Let's Talk Turkey!

Butterball's Secrets to a perfect Thanksgiving Feast

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
EGM Network.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
From Studio A in Sunny Florida. Welcome to Beauty and
the Beach Radio, where it's all about who's beautifying Vero Beach.
Today's show is brought to you by Dale Sawrenson Real Estate.
And here's your host and Glamour Girl makeup artist Cindy gets.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
Gobble Gobble everyone, we are talking turkey today. I am
so excited Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and I
know you guys want to know how to cook the
perfect turkey, right, So I want to ask you a
few questions. Okay, have you ever wondered, because I have,

(00:47):
is there a real one eight hundred butter ball right? Okay,
is there a real Butterball Turkey hotline?

Speaker 4 (00:55):
Have you ever tried to call it?

Speaker 3 (00:57):
Are there real humans that answer on the other side
side of this phone call? And if so, like, what
kind of questions do people call in on?

Speaker 4 (01:07):
Do you want to know? Because I do. Well.

Speaker 3 (01:10):
Today we're spilling all the secrets to perfectly cooked Thanksgiving
feast straight from the experts at Yes, they are real
one eight hundred butter ball. And I'm so excited about
our guest today and she has been with the Butterball
Turkey Talk Line for many, many years. The Butterball Turkey

(01:33):
Homeline has been assisting home cooks.

Speaker 4 (01:36):
You guys for over thirty years.

Speaker 3 (01:39):
Butterball Turkey Talk agents have assisted over Are you ready
for this? One hundred thousand people each year, that's each
year handling nearly.

Speaker 4 (01:48):
Are you ready for this?

Speaker 3 (01:50):
Fifteen thousand calls on Thanksgiving Day alone?

Speaker 4 (01:55):
Oh my gosh, that's a lot of whoopsies. That would
be me calling. That would be me.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
I am going to be their client is when my
mom decides that she's no longer going to be cooking
the turkey, You guys, I will be calling one eight
hundred Butterball. I promise you, and I hope you'll remember
my name, Butterball, because I will be one of your clients.
But let me get right down to it. Were our
guests today. She is no stranger to Butterball. Mary Alice

(02:22):
worked in consumer affairs at Conna Agra for several years now.
ConAgra owns and produces many other brands you see in
grocery stores, freezers, and pantries. ConAgra also once co owned
Butterball and smith Phild Foods. Mary Alice answered difficult calls
from consumers about problems and concerns with their products. Well,

(02:42):
many of these were legal matters. She was asked to
work on the Turkey talk line by a woman who
had been on it herself.

Speaker 4 (02:51):
She thought it was the perfect.

Speaker 3 (02:53):
Fit for Mary Alice, and Mary Alice loved it from
the beginning.

Speaker 4 (02:58):
Her family is very support.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
And she's had an amazing experience working with food professionals
who have also become her friends. Please welcome our guest,
first time on Beauty in the Beach Radio, Mary Alice Coffee.
Hello theire Oh, thank you, and thank you for having
us in your kitchen. Tell us about this kitchen for

(03:23):
those that are listening to radio and can't see you
on vimeo, tell us where you are right now?

Speaker 5 (03:30):
Well, right now, I am at the counter of our
beautiful testing kitchen and it was just recently remodeled. It's
completely up to date. We do a lot of testing
throughout the year of prodoball products, and so we keep
everything current. And this is where I'm talking to you
from today.

Speaker 4 (03:48):
It's beautiful. I love it. You've got the turkey right there.

Speaker 3 (03:51):
You've got something we're going to talk about later, some
fancy pants.

Speaker 4 (03:56):
We'll save that to the end.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
But Mary Alice, my goodness, you've been and on the
talk line for this will be your thirty second year.

Speaker 4 (04:06):
You know, there's so many questions I have for you.

Speaker 3 (04:09):
But when you started this, what was it like and
what is your favorite thing so far?

Speaker 4 (04:15):
Talking turkey?

Speaker 5 (04:17):
Well, my most favorite thing, of course is talking to
people who who are really desperate and really need help.
And they're the things that are very common to me
because I've been working here so long. But they people panic.
You know, it's a big dinner and they're having all
these guests and they're hosting it, and they want to try. Actually,

(04:39):
we've had several calls this morning. People are cooking a
turkey ahead of time just to test, so they want
to make sure it turns out perfect. But we're here
to help and even if you're just testing a turkey,
I'm glad to help you walk you through it.

