Chris, come on in. This is your first
time at our office? “Yes, yep.” You’re going to love it. Already busy talking turkey. [TURKEYS GOBBLING] [PHONE RINGING] “Yes, I’d look for
that, because that’s –” “Salt water, yes,
a few spices.” “Are you going to
stuff the turkey, Or is it going
to be unstuffed? Stuffed, it’s 4 and
1/2 to 5 hours.” “So a turkey about that size
is going to be about three To four days.” “Check that off of your
list of things to do.” “And you can cook them
all at the same time.” “But see, they’re prepared
differently when they’re Processed.” “Right, right.” “You should be able to find
the bone and breasts at any Of those stores in
the Chicago area. The calls, they’re coming
in fast and furious. Phones come on at 6:00
AM in the morning. There are people waiting.” “Good morning,
this is Tara Rose. May I help you?” “The minute we have
a call finish, boom, The next one is
right in our ear.” “Butterball Turkey Talk-Line.” “Butterball Turkey Talk-line,
can I help you, please?” “Butterball Turkey. Talk-line, how
can I help you?” “Last year, we
did 3,500 calls. 3,500 for just one day.”
“People say, you’re just
telling people how to cook A turkey. Well, there’s a whole lot
more to it than that.” So, Chris, I don’t know
how much you know about The talk-line. I’ve been on the talk-line
myself for 23 years, Which sounds impressive. But the talk-line has
actually been open since 1981. They started with
five home economists. It was all-female
at that time. They housed all
their information On an old-school Rolodex. We’ve grown from a team of
five female home economists To a team of over 50. Of course, the
phones are really The heart of the talk-line. But we also answer our
consumers’ email, chat, text, And, of course,
on social media. [MUSIC PLAYING] On Thanksgiving Week, this
room is super crowded. It’s a seasonal position. Trainings are in October. They work November
and December. But then the other 9, 10
months out of the year, A lot of them are
holding full-time jobs Outside the talk-line. The group is really
an eclectic group. “How long have you
been doing it?” “I’ve been doing this
for more than 15 years.” “13 years.” “So currently, I’m
on my third season.” “This is my 21st
year talking turkey. We’ve grown up together. We answer any questions
about everything,
Particularly turkey. But I did have a man call me
once, and he says, hiya, doll. How are you doing? I said, O.K. He said, are you
any good at mashed potatoes? I said, well, try me.” “Can we start or –” “Yeah, I think we can start. Well, welcome, everybody. We’re happy that you’re here. You look great in your aprons
with your talk-line logo On here. You will get calls that
are all over the place. And the goal here is to
prepare you to answer those Phone calls, emails, texts
that we’re going to be getting From customers.” “Now, even though we cook
turkeys all the time, The training we get
here is so important.” “Such a long time ago, they
had a Rolodex with questions. That’s it. So the questions were
nothing like they are now. They weren’t as
many, certainly. And it’s not just
simple questions. Some of them are pretty
serious questions that are About food safety.” “How do I thaw my turkey? Do not allow — or tell
customers to thaw it out On the countertop. It is not food safe. When in doubt, throw it out.” “A lot of changed
over the years. We’re following different
methods of cooking.” “Open-pan roasting method –” “Dorm-room turkey.” “The microwave?”
“Microwave,
rotisserie, air fryer.” “We had one year where all
the electricity went out On the East Coast and
got flooded with calls.” “There’s almost always
a way to fix things. And that’s what makes this
job so interesting because you Become a little bit of
a detective in this job. You have to pull some
answers out of the customer. And you also need to talk them
down a little bit and say, We can work through this. Thank you, folks,
congratulations.” [APPLAUSE] “You’re turkey experts now.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “Just got in last night. Yes, this is my life for
the next couple of weeks, Complete with
twin bed and all.” Which bed is yours? “This one’s me. I probably commute
the furthest. I actually reside in
the state of Maryland. And our call center is
in a suburb of Chicago. So I’m originally from
a Chicagoland family, So that’s one of the reasons
that led me to Butterball Turkey Talk-Line, as well. My sister Roz, who is as sweet
as pie, but is evil as hell, Too. My mom’s two first cousins. Mom, CC said, what
are you cooking?” “She has some leftovers. She has a choices. A couple of chicken
wings are left over. Another piece of hams, potato
salad, and a little okra. And you, too.” “Thank you.”
