What Does This Have to Do With Tater Tots?

Episode Transcript for TT Hot Dish

Today we're going to make something warm and baked and comforting. Ooh, cake. No, it's savory and very committed to beige. It's got to be casserole. Oh, you betcha.

Welcome to Mom's Wooden Spoon, where the recipes are retro and so are your hosts. You can say that again.

Hello and welcome back to Mom's Wooden Spoon. Welcome everybody. We like to say that twice cuz you guys are so uber welcome. We are just a welcoming crew, aren't we? The two of us. It's a heck of a crew. Sad. We're a welcoming duo.

Welcome. times two. It's why we say it four times. Two for each of us. Okay, moving on. Okay, we are doing a regional recipe today. Oh my gosh, Carrie has been so excited about this. This is the one. I've been waiting all season to get to this one. I have no idea what we're going to be cooking after this and the rest of the season. Not a clue. I don't care. This This is where it's at. Y Okay, so my friend and colleague Jan. Yes. uh lives in Minnesota and she was kind enough to give us a recipe from her family's cookbook. I mean, how cool is that, right? They have a family cookbook. They have a family cookbook. So, I asked her about it and she said it's all from her mom's side of the family. Yes. Jan's mom and her siblings created this cookbook because their mom had always wanted to have a family cookbook. How cool. Yes. And so they took recipes that have been floating around the family forever. Wow. According to Jan, some of them they believe date back as far as 1912. Oh wow. I know, right? Yeah. And she says, "And those recipes kind of do things like you'll add butter the size of a walnut." Oh my gosh. We've come across some stuff like that. That is so cool. Yes. So before anybody was measuring things. Anyway, so they put this all together. It is the Kramer cookbook. They had it published and, you know, bound and all that kind of glop. And from that cookbook, she shared with us tater tot hot dish. Hot diggety dog. I'm so excited. I mean, Carrie, what is a hot dish? Oh, I googled it. Did you really? I did. And so, obviously casserole and hot dish very closely related. Okay. Maybe not. Obviously, if you didn't know that, they are. Okay. Yeah. So, a casserole comes from the French word for saucepan, which is odd because we're going to cook it in a casserole dish, not a sauce pan, but whatever. And it's a one dish meal that is baked and served in a baking dish. Casserole. A hot dish, according to Food Network, and obviously they know all the things, everything, right? A hot dish must be a main course and almost always a hearty one that includes protein, starch, and at least some vegetables. So, okay, a hot dish is always a casserole, but a casserole is not always a hot dish. That makes sense. And I looked up on Reddit some people's statements about a hot dish. And it's really just a term used in Minnesota. It's not, you know, anywhere else. And I found a couple that really made me chocolate. I thought they stood out. So Bernie said, he's of the school that hot dish are layered and casseroles are all mixed together. Oh. So I thought that was an interesting delineation, I suppose so. Yeah. Uhhuh. Somebody said the casserole is the vessel in which the hot dish is baked. Okay, that makes sense cuz a casserole is named after the dish it's baked in. All right. Okay. And my most favorite one, one is made in Minnesota, the other is made everywhere else. It's hilarious. You know what I read about a hot dish? I thought this was super cute. It says, "To the people who grew up eating it, hot dish is not a food but a memory." Oh, that's cute. Isn't that so sweet? Yes. Yeah. Well, tell everybody what's in this memorable hot dish that we're making today. Carrie tater tots and love, baby. But you know what? It is layered, but part of it is mixed, right? It is cuz we are going to gloop it all together in the saucepan. And then we'll put it in a 9 by13. I mean, just as the instructions say, it is a protein, it is veg, and it is starch. Exactly that. So, we've got