Speaker 3 (04:53):
So, Mary Alice, for those who don't know you, you have
a family, and we were talking off air that you
actually get off a little early so that you can
enjoy Thanksgiving meal with them.

Speaker 4 (05:07):
Is that correct?

Speaker 5 (05:09):
Yes, I work on Thanksgiving Day from six in the
morning till about two or three in the afternoon. Then
I go to my son's house where everyone will be there.
I have three children who are married, and I have
ten grandchildren. So we're going to have a big Thanksgiving
feast over at my son Tom's house.

Speaker 4 (05:26):
I love that. I love that so much.

Speaker 3 (05:29):
Well, let's help our guests that are listening, Mary Alice.
So first of all, let's let's talk about the most
common questions right on the Butterball Turkey talk Line. What
are some of the most common questions that you get.

Speaker 5 (05:42):
Well, the number one question that we get year after
year is how to thaw the turkey? You know, for
people who don't cook very much, it's very you know,
you know, in scary because it's such a big piece
of meat. How do you thaw it? And it does
take one day for every four pounds in the refrigerator
to thaw the turkey. And so we do have charts

(06:04):
that we can you know, that are on the turkey
itself that will help you with that. We recommend putting
it on a tray in case there's any pinholes in
the packaging and you don't want it to drip in
the refrigerator. But if you're short of time, another fast
way to thaw the turkey is to put it in
cold water, and it's thirty minutes a pound in cold water,

(06:24):
just cold tap water.

Speaker 3 (06:27):
In your opinion, what is the better way to thaw
with the water or to keep.

Speaker 6 (06:33):
Think?

Speaker 5 (06:34):
I really feel the refrigerator is so easy. You know,
you could buy your turkey frozen. Now get the size
that you want, and then then the National Thaw your
Turkey Day, which is a week before Thanksgiving November twenty
is that's the day. No matter what size turkey you have,
you go ahead and put it in the refrigerator. So

(06:55):
November twentieth is you want to market that on your calendar,
that's the day you put it in the refrigerator.

Speaker 4 (07:00):
I love that. I will tell Alexa to do a
little reminder. That is so good.

Speaker 5 (07:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (07:07):
So okay, so we've thawed the turkey.

Speaker 3 (07:10):
So now let's talk about your best cooking tips for
the perfect butterball turkey.

Speaker 5 (07:17):
Well, what I would recommend is when you open up
the package, do it in the sink because there's going
to be a lot of natural juices that run off
from the thawing process. Then you want to put your
turkey on a rack in a shallow open pan. I
have a pan here that has a rack in it.
And if you don't have a rack, you can use
vegetables like carrots or celery, or you can even take

(07:41):
a piece of foil, crumple it up and turn it
into a around Christmas wreaths and put the turkey on
top of that, just so the turkey is elevated a
little bit and the heat will get all the way
around the turkey.

Speaker 3 (07:54):
That's b I love that. Raise it on vegetables. I
think that's brilliant. Okay, all right, so we've got it.
We've got it up off of the pan, whether it's
a rack or foil or vegetables.

Speaker 4 (08:07):
Then what do we do, Mary Alice.

Speaker 5 (08:10):
Well, you want to put your oven at three twenty
five so you can preheat your oven. And then you
want to take some vegetable oil or olive oil, whatever
you have in the kitchen on some paper towels and
wipe it all over your turkey. And then also you
want to be sure you have a meat thermometer in
your kitchen. This's the number one tool you need, a
good working meat thermometer. And the charts that are on

(08:34):
the turkeys or that you see are just guidelines. But
you know your turkey is done when the meat thermometer
reads one seventy in the breast and one's seventy in
the lake. So that's why you make sure that's time
to take the turkey out.

Speaker 4 (08:49):
Got it, okay. So that's a way to not overcook
it and have a dry turkey.

Speaker 5 (08:55):
Yes, that's correct.

Speaker 4 (08:56):
Okay.

