Sirius XM Podcasts.
Hey, everyone.
Dan here.
And, of course, you know that Thanksgiving is on the way.
Probably the preeminent nationally celebrated food holiday, I think.
And, of course, we have covered it here on The Sporkful.
A number of years ago we did a thing we called the last Sporkful Thanksgiving special ever, because we had already done a bunch of stuff on Thanksgiving and I kind of feel like food media.
They're pressuring you to like oh, you got to do something new every Thanksgiving.
I'm like, why?
Especially when there's already so much good stuff out there about Thanksgiving, like the episode I'm about to share with you.
This was recorded in front of a live audience with two incredibly talented, hilarious and special guests.
One, Robert Krolwich, who you know from Radio Lab.
He told me about his approach to holiday eating and the story of a time that a turkey fell in love with his wife.
You got to hear it.
It makes sense.
Trust me.
And then the legend, Amy Sedaris, one of the funniest people ever to grace this planet.
She will take the stage to answer questions about entertaining.
She wrote a whole book about it, including what she likes her guests to bring her when she's hosting.
Remember, if there's an episode of The Sporkful you want us to pull out of the deep freezer and reheat, drop me a line and send me an email or a voice memo to hello at sporkfulcom.
Tell me your name, location, what episode you want to hear, and why.
Thanks so much, and happy Thanksgiving.
This is The Sporkful.
It's not for foodies, it's for eaters.
I'm Dan Pashman, and we're coming to you live from WNYC's Jerome L Green Performance Space in New York City.
Woo!
That was great.
Did we press record?
Were we recording for that?
All right, great.
Well, thank you all so much for coming.
We're here tonight celebrating the release of the first ever Sporkful book, my first ever book.
It's called Eat More Better, How to Make Every Bite More Delicious.
Thank you all so much for coming here tonight.
And let's go ahead and start the show.
Joining me now is a gentleman who I have respected and admired for many, many years.
I've had the privilege to work with him on multiple occasions and I'm so excited to Be able to work with him here at WNYC and walk by his desk and ask him strange questions.
He is the co-host of WNYC's Radio Lab.
Please welcome Robert Krulwich.
So I want to talk a bit with you about Thanksgiving.
Okay.
And the holidays, Thanksgiving in particular, Thanksgiving eating.
Yes.
Okay.
We should also just set up here at the top your approach to eating.
Okay.
I eat very fast.
I don't notice what's going down, and the whole thing is just pretty much a rush job.
And why I am here, I have no idea.
I was going to say.
I mean, it really is a testament to your winning personality that I continue to invite you back.
It's very amazing to me.
Because, as little as I recall of anything, food is the thing I least recall because it happens so fast.
Do you have a favorite bite?
Is there a Thanksgiving dinner?
What are you looking forward to eating the most?
Well, everything and all at once is my general feeling.
So I will put onto the plate everything that is available to me and I have one very small moment of celebration of the whole.
You might call it the holistic moment.
I see the red stuff, the brown stuff, the green stuff, all there.
Well, slow down with all your culinary terminology here, Robert.
And then I eat whatever is most available at the shortest distance between, and it goes from there.
Do you actually have to rotate the plate to bring things closer so that you can't reach across to the far end of the plate?
It is very nice.
This is one of the things.
My wife actually is a person who appreciates food, so she takes me to these restaurants where they serve an enormously large plate with something small and delicate in the middle.
So it's mostly a field of white.
And I look at these things and I think, I am a golden retriever, really.
And all I really want to do is take my tongue to the whole thing.
But the meal will largely consist of me trying not to eat anything too fast because she's watching me.
For the 45 minutes before, she's fed me.
Now, don't eat fast, and don't embarrass me, and don't eat .
There must be something on your plate.
As long as Ellen is still eating, there has to be something on your plate.
Watch Ellen's plate and let her be your guide.
And I am having not a normal evening at all.
It's very difficult for me to go out to those kind of places.
So a Thanksgiving meal solves that problem.
I know that there's a lot there and I can have it all.
I want to get deep with you for a minute.
Okay.
Because I know that on Radio Lab you guys get pretty existential.
Yes.
You talk about big issues.
Very wise.