some ground beef. We have a boatload of cream of soups. Yes, we do. Um, both chicken and mushroom. Yum, yum. We're going to add in some vegetables, onions, which I don't really think count, but onions and corn. And cream corn, no less. I love the flavor of cream corn. It's a little sweeter than just corn than regular corn. I love it. It's very tasty. Cream corn. And then somebody has handwritten on this recipe to also include green beans and carrots. So I really appreciate that Jan's family is health conscious to up the veg content. That's right. And it's just chopped carrots that you saute with the onions and the ground beef. It's no canned carrots that our mom would eat directly from the candy candy, baby. Yeah. No, no, just regular chopped carrots. And Carrie fortunately did not get the shredded carrots that tasted like carrot in our episode where we made the what was it? Carrot souffle. Yeah. Kristen and I are still talking about our horrible disappointment in that and how stupid we were to think that that sucker was going to be sweet. And we were just talking about that right before we hit record on this. Like there was nothing sweet in that carrot souffle recipe. Why did we think it was going to taste like pumpkin pie or sweet potato pie or anything other than carrots? I don't know. I don't know. I do have one more little thing to say about a hot dish because I thought this was cute. Oh, please do. So, trying to come up with why why do Minnesotans call it Oh, yes. hot dish. I wondered why. Nobody really knows, but an idea is that they think the term originated from like the old church potluck suppers. Yeah. Where someone may have said, "What are you going to bring? Please bring a hot dish." That makes total sense, right? Yeah. I'm going to get chopping the onion because that's going to take a while. I'm trying to be super quiet because one of our last podcast episodes I was very noisily chopping celery and it made Carrie get like this rage built inside her. It wasn't the celery, it's the hormones. I thought you were going to say it's the sister. Oh yes, that's what it is. Oh man, she's a difficult one. Oh yeah. Well, I had so much fun doing research on tater tots. You are not going to believe the history of this. It was so much fun. Oh, that's hilarious. Okay, but before you do that, do you have an extra cutting board? I could actually attempt to do something. Uh, no, that's okay. You just sit there and listen to the story, Carrie. It's all right. My grandma used to always say, "Do often what you do best." And that's I've noticed every episode I get out two cutting boards and Carrie cuts like two tiny little things and I do all the rest. And so this time I thought, "Ah, the heck with it. I'm just kidding. One cutting board and one knife. I am cutting at top speed. I'll have you know she is. I like to take cooking classes. I don't cook, obviously. We all all know that now. But I do enjoy taking a cooking class. To pretend like I cook. I did take a friend with me once to the cooking class. And she cooks even less than I do. Oh no. She wouldn't even help with the group preparation. She just took pictures. Oh my gosh. That's funny. Did you want to stir this, friend? She's like, "Oh, no. I'll take a picture of you stirring it." That's perfect. Yes. So, I'm already done with the onion by the time she told us that story. So, all I have to do are the carrots next. But first, let me tell you about the tater of the tots. Okay. Please do. Okay. Do we have history? Do we know where they originated? Have they always been made of potato? I have so many questions. Yes. Okay. Tater tots were actually only developed in 1953, so not that long ago. Really? Yes. When Ore-Ida founders F Nephi Grigg, check out that name. Did you practice that? I did. And his brother Golden Grigg. F. Nephi and Golden. And if you thought that their names were unusual, their parents were named Parley Mormon Grigg Jr. And the mama was Thankful Halsey Gardener. Oh, I have name goals. I mean, and by the way, Nephi just didn't go by F. Nephi. He went by Neef.