Speaker 5 (08:57):
Another big tip is if you're stuffing the turkey, always
make your stuffing right before you put the turkey in
the oven. So you don't want to make this stuffing
a day or two ahead of time. You can get
the ingredients together, but you don't want to combine them
until you're ready to put it in the oven, in
the turkey, and then once it's cooked, you want to

(09:19):
make sure that stuffing is at a temperature of one
sixty five.

Speaker 4 (09:23):
Okay, very good.

Speaker 3 (09:25):
So that thermometer is very important.

Speaker 5 (09:29):
Yes, your number one tool in the kitchen.

Speaker 4 (09:31):
I love it. I love it.

Speaker 3 (09:34):
So okay, So we browned it, we've got the stuffing going.
We've made sure that it's one hundred and seventy degrees
in the breast and one sixty five in the center.
I think we're doing pretty good so far. So we
won't overcook it. If we are making sure of tell
us how to not overcook it, Mary Alice, that's that's

(09:54):
so scary to me.

Speaker 5 (09:57):
Well, the most important thing, like I said, the meat thermometer.
So when the meat thermometer reached one seventy, then you
take the turkey out of the oven, even if you're
not ready to eat, people are in the living room
still talking. You take the turkey out of the oven,
set it on the counter, and you can put foil
over it in either even a dry bath towel, and

(10:18):
it will stay hot up to three hours.

Speaker 4 (10:20):
Wonderful.

Speaker 5 (10:21):
That gives you time to put your casseroles or whatever
else you made in the oven to cook.

Speaker 4 (10:27):
I love it, Mary Alice.

Speaker 3 (10:29):
Those are so practical, the great great tips. You've received
a lot of calls over thirty two years or coming
up on this thirty second year. Are there any that
stick out to you that are especially memorable, Whether they're funny,
whether they're sad, or whether just heartfelt.

Speaker 4 (10:47):
What sticks out in your mind?

Speaker 5 (10:50):
Well, one call that I always remember was from a
young man who was cooking for his fiance and her parents,
and he was so nervous and he got the turkey already.
It was beautiful. He had it in the oven and
he went to get the knob and instead of putting
it on bake, he accidentally put it on clean. So
the oven door locked and he couldn't get the turkey out,

(11:14):
and he's calling the talk line, Butterball talk line. I
got him and the kitchen is full of smoke and
I can't get the turkey out of the oven. So
I told him to.

Speaker 7 (11:28):
Department.

Speaker 5 (11:30):
Right that happened, Yeah, weary, warm, heartwarming calls to you know,
there's a busy mom with young kids and she's out
working and dad's trying to get everything ready. He puts
the two little kids in the bathtub to give him
a bath before they go to bed, and he thinks,

(11:51):
I'm just gonna throw the turkey in the bath water
and make make a thaw. So then he called us
to see if that was a good idea. Well, we
don't recommend putting the throwing the turkey in Sophia bubbly water. No,
so not considered safe. But it's another memorable call.

Speaker 3 (12:10):
Oh my goodness, gracious, before we get to the pants,
because that's that I'm super Excited's new this year? What
do you love Mary Alice. I'm just asking you personally.
When you go to your sons and you sit down, which,
by the way, you say you don't talk.

Speaker 4 (12:27):
You don't talk turkey.

Speaker 3 (12:29):
You're taking the day off, you're enjoying your family. What
are your side items? Obviously you're having turkey. What are
your favorite side items?

Speaker 5 (12:40):
Well, we always make sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top.
I know that's kind of a regional thing and we're
in the Midwest here in Chicago, but you know that.
And the green bean castro ale is a classic. I've
had calls already this year about how to make it.

Speaker 3 (12:58):
They're calling you eight sides, they're calling you to do
a green bean casthrole at Butterball.

Speaker 5 (13:05):
Oh yeah, you know, we're all food professionals here. We've
got over fifty food professionals. They're chefs, educators, they're dietitians.
So we're all very knowledgeable about any kind of food
dish or making. So if you're really frustrated and having
a hard time, give us a call and we can
work out the recipe for you and help you with that.

Speaker 3 (13:27):
Oh see, now we didn't we haven't covered that before.

Speaker 4 (13:30):
So that's so nice that you can handle more than
just turkey.