“O.K., you’re
more than welcome. But you can have all
kinds of [BLEEP]: That you have in the
refrigerator, too.” “Oh, my goodness.” “I’m a person who learned how
to cook, like most people, From their mother, but not
because my mother was a great Cook. So if I was interested in
having food that was a little Less than bland, then I
learned how to do something With it so it
wouldn’t be so bland.” “Well, I have never even
been able to light a grill Correctly.” “We don’t want to
say that out loud.” “Oh, I’m sorry.” “This is just a natural
progression to come here. Learning and mastering
turkey, I was all about it.” “I told everybody I knew
that she was on this, And they could make a call
in case they wanted to.” “She has people thinking
they can literally call And literally be
able to talk to me.” “One of our friends
called, I think, And asked to speak to
Karen, if I’m not mistaken.” “And they’re more than
one Karen that works here. There was this woman,
Phyllis Kramer, Who was the jazziest
person I know over there.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “Do you want me to
wear my turkey hat?” Do you cook for
your friends often? “Oh, yeah, we have a little
group we get together with Couples and singles. I do belong to
several organizations. I have a wonderful book club,
and we travel; we read a book. I have an eating group,
and we go out for dinner. I have a Dairy Queen group,
and we cover Dairy Queen
And have something else
afterward, an adult beverage. I went to college and majored
in Home Economics at the time. That’s what they called it. Then I taught for many years. Then I was testing a
lot of turkey recipes. I came here because I was
teaching now Food Science. You start with a grape, this
mixture, curry and chutney; Then two sides in coconut,
two sides in chopped almonds, And that’s it. And I wanted more background
in the science part. So they had a test
kitchen in Butterball. And they had a small lab where
they put things together. So I came here
for three months. And I decided when I worked
here that, when I retire, I’m going to work at
Butterball, so I did. I retired. I called the director. We met at Denny’s, had
breakfast, and I got the job. We have had celebrities here
before like Stephen Colbert Show.” “The meat thermometer
is saying it’s at 188.” “188?” “Yes.” “Get out of there. It’s going to blow.” “You have to be very careful
with people because they’re Calling, and they’re
in such stress. People are crying
on the phone. A young man
called, and he said He wanted to give his
fiancée her engagement ring. And he said, I’d like to
put it in the stuffing. I said, I don’t think
she’ll be too excited to get An engagement ring
that’s in the stuffing. Do you?
I’ll tell you a funny
story about a turkey. A woman was making
stuffing for her turkey. And whatever little kid
was there playing around. They bring the
turkey to the table, They go into the stuffing,
and the little boy Had put his toy little cars. He said he put
them in a garage. You’re up close and
personal with everybody. That’s one of the great
feelings about being here. That’s why I stayed
for so long.” “Jefferson, do you remember
people’s pace on this course?” “That first week,
it’s a little slow. And as we get closer to
the Thanksgiving holiday, The pace picks up. We do get crank calls
the second, third week. We always chalk that up to
school’s out and people don’t Have enough to do, so now
they’re calling us with A crank call. I’m glad I was able to
answer your question. You enjoy your day. Thank you.” “On average, how many calls?” “100, maybe, to 150 a shift. Maybe more. I think one of my farthest
calls was from Germany. And may I have your
zip code, please? All righty, thank
you for calling.” “And what’s the purpose
of the zip code?” “If we get consistent
calls about an issue, That helps us
identify more quickly. I really enjoy
talking to people. Some of the
challenging calls are When you know that the
turkey was not handled In a food-safe manner.