I like it. I loved it. Okay, so Old Neef and Golden were the founders of Ore-Ida. Ah, right. And they were trying to devise a recipe to use the leftover slivers of cut potato that would otherwise be thrown away or just sold as animal feed. So they chopped up the slivers, added flour and seasoning, and then pushed this mash through holes, and then sliced off pieces of this extruded mixture into these little tot shapes. You said extruded. Extruded. Wow. I know, right? What does that mean? Pushed through. I don't know. It does. So, okay. Pulling out. I could get naughty, but so let's move on. Okay. So old Neef introduced his new product by bringing 15 pounds of tater tots to the national potato convention in Miami in 1954 and reportedly Neef bribed the chef to cook up his new potato concoction and serve them at dinner to the potato growers. This new product was laid out as appetizers on the table and were quote "gobbled up faster than a dead cat could wag its tail". according to Neef. Oh, okay. Yeah, man. Neef is providing a lot of goals. I now I need to use that in in my day-to-day conversation. Gobbled up faster than a dead cat could wag its tail. Yes. Wow. Than a dead cat. Yeah. Definitely going to be doing that. I know, right? Thinking of tater tots made me think of school cafeteria lunches. Oh, cuz tater tots are where I had my first tater tots. Oh, me too. Our moms didn't. Our moms. We have the one between the two of us or just the one either way. Our mom didn't really ever make tater tots at home. No, I don't know that we ever even had Did we have French fries cooked in the oven? I think so. Yeah, but not tots tots were so special. They were They were just at school. Yeah. And so I was thinking about some of the foods that I looked most forward to. Like obviously we've talked about the square pizza. Yeah. the no bake cookies. And so I couldn't remember any others. So I called our dad. We just have the one our dad. Much like we have a mom, right? We have a stepmom, too, but she was not part of this whole tater tot thing. No, no, no. So I asked our dad if he remembered any things that his school cafeteria ladies would make cuz he was an elementary school principal, right? Okay. So he'd kind of be part of that. And I'm I'm just taking a slight guess that if he smelled something delicious cooking in that cafeteria that he would just wander by and have to sample. I'm just guessing I can see that as his personality. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I asked him if he remembered any tasty things and here's what he said. Johnny Marzetti. Do you remember having Johnny Marzetti at school? No. So it was like macaroni and tomatoes and ground beef and familiar with what it is. Maybe American cheese on the top maybe. I don't recall. He remembers the apple crisp very fondly. I do remember that. I do now. Homemade apple crisp. Did I just spit in your eye? No, that onion is just my left eye. The onion fumes have made it into my left eye. I thought I spit in your eye. Well, could you have try that again? Apple crisP. And he actually remembers when the ladies, the lunch ladies would make those no baked cookies, they'd bring him a whole plate full of them to his office. Oh, that's so cute. So, that was fun. But I it didn't give me the long list of yummy cafeteria foods that I wanted, right? Cuz if it's not a long list for our listeners, I mean, is it worth discussing? It's not really. So, I got on the social medias and I asked our loyal listeners, okay, and maybe not listeners, just friends on Facebook, what was their favorite delight from school cafeteria lunches. Okay. Okay. And here are some of the things that they said. Uh, someone mentioned bars that were like Buckeyes that had peanut butter on the bottom and chocolate on the top. Yes. Do you remember those? I do. Apparently online they're called Lunch Lady Bars. Really? Do you remember that song that was Adam Sandler Lunch Lady Land? Lunch Lady Land. Uh, yes. Yes. Slop sloppy joe. Yeah, that's exactly how it went. Nobody said sloppy joe's, but they did say pizza burgers. I had totally forgotten about pizza burgers. And then as I looked up pizza burgers because I thought, is it just a hamburger with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese? No. Lunch ladies used to use ground bologna mixed in with the ground beef of pizza burgers. That's what I thought. And so then they possibly use pizza sauce to hide the bologna flavor. Is that what they did? I mean, you got to figure, you got to use what you get. They did get a lot of government food, I'm assuming, and so bologna, I'm sure, was cheap and easy and mix it in with the ground beef. Slap some marinara sauce on there and Absolutely. Somebody mentioned online fish sandwiches on Fridays. Oh, you are right. Yeah, very much. Yeah, they were good. They kind of tasted like the McDonald's Filet O'Fish. Tasty. I like McDonald's Filet O'Fish. Oddly enough, I'm not a big fish eater. I'm not either. I get a hankering for them. Okay. So, oddly, I just had a conversation with my friend, the non-cook. Yes. The other day, and she was saying her dad was getting out of the hospital and the first stop they had to make, he had put in a request for an Arby's fish sandwich. Oh, I did not even know that Arby's made a fish sandwich. It's because it is only occasionally available. It's seasonal. Okay. Like the McRib. Yes, it is currently in season. She's like, it is the best fish sandwich you will ever eaten in your entire life. We have to go get one of those today, Carrie. Well, I kind of was like, do I want to get one? Cuz I'm kind of living obliviously. And is that a better healthful place for me to be not aware of the delightfulness of this probably not super healthy fish sandwich or do I just dive in and begin the addiction? I think we might need to dive in. Let's do that today. Let's go get a fish sandwich. Okay. From Arby's. That's what we're going to do. And if you love them, feel free to let us know. Yeah. Ooh. Then we can come back and tell everybody is it better than McDonald's or not? We need to stop by both and get one of each and do a taste test sampler. Oh my goodness. Nobody cares at all. They're like, just cook the hot dish, people. Just shut up and make the hot dish. And could you tell us the rest of the list of the freaking frackin school cafeteria food? What does this have to do with tater tots? Exactly. Okay, so here's one that I totally forgot that we were served in the cafeteria, but that we certainly made for ourselves at home. We even made this for our parents for breakfast at sometimes, much to their chagrin. French toast. No. And when we would leave the room, they would flush it. Graham crackers with icing. Yes. Graham crackers with canned frosting. Or maybe homemade and No, never homemade. No. No. But in the cafeteria, maybe homemade. And every sprinkle that we owned in the house. Yes. And marischino cherries on the top. Yes. Everything beautiful in the fridge. That's right. No gallstones. You got it. The last one that people mentioned over and over were homemade yeast rolls. What? Yeah. Wow. I don't remember that at all. I don't remember the yeast rolls at all either, but I cannot tell you how many people probably two mention