One of the big issues that people ask me a lot about that I've never really addressed much on this workflow, but I think it's such a crucial question is at what point in a meal should you take the best bite?
Like the plate is arrayed before you.
And I mean, if it's Thanksgiving, you know.
Let's say, you see the perfect piece of turkey with just the right amount of crispy fat and just the right amount of juicy meat, and the potatoes and the stuffing, they're all just right.
You know, you see that bite.
Do you want to take that bite right away?
Do you save it for the end?
End on a high note?
Or somewhere in the middle?
You cannot tell what your best bite will be, Dan.
That's good.
That's a good answer.
I like that.
And here's why.
Please tell me.
Because the reason it's the best bite is because you may look at say, the crispy turkey part that appears to be something coming your way which gets a 10 in your mind, or the mashed potatoes or the cranberries or whatever it is, and you'll say there it is.
There's the thing I like.
And then by the, by a string bean that you did not anticipate will come, in my case, flying into your mouth.
And that string bean will be an enormous surprise to you.
And that surprise turns into the best bite.
That is, you can never know the best bite.
It is a shock and awe moment.
Well, that's, yeah.
And everybody knows this.
Yeah.
That's such a great answer and it's really in keeping with your approach to life, Robert.
Because asking at what point in the meal do you want to have your best bite is kind of like asking at what point in your life.
Like a meal is like a miniature lifetime.
It's like at what point in your life do you want to have your best day?
Right, you can't know that.
Right, exactly.
You've learned my lesson.
It's funny because I usually go for somewhere in the middle of the meal because I feel like People who say save it to the end.
I disagree with.
Because your appetite is primed.
Your palate is primed.
There is such thing as palate fatigue.
So you're not going to get as much enjoyment from the best bite if you save it for the end.
But to have your very first bite be the best bite.
It's sort of like what do you have to look forward to after that?
That's right.
There's a sexual equivalent of that.
You get into bed, boom.
And then you need to wait a little longer.
I think that's right.
But you can't always plan it.
You can't plan it.
The girls don't always know this.
You just can't plan it.
Let's talk turkey in general.
The nation or the animal?
The animal.
Are you a fan of turkeys?
I love turkey.
I love turkey more than any other meat.
Really?
I wouldn't have said that 10 years ago.
I would have preferred a cow part.
What changed?
I don't know.
Maturity?
I don't know.
Maybe the turkeys got better.
I don't know.
I don't know.
And you had told me you also had an encounter.
You started telling me a while back with a... Yes.
Tell me about that again.
This shouldn't really I live.
I have a house on Shelter Island, which is about 100 miles east of here.
And I have a neighbor behind my house.
He actually is the concrete king of Shelter Island.
And he has an enormous house.
And he has a bowling alley in it or something.
But he also has an obsession with animal collecting.
And he has small miniature cattle.
And he also has recently been raising extraordinary turkeys.
And one of them has somehow strayed from the reservation.
And he's come through the woods, and he comes to my house.
And he's a turkey.
He's a wild turkey.
I know he's from the Larson's house.
I say, hello, turkey.
He's like, not the smartest animal.
And he fell in love with my wife.
This is a weird... He looked at her and just decided to get very close to her.
He looked at her like you were inside or outside or where were you?
I was... At first, he was in the backyard.
We didn't have a backyard.
We had like a meadow.
He came through the meadow, and he just sat there, and then he looked at her.
Through the window?
No.
She was out in the... And he kind of came really unusually close to her, I thought.
So I got a tennis racket.
But I didn't do anything about it.
And then he just hung with her wherever she went.
When she would go inside.
He'd wait patiently by the, And then the next morning at about 530 he was there again.
And the next morning...
For some strange reason, I became jealous of this animal.
So I would go out with my tennis rack and go, whack!
And then tell him that he couldn't like her so much.
And he's a turkey.
I said, you must have turkey friends.
I mean, you have all those other turkeys.
And Shelter Island also.
They have a thing now where a lot of people just have turkeys and they just kind of go around like loose pedestrians or Swiss tourists or something.
They're just always around.
But this turkey is just huge.
And I became increasingly upset.
I finally called Bo Larson and said, there is a turkey that is making moves on my wife.
You have to get that turkey back.
And what did your wife, what was her take on all this?
