America's Test Kitchen - Test Kitchen Favorites

[GB]

I got a phone call about a month ago. I had seen the number come up on caller ID a number of times, but it was not one I recognized so I ignored it. Well I got sick of seeing the number so I finally answered it. It was America's Test Kitchen calling to try to see me something.

Normally I do not buy anything from people over the phone. I used to be a telemarketer so I do not blame the people for trying, but I just usually don't need what they are selling. This deal was too good to pass up though. They were trying to sell me their latest cookbook. It was the cookbook of all the recipes from their 2007 season. Along with the cookbook they would send me the complete 2007 season on DVD. If I decided I did not want the cookbook after I got it then I could return it (they would even pay shipping), but I could keep the DVD's. What a deal!

So I went for it and boy am I glad I did. I have tried 3 recipes so far and each has been excellent. All three are quick recipes I can make during the week and all three have a good mix of veggies and meat which is something I am always on the lookout for my daughter.

It is really helpful to find a recipe in the book and then be able to watch the episode on DVD before making the dish. You can see exactly what you are supposed to do and get any tips that you might have missed by just reading the recipe.

If ATK calls you, listen to what they are offering and don't say no just because they are telemarketing. It just may be worth your while.

 

[*amy*]

They also have a website and videos. Check it out:

America's Test Kitchen

 

[auntdot]

Our numbers are now unpublished and unlisted so we never get telemarketers.

I find their intrusion into our lives unacceptable. So when we used to get them, if I was in the mood, would merely let them prattle on for ten minutes or so and them just hang up.

People have a right to make a living, but not to disturb me whenever they feel like it.

Rude is rude.

 

[GB]

Rude goes both ways though auntdot. What you are doing to those people is no better than what they are doing to you. They are trying to make a living and they have no way of knowing that you do not want to be disturbed unless you tell them. What they are doing is perfectly legal and they are millions upon millions of people who DO welcome their call.

Do not forget, these people are someones son, daughter, mother, father, grandmother, grandfather. They are trying to feed their children or earn money to keep a roof over their heads. They are retired folk trying to make sure they still have insurance so they can pay for their medications. They do not deserve people treating them like trash because they are not mind readers and do not know that you don't want what they are offering.

Sorry to go off on a rant like this, but I have been on the other side of the fence and find it disgusting how some people treat these people (yes they really are people). No one would ever treat them that way if they saw them face to face, but behind the safety of being on the phone they have no trouble treating these people like criminals or worse.

 

[auntdot]

thanks amy. Was about to order it when I noticed that they would send the next installment automatically. Yeah, they will notify me first with a card, but if I don't do something to cancel the order they will send it. Have has that problem with that organization before. And frankly I do not like the marketing tactic.

As much as I like the product, I will pass on this.

 

[auntdot]

Sorry GB, just do not like to be bothered. A lot of us work at different hours and maybe we just got to sleep. Sure they are people who do that, but in my estimate they are rude ones. I feel sorry anyone has to do that to feed their families.

 

[GB]

That is fine that you do not like to be bothered. All you need to do is say "Thanks, but no thanks. Please take me off your list". Letting them ramble on for 10 minutes and then hanging up on them is not only rude it is diminishing their ability to make a living, not to mention what it does to their mental state of mind. You know what you feel like when someone hangs up on you. How do you think these people feel when it happens to them 50x a night? Like I said, do not forget that these people are someone kids. You would not want someone hanging up the phone on your daughter and being rude to them. Don't do it to someone else's daughter.

 

[Caine]

GB,

You could have gotten the same deal through your local PBS station, and the purchase could have been tax deductable!

 

[buckytom]

gb, i think the thing that makes it offensive is that it is a call into your home, not just some passing/passive sales pitch that can easily be ignored like a tv commercial or billboard. also, it's often at unacceptable hours, such as during dinner or family time in the evening. the telemarketers know that people are home more often at those times, so they take advantage of it, regardless that they know that THE VAST MAJORITY of people do not like it.

millions may want to buy the item or service, but a huge multiple of that is annoyed by those calls. that doesn't have an effect in any way on the telemarketer, though. the calls keep coming, at a time more advantageous to the seller, not the buyer. i'm not really sure there is a good time, come to think of it. so the seller just digs in and hopes for a small percentage of cold calls to be successful.

i, too, was a telemarketer for a short time. i agree that you shouldn't be outright rude; the "sellers" on the other end are just working slobs. but if a business doesn't seem to care about my time, i won't care about theirs. so i often just put the phone down, until i hear that odd "beep beep beep" when a line is off the hook, a few minutes later.

the guy on the phone still gets paid his wage (maybe not as much if it's dependant on the number of calls made, but hey, that's the biz. they have a timeout statistically pre-set, so they know what they're doing), and the parent company loses out on time that they could be annoying, er, selling to other people.


lol, i've never heard of anyone that felt sorry for a telemarketer before. you're the first.

lolol, btw, i sure hope they call me. i'd love to get the recipes/dvd package.

i'm gonna check out pbs. thanks caine!