out of the six of listeners. Six of listeners. Yes. And then there's my friend Allen. Okay. And I've known Allen for a while now and he is a poet and he doesn't even know it. Oh, look at you go. I know, right? And he created this masterpiece that I must read you that I think I might entitle Ode to the Square Pizza. Oh my gosh. I'm Let me pull up a chair. Okay. Are you ready? I would cut carrots, but I don't have a cutting board. No, no, no. I'll do that. You don't have a cutting board. Sorry. And these are Alan's words uh verbatim. Okay. Hey, I told him I was going to do this cuz I have never read the likes of this. Okay, fantastic. I grew up on the most abysmal school food that you can imagine. Even the pizza was horrid. It was a floppy crust, possibly uncooked. Just enough sauce to tint the crust orange. Oh, I am not exaggerating. A sprinkle of ground beef and a sprinkle of cheese. It was truly engineered as an insult to even the worst frozen pizza ever made. Then one day, a light shone down from the heavens.

Something touched the cold black hearts of the school food Czars and they switched to the square pizza. Yes, it was frozen. Yes, I ate mine and everyone else's that didn't want theirs. And that was the end.

Okay. So, first off, Allen did not go to Defiance City School. He did not just to share that. That's right. Where our lunch ladies made killer pizza. I have huge respect for cafeteria ladies. They worked with what they had and they made deliciousness. Well, as we said, putting bolgna in a burger and calling a pizza burger. I mean, brilliant. Yeah. Brilliant. Right. I'm going to change the subject. Okay. I think that's probably good, Carrie. I think we should. Yeah. Okay. So, since this recipe is clearly from Minnesota, clearly I decided to look up some other interesting things about Minnesota. Oh, very nice. And the super fun thing is Minnesotans Yes. are known for their unique language. Yes, they are. And I am aware of a bunch of the things that they say due to like Instagram. And so you'll see like, oh, Midwesterners like to say ope. Yeah, that's right. Okay. I personally never said ope a day in my life, but ope is absolutely on here. So instead of saying oops, you'd be like, oh. So Minnesota apparently a lot of Norwegian background in history. So a lot of the words and a lot of their sayings are from this Norwegian things. Okay. So one of the things that they say is uff da, which it would be like, you know, I forgot my keys. Don't you know? That's right. Yeah, everybody's heard of that because I think that's kind of Don't you know stereotypical that;s the word I was trying to think of was don't you know. Okay. So, one of my favorites is Oh for. So, you be like like oh for the love of Pete. Yeah. Oh, for Pete's sake. Uhhuh. Yeah. But other super cute things that they add to that would be like, "Oh, for fun." Uhhuh. Isn't that cute? Oh, oh for cute. Oh for cute. Oh for cute. Oh my gosh. want to add that into my life. That's adorable. Yes. So, I can go faster than a dead cat can wag its tail. Yes. And isn't that oh for cute? Oh, for cute. It's not. It's gross. But you get the point. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, people in Minnesota are known to be Minnesota nice. Yes. Obviously, there's jerks in Minnesota like there are everywhere, but in general, Yeah. Minnesotans are known to be super nice. And so in that vein, if somebody says something super stupid, I'd go, "Oh, that's different. Oh, that's funny. That's different. That's different." In the South, we say, "Oh, that's nice." Or bless your heart. Bless your sweet heart. That's nice. So that's different. And then this is definitely something that we would say, "Yeah, use the word budge." Let me budge right past you. Oh, budge. Budge. In Ohio, I tend to use the word scooch. Let me scooch right by you there. Yes, it definitely the idea. I would definitely say budge as well. Budge. So, I thought that was like, oh, that went. So cute. And then, as we have discussed previously, the Minnesotan goodbye, which is exactly the same as the Northwest Ohio goodbye. It goes on and on and on. And I will tell you that somewhere in in the interwebs, someone referred to as until someone slaps their knees and says, "Welp, welp, I love it." I was like, "Yes, that is so funny." So, that is something that we have in common with Minnesota. Yes, very much. We budge right past you and we'll stay forever until somebody welps. Right. So, we probably ought to go now and cook this ground beef cuz, as you know, it messes up our sound when we have sizzling going on. So, we probably ought to get going. Uff da. We'll see you. Don't you know?