She was a little bit charmed to be adored by so large.
This will make this Thanksgiving extra special, I feel.
Let's talk a bit about leftovers.
Okay.
Do you have a specific strategy for leftovers?
I mean, how do you like to eat your leftovers?
Always whenever, anytime on Thanksgiving, after Thanksgiving, the next morning, the next afternoon, the next evening, friends' houses, small gatherings, post-gatherings later, gatherings later in the week.
But how do you do... After a few days of Thanksgiving, it's like two things you're tired of, right?
You're tired of...
Or some people may be.
You're not.
Tired of your own Thanksgiving food, and you may be a little tired of hanging out with your family.
So I recommend what I call a leftovers exchange party.
Yes.
Invite over friends.
They bring all their leftovers.
You put them all out on the table.
Everyone eats everyone's leftovers.
You get rid of your leftovers and you get to try different foods and you learn new recipes for next year.
We do this.
We do this.
We've done this, like, for four years.
Well, oh, you mean you've already read my book?
No.
This may shock you.
Ha, ha, ha, ha.
But having not even read the book, this was invented before you were born.
I mean, I don't know.
There are people, at least on the Upper West Side, who do this very thing.
They invite you over, usually with their kids.
So then your kids and their kids, they all know each other.
And then you go sit there and in my case, I just eat everything.
I don't speak at all.
All right, well, Robert Krolwich is the co-host of WNYC's Radio Lab.
Robert, it's always a pleasure to hang out and speak with you.
Big hand for Robert Krolwich.
Coming up, the Sporkful live holiday show continues with the one and only Amy Sedaris.
She wrote a whole book on entertaining.
She'll offer advice on how to deal with drunk guests, people's pets, and difficult family.
Plus, Amy and I will debate which kind of paper towels are better the ones that offer the half-size option or the ones that are only full-size.
Clearly, we're tackling the big issues here on the Sporkful.
Stay with us.
Welcome back to A Sporkful Reheat.
I'm Dan Pashman.
Hey, if you're not already following The Sporkful in your podcasting app, what are you waiting for?
In Apple Podcasts and Spotify, go to our show page and click follow.
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Thank you.
Let's get back to The Sporkful live holiday show.
It's time for Amy Sedaris.
Joining me now is a woman whose work I've admired for a very long time.
I'm a huge fan of hers.
Currently, she's starring in the Netflix animated series BoJack Horseman.
She's also the author of I Like You, Hospitality Under the Influence.
Please welcome the one and only Amy Sedaris.
So let's talk hosting around the holidays.
I have identified...
I've identified two types of hosts.
Okay.
Missionaries and martyrs.
Okay.
Missionaries and martyrs.
All right.
A missionary is like someone who leads by example.
Okay.
Like, I'm hosting this party.
I'm having a great time.
Like, that's why I brought a beer out with me tonight.
Okay.
You know, drink up.
Party.
Drinking kills feelings.
Go on.
Martyrs are the people who are like, you know, I'm focusing on making everyone else happy.
And I get my happiness from knowing that other people are happy, even if I don't even get to sit down.
Or I don't even get to eat.
But if everyone else is having fun, I'll be happy.
All right.
I aspire to be a missionary, but sometimes I end up being a martyr.
When you host in your home, which do you want to be and which are you?
I think I'm both.
I'm really organized enough where I can sit back and have a good time.
But I'm also, you know, because I've planned.
If you plan, then you can be both.
You know what I mean?
It's important for your guests to have a good time and you want to be in charge and you want to make sure that that beer is fresh.
You know when it's empty or whatever.
But so I think if you plan enough, you can be both.
You can have a good time and still, you know, be that martyr.
What are some of the things that you like for people to bring you if they're a guest that come into your house?
Weed.
Um...
I answer that too quickly.
I don't always like them to surprise me with something to serve.
Because if you've planned the menu out, like one time I was having this big traditional Greek dinner and someone showed up with their grandparents and a chocolate cake, and that was a double whammy.
So when someone says, oh, Amy, I can't wait to come to your house, what can I bring?
Mm-hmm.
What do you say?
It depends who it is.
Sometimes I'm like ice, you know if they really want to.
Or I'm like you know beer, or you know something like I know it's not.
