For three decades, the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line has answered the desperate pleas of hundreds of thousands of holiday cooks. As you can imagine, in that time the staff of 50-plus experts has heard some pretty outlandish tales of Turkey Day mishaps, and fielded some truly bewildering questions.
Following are a few favorite conversations from the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line. And if you need help this holiday season with your bird, don't forget to call 1-800-BUTTERBALL.
1. Turkey Treasure
After discovering a turkey from 1969 in
his dad’s freezer, an Alabama man called the Talk-Line to ask about the
best way to cook the 30+ year-old bird. Although the Talk-Line staffer
recommended the open roasting pan method to cook most turkeys, this time
she suggested that the first step was to purchase a fresher fowl! This
same gentleman also had in his freezer: the top of his wedding cake and
a snowball from every snowstorm he'd experienced in Alabama.
2. Third Time's a Charm
One caller was well versed at walking
down the aisle, but not so versed when it came to cooking her
Thanksgiving turkey. The caller explained to Carol Miller, a 20-plus
year Talk-Line veteran, Thanksgiving with her first husband was a bust
since she forgot to thaw the turkey. She blundered Thanksgiving with
her second husband when the foil pan she was using bent and slipped out
of her hands leaving the feast on the floor. She was hoping the third
time would be the charm so she called the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line to
make sure she was doing everything right!
3. Sun-Kissed Feast
Some holiday chefs take extreme measures
to please all guests. A caller was e-mailed a photo featuring a turkey
with a “bikini look.” As she was entertaining guests from the Bahamas,
she asked the Talk-Line how she could create a "tropical turkey."
Believe it or not, Talk-Line vet Mary Clingman suggested using aluminum
foil as a way to make the turkey look like a sun goddess!
4. State Bird
When a Talk-Line staffer asked a caller
what state her turkey was in (meaning how thawed was it) the caller
responded with, “Florida.”
5. All in the Family
A woman in her seventies, cooking
Thanksgiving dinner for the first time, called for help because her
mother said she was tired of cooking and it was time her daughter
learned how to prepare the Thanksgiving meal.
6. It’s a Wrap
A proud gentleman called to tell the
staff how he wrapped his turkey in a towel and stomped on it several
times, breaking the bones so it would fit in his pan.
7. Carving the Turkey
Another gentleman called to tell the
operator he cut his turkey in half with a chain saw and wanted to know
if the oil from the chain would adversely affect the turkey.
8. Upside Down Turkey Surprise
A disappointed woman called wondering why
her turkey had no breast meat. After a conversation with a Talk-Line
operator, it became apparent that the woman's turkey was lying on the
table upside down.
9. The Great Turkey Expansion
A new bride cooking Thanksgiving dinner
for the first time in a small, apartment-sized oven, wanted to make sure
her turkey wouldn't expand during cooking (as baked goods do), and thus
get stuck in the oven.
10. Frozen Turkey
A lady from Colorado called about “how to
thaw” her frozen Butterball. She proudly shared the fact that her
turkey was stored in a snow bank outside! It had snowed the night
before and it then dawned on her that she didn’t have a clue which snow
bank her turkey was in. At that point, the conversation was really over
because she was now on a mission to go find her turkey.
11. Turkey Help in a Pinch
One caller had always cut the legs off
the turkey before putting it in the oven thinking that was how you had
to cook a turkey. She later learned that the only reason her mom had
been doing that was because their oven had been so small that that was
the only way to get the bird into the oven!
12. Wash Those Suds Right Out of My … Turkey?
A first-time Thanksgiving chef called
Marge Klindera, a 20+ year Talk-Line veteran, in tears Thanksgiving
morning last year. She was so proud to have thawed the turkey
successfully and continued to rinse the turkey – with dish soap! The
tears started flowing when the turkey wouldn’t stop sudsing. If only
she called before she would have found out you don’t have to rinse the
turkey – just pat it dry with paper towels.
13. Keeping it Cooking
One mom called in and told us about how
her little girl had asked if they could slow-roast the turkey for three
or four days because she liked how it made the house smell. The experts
at the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line told her that the turkey should only
stay in the oven for a few hours and that it wasn’t a good idea to
leave it cooking for four days!
Source: rd.com