So, the sizzling is done. It is. We have some beautifully browned beef and sauteed onions and carrots. Ooh they look so good. And we are now at the add the soups and the cream corn and green beans. Oh my gosh, this is going to be juicy. A juicy hot dish. Juicy hot dish. Well, I had read that the absolute worst put down that you possibly could do of someone's hot dish is to call it dry and different. I guarantee you this one is not going to be dry or different. There's no way. No. Plus, Jan's family recipe is to be trusted. I would hope so. Time honored. All right. So, I've put in the cream corn. We're going to mix that up. And then the soups. This is certainly not dry. Just take a listen. That yucky? It sounds yucky. It looks yummy. It smells casserole. Yum. Yeah, it does. I'm adding the green beans last so I don't accidentally smash them all up. Okay, good thinking. Thank you. Uh-huh. Look how good this looks, Carrie. Oh my gosh. I want to take a bite right now. This just looks like home and yum. It does. I have a spoon out. I mean, it's all cooked, right? All things right in the world. I'm gonna take a taste. Soups aren't cooked. They'll be cold. She's eating. She's smiling. All it needs is some tater tots. Oh my gosh, I'm so excited about this. So good. Okay, so while we are plopping this what looks like an abomination but actually tastes quite heavenly into this 9 by13 inch pan, I thought maybe that I would read to you oh a Buzzfeed article called I'm convinced potlucks should be banned after hearing about these truly appalling dishes people had the audacity to serve. Oh my goodness. Okay. So, let's see if I can use my big bicep muscles and pour this stuff into the pan. Um, while we while I tell you the stories I don't I can't even speak. Stand and wait. Sure. And this is a good full 9 by13. Oh, yeah. dish. This is Jan. Thank you. I am scraping every morsel out cuz it was tasty. That little bite. And the soups weren't cold because it was mixed in with the hot hot hot meat. Oh, in the hot pan too. Yeah, in the hot pan. So, let me uh spread this around while I tell you this first. I'll spread it. You talk Thank you. Cuz I'm I'm struggling. Can you tell I'm struggling? Okay, here's the first one. The majority of people like baked beans, right? Sure. Not my husband. He hates them. You know, canned pork and beans, diced onion, brown sugar, a little mustard and ketchup baked in the oven. Yeah. Yeah. A person brought baked beans made from their handed down family recipe. Much like Jan's, right? This was it though. Pork and beans, a bottle of barbecue sauce, and canned tuna fish. What?

She said, "I'm sorry. I just couldn't." No. Yeah. What? Awful. Holy moly. Okay, you keep talking. I'm going to add the tater tots. But yeah, here's the important question. What do we chuck them on there willy-nilly? Oh, heck no. I didn't think I knew. I know my sister. They must be lined up beautifully cuz if we can't be anal retentive with tater tots, are we actually living? We're not actually cooking. I'll tell you that much. Okay, I just took another bite of that mixture. It's delicious. And Carrie's throwing flinging the tots. Kristen, this is a podcast and you cannot continue to talk with your mouth full. All right. Well, here's the next one. It's rude. Okay. Sorry everybody. I swallowed. I know you can hear you're making loud clearly. It's uh it's mouthwatering because we delicious. Yeah, you're nasty. Here's I worked at a patient care clinic with mostly nurses. One nurse brought mashed potatoes inside of a Walmart bag. Not inside of a bowl inside of a Walmart bag. Mashed potatoes loose inside of a Walmart bag. What? And you just were to serve yourself out the Walmart bag? I guess so. I guess so. Yeah, you can see why people called these abominations, right? Yeah. Okay, here's one. Once at a work potluck, people were raving about one co-worker's pasta salad. So, I tried it. After one bite, I spit most of it out into my thankfully large napkin. I still shudder 16 years later. Pasta mixed with mayo, fruit cocktail, and mini marshmallows. One of the most disgusting things I've ever eaten in my life. Okay. So, I don't want to give away Yeah. things that are coming at the Mom's Wooden Spoon podcast. Oh, yeah. But I just recently Yeah. came across that very recipe. No, you did not. It is published on the interwebs. Oh, boy. We're not making it. Oh, yeah. We're making something in our next episode, but it's not that. No. No. But it might lead to discussion. Yeah. Of this. Yeah. All right. So, here's No, I have two more. Okay. Grandma brought the one-year-old fruit cake she kept in a glass bowl covered in foil out from under her bed to the family potluck. When the foil came off, everyone gagged as it smelled like booze and death. Oh my. How do they know it was under her bed? And good on grandma for bending down there and getting that. I know. She was a spry grandma. Then she lit it on fire, poured cream on it, and insisted everyone try it. And when grandma says you try it, you try it. It was simultaneously super dry and sopping wet, tasted like hand sanitizer, and had the texture of cat litter. Oh, nasty. Did anybody get ill? Is the question. That is I bet the alcohol killed all the bacteria. Really? It does do that. Yep. This has to cook for an hour. Do you want to tell them what we're going to do while it's cooking? We are. I mean, I do. I'm so excited She can't even make sense. We are do. So, this is why since we've come back from the sizzling, she's just been all tongue tied because she knows that this is where we're going to do. Since this has to bake for an hour, we're going to take that hour, hop in the car. We're going to drive to Arby's and get us a fish sandwich and then swing by the Mickey D's on the way home and grab a fish sandwich from there. We're gonna have a live taste test. Arby's versus Mickey D's right here on Mom's Wood and Spoon. And then we're gonna eat the most delicious tater tot hot dish known to mankind. I mean, we have the best day ahead of us. It really is. Shall I sing the Spongebob? Absolutely not. Let's leave this on a high note. Okay. Okay. All right. We'll see you guys in just a little bit with hot dish and fish sandwiches. It's the best day ever. I told you not to sing it. Oh.