You know, maybe it's too heavy for me to bring up like charcoal, bird seed or kitty litter, but I'll get them to bring things like that.
Or I'm always like forks, bring forks, or sharp knives.
Like, could you really use some sharp knives?
Or bring your own container, because I know you're going to want to take some food home, you know so.
You know, little things like that.
But very seldom do I really, or ice cream.
You know, you give them the easy stuff.
Right.
You also have a book called Simple Times Crafts for Poor People.
I want to get your help here.
Now, cloth napkins are something that, you know, certainly classes up any event.
Class.
But if you can't afford cloth napkins or if you're just too lazy, like my wife and I were last year at Thanksgiving, you may just go with paper.
Do you have any tricks?
I have some paper towels here.
Oh.
I know you love a demonstration.
Do you have any tricks that you can show me for ways to fold?
First of all, I hate these select-a-size.
The half-size paper towel?
And they're getting harder and harder to find, the ones that don't have this.
Why do you hate them?
They're more practical.
Ugh, what are you going to do with that?
No, I'm sorry.
I don't like it at all.
You can always take two half-size paper towels and end up with a regular-size paper towel, but you can not take a full-size paper towel and make it into a half.
Oh, God, and to think that you have to think about that with all the other problems going on.
Just make it easy.
I mean, are you saying this is my dinner napkin?
What would I do?
Yeah.
That.
Fold it in half.
I don't do anything fancy.
Like, I'm fine with using paper towels and napkins, and I like cloth napkins, too.
But, yeah, it is a drag to, you know, you have to wash them.
You know, you have to, you know, so that's probably a pain in the butt for people.
So I put the call out on Facebook and asked people for questions about hosting for you.
Karen writes, how do I keep drunk guests from quote unquote helping with cleanup?
My sisters-in-law have broken more wine goblets with their hams for hands than I even care to count.
Oh, it's such a problem.
It is such a problem to get people out of your house.
Well, my favorite thing to do is to clean up.
I know people have a hard time believing that, but then you can reminisce about the party.
You can talk about the disasters or whatever.
You know, usually if they're drunk, they've been told before, you need to go home now.
You know what I mean?
Right.
But they're relatives.
That makes it harder to kick them out.
You need to go home now.
I think it's easier if they're a relative.
Don't you?
Dad, Mom.
You know, I think it's just...
You know, easier.
Jeff Childs writes, one year my wife's aunt, who had volunteered to bring the turkey, called 30 minutes after dinner was supposed to start to say she was just leaving and would be at our house in about an hour.
She said she would finish cooking the turkey when she got to our house.
Fantastic.
I love that.
That is hilarious.
Should we have eaten without her and without the turkey?
Well, why did they put her in charge of the turkey?
Is this a pattern of hers?
Is she always late?
That's happened to me before.
Like people are coming at five and the girl just arrived with the turkey uncooked and didn't even apologize.
And then I thought, oh, well, that's stupid.
I should have done that.
Well, that's one of the things you talk about in your book is people need to know their limitations.
Like, if you're chronically late and disorganized, don't volunteer to bring the turkey to Thanksgiving.
Right.
But it's also a food safety hazard because now you've got a half-cooked turkey.
Coming from room temperature in the backseat of a car.
Oh, that's so stupid.
That is so stupid.
Right?
I think I would have panicked and I would have maybe gone to some kind of a grocery store that makes roasted chickens or roasted turkeys, and I think I would have just gotten it and then I would say Mom Grandma whatever, you stupid lady, we're still going to make your turkey, but we're going to make it for tomorrow for leftovers.
It's just too late right now.
I think that's what I would do.
On Facebook, Linda Pashman writes...
I was gonna say, okay.
Mom, writing on my Facebook page again, how do you handle dinner guests who arrive with their pets?
I know you're an animal lover.
Yeah.
But if someone comes with a pet that they didn't tell you about, how do you respond to that?
Well, usually, if I know they have a pet, I'll make a point to say, don't bring your dog.
And then they bring the dog.
And then they pick the most expensive bowl you have in your kitchen.
And they put it down for water in a spot that everyone's going to be walking by.
It always happens, doesn't it?
Plus, I have a rabbit.
And I'm like, your dog, we don't know if they're going to get along.