Well, I did have a
call today, and I Was convinced it was a prank. He had a 20-pound turkey. And he was not patient
enough to thaw it In cold water, which
is the quickest way. So he decided he would
put it in the oven. Most often, they have a light
bulb moment and decide, oh, I’m going to get
another turkey. I started my career
in the Kraft Kitchens. And I’m the second food
editor for ‘Ebony Magazine’. I stand on the shoulders of
many African-American women Who came before me looking
at establishing a place In the food industry.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “The boats, I like the boats.” “O.K.” “I am the purchasing manager
for a culinary school. I had heard about the
Butterball Turkey Talk-Line. I used to love a show
called ‘The West Wing’, And there was an episode where
the Butterball Talk-Line is Featured.” [VIDEO PLAYBACK] “Butterball has a hotline?” “Yeah, it’s an 800 number. The phones are
staffed by experts.” “Are you kidding me?” [END PLAYBACK] “I just never knew it was
in the Chicagoland area.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “During the day, I take
care of all the orders, All the ordering for all the
classes and all the students. Then once that’s done, I
also teach a couple classes, Including a purchasing class. Then when I’m done with
class, I basically go up
To our culinary library,
connect using my laptop, And get to work. A lot of stress
during the holidays In terms of balancing the job. But I’m able to ask for the
time that I need to do both Things. You said you already
bought your turkey For this Thanksgiving? A woman from New
Jersey, I remember That, she was very upset
that her turkey did not Have any meat in it. I just offhandedly
said, hey, ma’am, Do you think maybe you
cooked the turkey upside down And you’re cutting
into the back? And it turns out that
that’s what had happened. We do not recommend that. It tends to make the
skin a little chewy. So if you like the skin
to be nice and crispy, You do not have to
baste it at all. No, no, no, no,
don’t say that. You’re doing perfectly well. We’re obviously not seeing
what people are doing, So we got to listen to
little clues sometimes.” “Say that again?” What is Thaw Thursday? “It’s a national
holiday in our minds.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “We know that if you take your
turkey out the Thursday before Thanksgiving, it’ll be
thawed enough and ready to go For Thanksgiving Day.” “We can be really
busy around here.” “You’re on. You’re animated for hours
and hours at a time.” “It’s going to take about four
to five days to completely
Defrost in the refrigerator.” “Put like a cookie sheet with
sides or something underneath It in case there’s
a little drip.” “Cook it on
Saturday or Sunday. Carve it completely,
and freeze it.” “Oh, my pleasure. Happy Thanksgiving.” “You never know if someone’s
calling because they’re having A bad holiday. A great takeaway would be
never take it personally.” “You were cooking up a
storm in the kitchen today.” “A few of us donate our time
and skill sets to feeding each Other because
that’s what we do. We’re family here. We want to make
sure that everybody Has a great Thanksgiving. We all work through
this busy week.” “That’s O.K. That’s O.K.
That’s why we’re here. It’s one of the biggest
challenges is when you know You have an older person on
the phone and they’re lonely.” “Their mother always
made the gravy, And she was no longer alive. And so I said, you know what,
I’ll stay with you until we Get this gravy made. Right now, let’s go. I was on the phone
probably 20 minutes, which Is a longer call than usual. But at the end, she said, oh,
you are my turkey godmother. You’re an angel. We’re going to pray for you. So it’s not like your work
is unappreciated here. People are grateful
and happy.” “I’m not doing
it for the money. I do it because
I like to do it.
I do it because I’m
learning something. I do it because I think I’m
doing something of value.” “It satisfies the
need, I think, In all of us to
help somebody else. That’s it. O.K., you’ll make
this 10 minutes long.” [MUSIC PLAYING] Do you mind? I can’t really see your face. “Be happy then.” If you could describe
last year’s Thanksgiving On the talk-line, how
would you describe it? What was your experience? “Busy.” “Frantic, but rewarding.” “Once they turned on
the phones, it was go.” “Busier than all
the years before.” “It was a once-in-a-lifetime
kind of Thanksgiving for me. Butterball asked me and one of
my coworkers to ‘Good Morning America’ for their
Thanksgiving. I went from not really
understanding what A Butterball Talk-Line was
to being at ‘Good Morning America.’” “I did get a caller who was
the same one I talked to last Year. Now the chances of that are
just virtually impossible.” “Caller called in, and
they were trying to make Thanksgiving dinner for the
first time without having Their mom, who was always
the person who did it. If I could say luckily,
I know how that feels. My mother’s sister, who has
been a presence in our lives, She ended up getting sick
Thanksgiving of last year. So this Thanksgiving,
she won’t be there. But for our purposes on the
talk-line, it happens a lot.”
“So I’ve already blocked
out my talk-line dates On my calendar.” “This year, I’m actually
helping them train a little Bit.” “Do you know what? I enjoy it a lot,
miss CC. And I will come back as
long as they will continue To invite me.” “This is the first year I’m
not going to be back, yes. It’s going to be hard for
me to transition from this. I’ve done this over 20 years. I’ll never forget
about my time here. Never forget about it.”
Have you ever wondered why most of the Vinaigrettes in the grocery store are made with 10, 20, sometimes even almost 30 ingredients? I remember growing up in Provence watching my mother whipping vinaigrettes before every single dinner. She would mix in a giant bowl, delicious extra virgin olive oil, a robust aged vinegar (the flavor would depend on the main dish), sea salt and pepper and voila! I decided to do the same thing for my family and friends more than 20 years ago here in this beautiful country. And Provence Kitchen® was born. Stay tune for more articles and wonderful family recipes..
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