Okay. So, hopefully you guys can hear us. Yes, we are in the car starting it up.

Let's roll. That was so loud.

Okay, you guys. This is the first time ever. Hopefully Carrie doesn't get in a wreck. On our way to Arby's. The big race is on. We have to get to the Arby's and to the Mickey D's and back home in 1 hour's time. That's how long the tater tot hot dish takes to cook. Well, to help, I am just going to blow right through this stop sign. She just blew the stop sign of my neighborhood like it doesn't even exist. So, we hate that stop sign anyway. It's stupid. And I'm not stopping. And then I'm looking carefully and I'm blowing through this one. All right, people. We're off. Bad driving and everything. That's right. If I get in an accident, I did not blow through that stop sign. Yeah, we did not discuss who's paying for what. So, there may be a little tussling at the window. Well, here's the problem. I have a laptop on my lap. I can't possibly dig into my purse. Yeah. Yeah. Didn't see that coming at all. Not one bit. Green light. Go. Oh gosh. Go, go, go. I thought something was coming!

I made it. I made it. We got a little car in front of us. Yeah, we do. I've gotta pick the right lane. The correct lane is the right lane. I am going to get over here. Holy cow. You're never going to hear us cuz the souped up Miata. All right. So, I am paying for the sandwiches. Are we going to get one sandwich to split or two sandwiches? I think one sandwich to split. Yeah, because we do have hot dish. You know what we ought to do? Since we're in the car and we're taking a road trip, we ought to sing the song that we used to sing as a family when we were on a road trip. The clarinet. The clarinet goes doodle doodle doodle doodle det. The violins ringing with lovely singing the violin's ringing with lovely song.

We're gifted man. Oh my gosh. I can't believe I remembered that. Oh, they blocked the road. Rude. You got to turn to get in here. And they blocked it. That's all right. I'm going to turn and then that lady's going to pull forward just like that. And that guy is not. And I gave a Minnesota nice wave. Uff da! Oh, no. That's when something bad happens. Oh, so what do I say? Oh. I don't know. Thank you. Thank Oh, there's their fish sandwich. Wild caught fish. All right. Do we get the fish deluxe or the crispy fish? I don't know. Crispy fish, I think. Yeah. Okay. Welcome to Arby's. Will you be an Arby's rewards? No, thank you. What can I get started? I would just like one crispy fish sandwich and that's all. All right, that'll be $5.13. Thank you very much. Thank you. $5.13 that Carrie's paying for Kristen. I guess we'll have to see how much it is at Mickey D's because I'll pay for Mickey D's. You know what? I'm trying to dig down here and get my wallet. I can't reach it. Carrie, you might have to buy both. I know. It's going to be hard. Oh. All right. How many minutes have elapsed, Kristen? We have 44 minutes left. Oh, it's going to be close. It's going to be close. Hello. $5.13. Thank you. $5.13. Do you want any ketchup or sauce to go with it?

Um, yeah. No, thank you. She was asked if she wants any ketchup or sauce and she says, "Yeah." No. Does it come with tarter sauce on it? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Okay. Perfect Thank you. Okay. So, with Oh, I'm cutting that car off. Do it. Do it. With only 44 minutes left, Do you want to go to the right to Mickey D's No, I'm Zipping through the parking lot. Oh, yeah. all Willy-nilly. Yeah. Oh, she's got her credit card out. She found it, people. I found it. I somehow didn't think that was going to happen. I know, right? I thought it was going to accidentally be left at home. Oh my gosh. I think going to this light was a big mistake. We now only have 43 minutes to get back home. It's going to be so close. Is that guy going to slow the heck down? Yes. And it's a lady.