And then that means I have to lock my bedroom up.
And there goes the airflow.
I mean, people have no idea.
Yeah.
Airflow is crucial.
I've got to have you back on and talk about that in more detail.
Let's talk about airflow.
Or kittens with claws.
I don't think so.
I don't think so.
Another question on Facebook from Linda Pashman.
The Pashman family.
What about the guest who's the perennial provocateur, usually a relative?
How do you ward off the expected annual family conflict?
And a related question what do you do when your mom handles family conflict by asking you questions through your podcast Facebook page.
That's pretty good.
Any tips, Amy, for dealing with family at the holidays?
Well, my family, we all get along.
And if there is a fight or a conflict or whatever, we all just get excited.
And we're a fantastic audience for it.
You know what I mean?
I think I'd be happy to have a fight.
I think it's entertaining and it's fun.
I love to hear people arguing or complaining.
I mean, that's when I worked as a waitress forever.
And I loved it when someone would get up my face and complain about something.
And how would you deal with it?
I would just be staring at them, taking it all in.
You know, it all depends.
Maybe it's something I could handle.
Maybe they have to see a manager.
I mean, I wouldn't respond by yelling back at them or getting mad.
You know, I would just be like, I can't believe you're so angry about this, you know?
But when it's family, you just eat it up.
And then you divide up and you go into the bedroom and you talk to somebody about it.
And then you go, you're two-faced about it the whole night.
You play both sides.
It's great.
Take this, swallow that.
You'll be fine.
Yeah.
And then another thing that I want to get your take on is how do you know when the party is over?
Turn the music off and the lights off, I guess.
I'm pretty good about it.
You can kind of tell, though, when people start to leave and winding it down.
I don't know.
I'm just pretty, that's something you just kind of sense.
Unless you want to put a time, you know, like for kids' parties, you say 2 to 2.30, done.
You know what I mean?
You kind of know.
Right.
You know, when to go or be like, you know, party's over at midnight.
I have to work it tomorrow morning or something like that.
Final question for you, Amy.
I want you to talk now to a person who's hosting for Thanksgiving, who's maybe a little nervous or they're insecure.
They don't, for whatever reason, they're worried that they can't pull it off.
I want you to talk directly to that person and I want you to give them some advice.
Give them a pep talk.
Okay, let's see.
Gosh, I don't know.
Just, do they cook at all, this person?
Can they do?
Some cooking expertise.
Just make it easy on yourself.
You'd only need three things on your plate, really.
You know what I mean?
So just don't go crazy.
If you have some friends that cook, you might want to assign some dishes to make it easy on yourself.
Like, great, can you bring the mashed potatoes?
Can you do this?
Teach me how to make the gravy or something like that.
Boom, you got it.
It's easy.
Yeah.
Well, Amy Sedaris, I'm so glad that you could be here.
I really appreciate it.
Check her out in BoJack Horseman.
Her lines in Fish is Eddie.
The book is I Like You, Hospitality Under the Influence.
Big hand, ladies and gentlemen, for Amy Sedaris.
Thank you.
This show is a production of WNYC and the Spork Bowl.
It's produced by Kristen Meinzer and Anne Sandy.
We get web help from Talia Ralph and Alight Strong.
Special thanks to Chris Bannon.
A special thanks to the folks at the Green Space Jennifer Sendro, Nancy Sitch, Ricardo Fernandez and everyone else and to all of you for coming out tonight.
Until next time, I'm Dan Pashman reminding you to eat more, eat better, and eat more better.
Thank you.
This reheat was produced by Gianna Palmer.
The team that produces The Sporkful today includes me, along with managing producer Emma Morgenstern and senior producer Andres O'Hara.
Our engineer is Jared O'Connell.
Music help from Black Label Music.
The Sporkful is a production of SiriusXM Podcasts.
Our executive producer is Camille Stanley.
And hey, did you know you can listen to The Sporkful on the SiriusXM app?
Yes, the SiriusXM app has all your favorite podcasts, plus over 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era.
Plus live sports coverage.
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And there's interviews with A-list stars and so much more.
It's everything you want in a podcast app and music app all rolled into one.
Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to SiriusXMcom slash Sporkful.
Until next time, I'm Dan Pashman.
