line right now. You hear her Monday through
Friday on and beyond often on the Tim Conway Junior Show.
(16:17):
So guess what you got the voice of an angel
right here, Angel Martinez, Welcome to the Forkerport. I have
how you together we make one full Mexican wonder Twin
powers unite. Right, So, where are you out today? And
(16:39):
you have some news that ties into pastathon, which congratulations
for everything that Naughty your sandals brought in as well.
All right, yeah, I know, pretty exciting.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
But you're out in the great I am. I'm in
Hontington Beach right at the Peer Plaza top of the
pier on the Coast Highway in Main Street, right across
from Duke and I'm right here at the giving machine.
And guess what, k of my listeners are not only
the smartest, but they're also the best looking around. And
I've got a whole group of them here right now.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Wow, look at that.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
They are just donating their little hearts out. So what
we have, Tapion might be over that. You can still
donate not only the Katerina's Club, but to so many
other worthy charities. All you have to do is find
one of these giving machines and select a worthy charity.
And you can do that at many locations right here
(17:40):
in southern California. Now, as I mentioned, I'm here in
Huntington Beach today, and we've got a lot of charities
you can choose from. There's things like therapy dogs at
the Chalk Foundation, you know, the Children's Possible of Orange County.
Of course, there's many from Katerina's Club. You can donate meals,
(18:01):
you can donate to the Scholarship Foundation. You can donate
also fresh produce, hot launches. There's a housing assistant as well,
and so many others. So Honeyton Beach today until three thirty.
And you know what, Neil, what's that we've got. We've
got beautiful gifts for anybody that donates while I'm here.
(18:26):
So I am here until three thirty, and those gifts
are available while they flash. But if you're not in,
if you're not in Huntington Beach, don't worry about it.
If there's other locations, you can find a giving machine
Tyler Mall in Riverside. It's right in front of Mazy's
Old Town San Diego Twig Street parking lot, see the
(18:48):
grove in LA. Now, this one is only for the
fire relief related charity. But there is another machine popping
up in San Clemente starting on December twelfth, and it'll
be right by a gap store. Now, this one here
in Huntington is here until the tenth of December, so
you've got a couple of days to come on down
(19:08):
make a donation. You can take a picture. They've brought
a cool little surfboard and you can go ahead and
pop that on your socials and you know, it's a
fun place. This machine is beautiful too.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Oh they're insane. So imagine this. It's like a big
it's a big screen that you can you can kind
of scroll through and pick any of the charity. And
I think it's sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ
Latter day Saints if I remember correctly, at least the
one that was out there at the posathon was. And yes,
(19:44):
it's this neat technology that they partner with charities and
you basically can go like this to this Kiosk slash
vending machine if you will, and you can, you know,
put in money for your favorite charity, you know what.
Hang tight, Angel, can you come on the next segment?
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Yeah, you got it?
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Yeah. I hate to sound like Tim Conway Junior, but
could I hold you over?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Problem, Okay, So stick around Angel Martinez out there in
Huntington Beach. We're gonna talk to her again when we
come back on how you can still give to not
only other charities, but you can give to the pastathon still.
So go know where you're.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Listening to the Fork Report with Nil Savedra on demand
from KFI AM.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Six forty, KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the
iHeartRadio app. Happy Saturday to you, It's the Fork Report.
I'm Neil Savedra. We've got some guests we're gonna introduce
you to if you don't recall them, they've been on
the show before. The folks from l Coyot in Hollywood.
It's just one of those amazing places, but during the
(20:51):
holidays even more wonderful, So stick around for that. Right now,
we're talking with Angel Martinez. She's out in Huntington Beach,
which is not abnormal anywhere near the beach rain or snow,
but she's out there greeting KFI listeners. She's out by
the Giving Machine. And we were talking about this wondrous machine,
(21:12):
this kiosk that you can go up to and you
can put in or look for different charities and right
there you can give to the charities. And tis the season.
So what brings you out specifically today?
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Well, today I'm out here to say hi to KAFI
listeners and also give away some gifts for people that
donate while I'm here, So some gift cards, I've got
some ornaments, I've got those special collectible ornaments that Jennifer
Conway makes for postis On. Oh yes, they're beautiful, a
(21:47):
lot of commodity.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Yeah, she's a maker. Yeah, she's a wonderful maker and
artist and she does all kinds of really neat things.
And those those ornaments are spectacular.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Oh they're gorgeously. And what else do I have. I've
got some hats, I've got other ornaments, I've got some
of those ding Dong coins and all kinds of cool stuff.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Yeah. So if you haven't seen the coins, they're these
aluminum pressed coins with the the face of Tim Conway
Junior himself pressed on them and then on the tails
side it says ding Dong. So I don't know, maybe
they're lucky. I have a couple at home.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, are.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
You kidding me?