Listen, Lady, slow the heck down. We're on a mission. A Mom's Wooden Spoon mission. All thanks to whomever put on the Facebook that your favorite food in the school cafeteria was Friday fish sandwiches. That is what started this it triggered it all. Thank you. Oh my gosh. You never know what's going to set us off. You really never know, man. All right, so there's one person in the drive-thru and as we have to drive all the way around the McDonald's building. Wasting precious recording time. I mean, now we're down to 42 minutes until the tater tot hot dish is ready. How are we ever going to make it back in time, Kristen? I don't know that we are. Okay, here we go. Are you going to use your mobile app today. No, no. What would you like? I would just like a filet o'fish sandwich and that's all. All right, first window. Thank you. It is $4.89. Yes Oh you cheapy I cheaped out, baby. Although it didn't show the tax. Let's see how much it really is. Okay. $5.23. Would you like your reciept? No, $5.23. I paid more. Carrie only paid $5.13. I paid 10 cents more. Have a good one thank you. Dang it. I thought the McDonald's fish sandwich was going to be cheaper. That's the tax for having me drive. Okay, we got two fish sandwiches hot off the presses. We are now Ooh, and you can go go go gadget into the traffic. Yes. and zipping on back. Okay. And I am checking the timer here. 39 minutes Carrie. Oh, I don't know if we'll make it. Oh no. Holy moly. Oh my gosh. We're never getting home. Look at the traffic. Look at the traffic. I mean, there have been at least six cars, people. At least six cars. Okay. Oh, I got it. Yeah. Okay, she's got it. I'm zipping. I'm going over here. To the left lane. Oh, that's very There is not an electric apple picker. What are those things called? Cherry pickers. Cherry pickers. You know, they could be used to pick apples. Why does it have to just be cherries, Kristen? I don't know. We live in Georgia. How come it's not a peach picker? It should be a peach picker. It should be. Oh, I'm zipping in front of the peach picker. Uhhuh. And now I'm behind a hot rod and so it is sure to go fast. And me and my super small four-cylinder engine car. Yeah. Will take off like a light behind it. 0 to 60 in 5.2 minutes. And they have one of those little pine tree air fresheners that makes everything go faster. Their car is not going to smell delicious like fish sandwiches. Ooh, I smell the fish. I don't smell the fish. I just smell fry. Fried stuff is so good. I can't wait to try this. Me, too. Then I'll have to let my friend know what she has done. I know, right? We probably should have gotten the McDonald's one first to let it get soggy to get the Arby's one to have a chance to be the crispiest of the two. Well, we're going so fast that we may just be able to run in the house. Yep. Uncrinkle these bags. Yeah. Cut and taste. I think we ought to. I think we should. Yep yep I feel like it's necessary. And then eat them while they're hot. Can you guys hear that GT in front of us? I think that's my car. No. Yeah. There's something in there that rattles.

probably a skittle.

Oh, Carrie. I was like, "Wow, that GT is loud." All right, we're zipping along at 50 miles per hour. What 50. Oh, yeah. The speed limit's 45, Carrie. Uh-huh. We're going crazy. Oh, man. This is so exciting. This is I can't wait to get back. I am so hungry. Me, too. So, in my head, the McDonald's fish sandwich is the most similar to the one Friday at school. Absolutely. You know, square. Yep. Just like the fish sandwich. That's right. It had a little tartar sauce on it, I think. So, there's a gentleman crossing the road up there and he's got his right hand up in kind of like a karate chop type of move. It is. It's like he's hiding his face from those who could see him. Oh, or I thought he was like, I will karate chop you if you run into me. Because now there's no people there and he still has the hand up. Oh, no. Now it's down So, it wasn't blocking the sun, was it? Maybe it was blocking the sun. Maybe he's angled enough now. Maybe he saw our microphones and he thought, I cannot be recorded by these truly famous influencers. Yes, I'm sure that's what it was. Yeah. Lucky for him, we don't have videos, so he was safe Lucky for him. He thought we did, though. He thought we did. We have made it home. We've done it. Carrie, are you grabbing the bags? Sure. I'll grab the computer here. I think we even have a few minutes to spare. 32 minutes.