Speaker 5 (13:35):
Yeah, hopefully turkey is you know, of course, going to
be the centerpiece of the table. The butterball turkey is
always going to be delicious and tender and juicy. But
you know, people also have sides, and you know, it's
also another good way to save money. If people are
struggling this year, you know, ask their friends to bring
their favorite dish of a side or a dessert, and

(13:58):
there's many ways that you know that economically, it makes
up for a tremendous dinner. It's very I recommend that
everybody I talk to buy a turkey larger than what
they need, because then you have all those wonderful leftovers
and it's a very economical meal.

Speaker 3 (14:16):
I think everybody loves the day after Thanksgiving when we
have that turkey sandwich and we pile the cranberry sauce
on there, and I mean it's good.

Speaker 4 (14:26):
I love a good day after turkey sandwich.

Speaker 5 (14:30):
Right, that's just everybody looks forward to that. Those leftovers
are so important. You know, you want to make sure
that you get the turkey off the bone after about
two hours after you eat, and then you're going to
put whatever you're going to eat on the weekend for
three days, put in a little sandwich bag in the refrigerator.
All the rest of the meat, you can divide it

(14:51):
up into packets and then put it in your freezer
so it's good in the freezer for up to three months.
So then you can try those nice soup recipes you've
been wanting to do.

Speaker 3 (15:01):
What is your favorite after you know the holiday leftover
turkey's preparation, What do you like to fix?

Speaker 4 (15:11):
Is it sandwich soup? What do you like?

Speaker 5 (15:15):
Well, you know, we always I always love cast role,
so maybe it's my generation, but I love the turkey
noodle casserole with peas, and you just can't beat that.
And it makes for a nice warm dinner on a
cold winter night.

Speaker 4 (15:29):
Love that.

Speaker 3 (15:29):
We don't get too many of those in Florida, but
I still love that.

Speaker 4 (15:33):
That's great.

Speaker 3 (15:34):
Yeah, So, Mary Alice, it's no surprise that hosting is
you said it in the beginning, it is. Hosting Thanksgiving
meal can be very stressful. You know, you've got a
lot of people coming over, maybe you've got new in
laws coming over.

Speaker 4 (15:48):
You know, it's a big deal, and you know.

Speaker 3 (15:51):
You guys have come up with something to make it
the host or hostess have a little more fun with
this preparing you Thanksgiving or Christmas meal. Tell us about
the neccessory that you guys have come up with.

Speaker 5 (16:06):
Okay, well, we're so excited about our Thanksgiving hostess pants.
You know, if you get that dreaded call at home
and the kids do and they think, what you mean
we're hosting this year? They always hope they get an invitation,
but what you know, it's very intimidating, and we're here
to help you with all the different directions that you
need if it's you know, the size of the turkey

(16:28):
or what you're going to make. But this year we're
going to give you at Butterball a leg up. And
this is these are Thanksgiving hosting pants. And these are fantastic.
They're very official. They do have the Butterball name on them.
They're in blue and yellow, and there are little pockets
for all your utensils and your meat thermometer and also

(16:52):
a little rag thing for your a little thing for
your towel here, and they have they're really cute with
all these patches that you can heat, just iron on patches.
So this is something that we are so excited about offering.
They are free, they will be offered. They are a
limited quantity, so they're going to be offered next Monday,

(17:16):
November seventeenth, at three o'clock Central time. You go on
a website called Thanksgiving hostesspants dot com Thanksgiving hostesspants dot com,
and then hopefully you'll be a winner of one of
our fantastic hosting pants.

Speaker 3 (17:35):
Well, I got to say, amya, Alice, I've been online
to Thanksgiving hostingpants dot com. I was ready to order mine,
and of course you know it's got me on a
you know, we'll let you know when you can order them.
But of course we're telling the audience today that new
quantities will be available Monday, November seventeenth, three pm Central time.

(17:55):
So I've got to set my little calendar to make
sure it reminds me to go on there and get
me some pants.

Speaker 5 (18:03):
Right, Yes, you do have to mark your calendar because they,
like I said, they're limited quantity and everybody wants to
get them, So be sure to get on that website
home Thanksgiving hostingpants dot com. If you want to see
the pants and you can't see us today, you can
go to Butterball dot com and it shows you a
picture of the pants and all the information that I

(18:25):
just said about how to try and get some may
and Mary.