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Have you gotten lucky with them?
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Well? I was curious he should have put ding on
one side and Dong on the other, like I got
a dongo, But I don't know if that's heads or
tails AnyWho. Yes, but Angel Martinez is out there encouraging
people to donate. You can still donate to Pastathon. We're
(22:52):
thrilled of all the kindness and you were saying about
the KFI Listener, and I concur one thousand percent. There
is just something about the KFI Listener. They're incredibly generous.
They have been such good friends and partners over the
years fifteen years now with the pastathon and Katerina's Club
(23:14):
feeding over twenty five thousand kids a week with Chef
Bruno Serrato and his cohorts and all of his partners
in it. It's just freaking amazing. And I wasn't out
there by the time you guys went on last Tuesday
or this past Tuesday, but it looked like a huge
(23:35):
crowd was just thrilled to be there and see everybody
and the return of the foushe.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Oh yeah, yeah, get your tissues.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
That was come on. Now everybody thinks of the Conway
Show as being hilarious but touching. Come on, that was
tough boy. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
So you know, Katerina's Club is one of the many
charitable foundations that you can donate to at the Giving Machine,
So why don't mean to tell you some of the
other ones away, and.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
If you can give the locations of the ones that
you know about as well, again, would be great.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Absolutely, So I'm at the one in Huntington Beach, which
is right at Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in
front of the pier across from Dukes and I'm here
until three thirty. But there's also a giving machine in
Riverside at the Tyler Mall. It's right in front of Macy's.
There's one in San Diego Old Town, San Diego Twig
Street Parking Lot C. And starting on the twelfth of December,
(24:39):
San Clementy is going to get its own giving machine
right at the San Clementy Outlets right next to the
Gap and the Grove in La also had the giving machine.
That one is only for the fire recovery related charities,
but the other machines donations can be made to Waymakers,
(25:00):
Community Action Partnership, Lifting Hands, Boys and Girls Club, unie F,
Chalk Foundation, and of course Kattering.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
And the Lost.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Lots of options. You can give to one, give to
a few, gifts to them all and you can get
your picture taken also at the surfboard right in front
of Santa Claus. So beautiful day in Huntington Beach.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Nothing says Southern California more than having your picture taken
with sant in front of a.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
You know, surfboard I know, and then you know right
at the beach as well, so you can't go wrong.
It's a gorgeous day today. Get out in the sunshine,
have some fun and give.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I also look at Love the Fact Angels that at
the grove, you know, famously owned by Rick Caruso who
ran for mayor and unfortunately lost to care of baths,
and it has been very vocal about the fires and
(26:10):
the mishandling of the fires by her. Yeah, has this
cost where you can only donate to the fires like
which is great, but it's also like you messed up
with every day. It's just a little thumb in the
eye that I just found funny appropriate. Yeah, well, sorry
(26:30):
about that. I'll take care of it, don't you. Don't
you worry you you go off and do whatever you
want to do. I'll just take care of things here
at home. Well, I think that's awesome. Thanks for taking
your Saturday to get out there. I know that the
KFI listeners are thrilled to meet you and see you
out there and in giving gifts and all of those things.
(26:51):
But I appreciate you, and I know that the station
does you take in your own time to be out
there today making sure people know that they can still give,
not only paston all those worthy charities right now when
people are in need.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
So thanks, my friend, you got it, You got it.
Come on down. I'm here until three point thirty and
these vending machines will be out through the end of December.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
And let's say somebody donates and then they think, but
you know what, I still need a gift for my
girlfriend or whatever, Pasha, I would like to get some sandals.
Do you know anywhere where I could get some sandals?
Where would they look?
Speaker 2 (27:29):
You know, I happen to know a play what where
Naughty USA dot com handcrafted right here in sunny southern California.
I make and design them myself. And we've got some
custom sandal kits this year that you can design your
(27:49):
own straps and then we build a pair of sandals
around them. So that makes a great gift for super
cool And.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
They're beautiful and they're beautiful. They really are well made.
And it's naughty, like nautical, not like put your pants
back on.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Oh yeah, that's for sure. M a U TI USA
dot com.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Excellent. All right, my friend, have a wonderful day. You're
out there until three thirty. Angel Martinez, Ladies and gentlemen,
all right, stick stick around. We'll be back with more.
Go Nowhere a great place to go for the holidays,
for festivities and lights and brightness and volity. When we
come back. This is the Fork Report. I'm Neil Sebedro.
(28:32):
This is KFI heard everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. You've
been listening to the Fork Report. You can always hear
us live on KFI AM six forty two to five
pm on Saturday, and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
The Fork Report w Neil Saavedra News
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