 

[GB]

I hate getting telemarketer calls too for the most part Bucky. I just think that being rude is not appropriate for either party. There are rude telemarketers and those people deserve no respect, but there are people who answer the phone who are rude and those people are just as bad. Ever hear the term "Don't shoot the messenger"? Why be rude to the person calling you. They don't want to be calling you. They most likely hate their job. If they don't call you then they get fired.

As a telemarketer I have had whistles blown in my ear, received death threats, had my family threatened, be called every name in the book, and on and on and on. Do you know what my crime was? I was working for a bank calling existing customers who had home equity loan. They were had a rate of x. I was calling to tell them rates have dropped and I could give them x-2% and there were no fees. I was essentially telling them the bank would like to save you thousands of dollars and you don't have to do a thing. Now is that really deserving of death threats?

As to your point of calling during dinner, there is no such thing as a standard dinner time anymore. There are people who eat at 5pm and people who eat at 10pm. Telemarketers certainly are not going to call when people are not home. What sense would that make?

And I disagree that the vast majority of people do not like it. Telemarketing is the largest money making marketing business there is. Billions of dollars each year. If so many people hate it then who is buying all this product and making it the most successful direct sales type thing there is? Sure people like to complain about it and tons of people do hate it (myself included), but there are more people who do not. you just do not hear from those people because you never hear from satisfied people, only people who complain.

My ONLY point I am trying to make is that the person on the other end of the phone does not deserve rude treatment. It really is as simple as that. Before you do something rude to a telemarketer ask yourself if you would do that to someone you know. If the answer is no then don't do it to this person either.

 

[buckytom]

agreed.

death threats? wow, some people need to get a life.

i usually don't say anything beyond hello. i didn't ask for their call, so i don't respond and just put the phone down.

 

[GotGarlic]

It only takes a few seconds to say, "We're not interested, but thanks for calling." That's what I do. GB is right - hanging up on someone is rude, no matter who they are. Trying to justify it by saying you didn't ask for the call makes no sense. I don't ask for kids around the neighborhood to come by trying to sell me candy or candles, but I don't slam the door in their faces.

 

[buckytom]

when did i say i slammed the door on kids, gg? please don't put words in my mouth.

i just turn the volume down on the tv and hide...

if they persist, i get out the garden hose.

 

[Andy M.]

So, GB, which recipes did you make from the cookbook??

 

[GB]

last night I made a stir fry recipe with a fried noodle cake that my wife is probably still talking about today. I also made a chicken pot pie recipe that was done in a skillet. Also a chicken broccoli and ziti skillet recipe and a chicken and rice dish.

All of the recipes took roughly 30 minutes and each one was fantastic.

 

[GotGarlic]

when did i say i slammed the door on kids, gg? please don't put words in my mouth.

I didn't say you did that - I was comparing hanging up on a telemarketer without saying anything to slamming the door on someone; the kids just came to mind as the kind of unwanted soliciting I get most often.

 

[KathyJ]

I love ATK and Cook's Illustrated. I try to watch the show on Saturdays, but don't always make it. I am a "member" of their website though and you can get all of their recipes there. Their cookbooks are on my wishlist - I think I only have two of the ATK ones and the first 6-7 of the CI Best Recipe ones.


and as for telemarketers, I try to tell them that I'm not interested before hanging up. I remember once, I had to tell them five times and they still were trying to get me to buy whatever... I usually don't go past two times now before I hang up.

 

[Andy M.]

Once you determine you aren't interested, the key is to stop listening. Say, "No, Thanks." and hang up. Don't listen for a pause in the conversation. They will keep talking to keep you on the line.

 

[chave982]

GB,

You could have gotten the same deal through your local PBS station, and the purchase could have been tax deductable!

Caine, where can you purchase it through PBS? I'm looking on their website, but I can't find it anywhere under the "Shop PBS" section.

 

[Loprraine]

"fried noodle cake that my wife is probably still talking about today. I also made a chicken pot pie recipe that was done in a skillet. Also a chicken broccoli and ziti skillet recipe and a chicken and rice dish. "

They all sound like something I'd like to make. Thanks!!