Speaker 3 (18:29):
Alice, what a fun hostess gift to bring if you're
going to Thanksgiving.

Speaker 4 (18:34):
I just think that's adorable. I really do.

Speaker 5 (18:36):
Oh so much fun.

Speaker 6 (18:39):
I mean yeah, they come from a size extra small
all the way up to extra large, so you know,
if the guy in your house is going to be
doing the barbecuing, get them a pair of hostess pants.

Speaker 5 (18:49):
Wouldn't that be adorable?

Speaker 4 (18:51):
I love it.

Speaker 5 (18:51):
So these are professionally made. They are from the company
Headley and Bennett, which is a pail shuff apparel ware,
so they're very professionally made. They're beautiful, and you'll get
all these little patches to heat to put on them.

Speaker 4 (19:08):
Well, I love Mary Alice.

Speaker 3 (19:09):
How Butterball is really making it super fun this year,
taking this stress out. You guys, take the stress out
at the talk line. Thank you so much again. If
they want to reach you for your services, for your help,
it's one eight hundred butter Ball. That's one eight hundred
two eight eight eight three seven two. You can also
text at eight four four eight seven seven three four

(19:29):
five six Mary Alice, we wish you a very happy
Thanksgiving and thank you for all you do for all
of us that don't know what we're doing in the
kitchen on Thanksgiving Day.

Speaker 5 (19:40):
Well, thanks so much for contacting us, and also you
can besides texting, you can email or just send us
a chat. We'd be happy to hear from you and
happy to help you out with whatever you need.

Speaker 4 (19:51):
Love it. Thank you so much, Mary Alice. You have
a great day, all right.

Speaker 5 (19:55):
Great, Thanks very much. I have a good Thanksgiving you too.

Speaker 4 (19:58):
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Speaker 3 (22:11):
Send you get your host and we want to thank
Dale Sorenson Real Estate for making sure that we are
on air so we can have people like Butterball sharing
their tips and tricks for your best Thanksgiving meal. So
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two two three one four seven one two. You can
also find them at Sorenson Realestate dot com. All right,
you guys were wrapping it up or talking about the
Turkey talk. I encourage you to call the number. I
know you're curious, mister Turkey. Have you have you called

(22:53):
over there by the way, they're probably looking for you.
The number is one eight hundred two eight eight eight
three seven to two.

Speaker 4 (23:01):
What do you think, mister Turkey? He's not talking Cindy.

Speaker 3 (23:07):
Okay, so thaw out day is uh, November seventeen. Guys,
don't forget, and make sure you leave plenty of time
to thaw out that turkey, and.

Speaker 4 (23:19):
Make sure you have plenty of time to buy the turkey.

Speaker 3 (23:22):
It gets a little crazy out there, guys, So I
would say shop now, and that way you're not ser
serving peanut butter and jelly on Thanksgiving Day. And I
don't know, I think that's it.

Speaker 4 (23:36):
I think I'm ready to.

Speaker 3 (23:38):
Go home and have my oh my gosh, the green
bean castle role. Yes, the cranberry salad, Cindy, Yes, gosh,
what else you gotta have?

Speaker 4 (23:50):
Mashed potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy.

Speaker 7 (23:52):
Yeah, And she's right about that with the regional because
if I name some of the stuff that I use
it my Thanksgiving, you're not a fan and not and
vice versa.

Speaker 3 (24:04):
Yea, cast roles, aren't it? When I go home to Virginia,
castroles are huge? And she was she was broadcasting from Chicago,
so that makes sense, right, Yeah, No, no cast roles here, But.

Speaker 4 (24:16):
I'll take a good turkey sandwich the next day. I
don't know, mister Turkey's just sitting there business.

Speaker 7 (24:21):
He's ready to run.

Speaker 3 (24:23):
He's like, I am out of here to drop the mic.
All Right, you guys, thanks for being with us. Thank you,
butter Ball. We love you. Thanks for doing all those
great things for us out there that are U struggling
on Thanksgiving Day.

Speaker 4 (24:40):
All Right, we love you. Have a great day.