Shut that door. We're back at home. Can you guys hear the quiet? Uh-huh. Okay. All right. Soon there will be rattling of the bags. Okay. There's the bags. Okay. I have a plate and a knife. I'm going to open the bag. Okay. Crispy fish. All right. Okay. Fish is definitely more colorful. Oh, yeah. Look, it's a battered triangular. More fish colored. more fish colored. Fish shaped. or fish colored One of the two. And it does have lettuce though on there. No cheese. Just lettuce on the Arby's here. And it did come with a blob of tartar. Are you going to bite first? Cuz we can't both bite. Oh, yay. I will do filet o'fish first. Okay. I am dying to try these. So Carrie is lucky I let her go first. I know. Is the filet o'fish so soft and delicious and doesn't taste fishy at all. Not fishy at all. Yeah. The bun is soft. Nirvana. Yeah. You talk about it and I'm gonna take a little bite cheese flavor. Plenty of tartar sauce. It is juicy. It is tasty. Mhm. It is everything I've come to expect and love out of a super processed fish sandwich. Okay. So now I'm going to take a bite of the Arby's. with the lettuce. Yeah, lots of good lettuce. No cheese, which is slightly disappointing, but there's a lot of tartar sauce. So, how's that compared to the Mickey D's soft soft sandwich? It is slightly fishier, but in the best of ways. Mmmh I think I like the Arby's. Oh, Kristen's not sure. I like the lettuce. I think the tartar sauce is tangier and not as sweet. And I think I like the hint of fish in the Arby's fish sandwich. The bun is also soft and delicious. Kristen's shaking her head nope and going back for the Mickey D sandwich. Mickey D's all the way  Mhm. Well, didn't that work out perfectly? Oh, yeah. Okay, we got to go people. There's fish sandwich to eat. Kristen would say something, but she's already shoved her second bite into her mouth. Yep. And so I got to catch up before she eats it all. We'll see you in a minute with some hot dish.

So, the fish sandwiches have been eaten. Delicious. Oh, so good. And I waffled back and forth between my favorite and I ate my half of both. I know. Me, too. No problem. Scarfed them down and still have room for tater tot hot dish. Oh, do I? Yes. Yeah. Uh, the tater tot hot dish is hot out of the oven. It's all bubbly and boily and looking fabulous. Oh, it looks beautiful. The tots are golden and crispy on the top and they still look beautifully decorative. They do. We have had a little of the sauce kind of ooze up between them which just looks delightful. It does. And it is not going to be dry. We will be offending no one. No one. Not at all. Should we go ahead and try some of this tater tot hot dish? I think I have perfectly killed enough time. Ah. Oh, this is cers blahwa Oh, is it? Yeah, this is certainly not dry. It's very moist. It looks like heaven. Oh, it does. It also is piping hot. Oh, the steam. Oh, I can smell the tater tot. It just gets better by the minute. Carrie's going to taste it first, right? No, cuz you let me try the fish fillet first. Yeah. The only reason you're letting me go first is because it's molten hot lava. I hadn't thought of that, but now that I think of it, yes. That you're going to have to pooch the heck out of that. I'm going to pooch the Heck of it. Absolutely. Kristen is making Okay. Signs doing a little dancy dance. That is delicious. Tastes like Midwest heaven. Oh, it sure does. Grab a little tater tot in there. It is still toasty warm, but boy oh boy, is that good there's steam coming off of it. Oh, yeah. That is delicious. Oh yeah. Oh, I'd eat that all day. Oh yeah. All day long. All day. Every day. I'm going in for a second bite, so I hope you have something you can talk about Carrie. I have absolutely nothing to talk about, but thank you, Jan. Thank you to your family. Oh, thank you. Thank you to all of Minnesota. I mean, we love you guys. I mean, Kristen found a state that she had nothing negative to say about. Oh my gosh, you're so mean. I could never said anything negative. Oh, this is so good. I am so thankful for Minnesotans and for Jan and her family. Now it's too much. Kristen, she took it one step too far. Oh uff da

Well, I'd say with that because she used it correctly in a sentence. Yeah, we're moving on. Another thing I want to say is, holy buckets, this is good. Holy buckets. Uh-huh. That's a Minnesotan thing. Oh, I didn't know. That's different. And I know. See, I love me some Minnesotans. I know these things. All right, quick. We're getting Kristen out while she's on top. That's it for this episode. Our next episode is coming out on March 23rd. Wow. It is going to be meaty and fruity and carby. Oh my. Woohoo. We'll see you then.

Thanks for listening to Mom's Wooden Spoon. If you like what you heard, don't forget to subscribe. If you want a copy of this recipe or to see the pictures and other items from this episode, go to our website, momswoodspoon.com. If you'd rather check us out on Facebook or Instagram, pick your poison. Don't say poison. We're making food. Yes. And she her um let me she her um. Yes. Um her so my friend Jan's mom no their mom. Try that again. Okay. So um