Speaker 1: Hey, the folks, it is Tuesday, June twenty third, and
Speaker 1: the TSA has issued a notice to our foreign fans
Speaker 1: and friends who are visiting the US for the World
Speaker 1: Cup stop putting ranch dressing in your carry on And
Speaker 1: with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ
Speaker 1: and What Robes has really now become a charming story
Speaker 1: and unexpected one out of the World Cup. I love this.
Speaker 2: Yes, this is one of the fun ones that we
Speaker 2: actually get to talk about because normally we pop on
Speaker 2: to do an episode and it's death, destruction, mayhem, division.
Speaker 2: This is unifying. Who excuse what a thunk it? Ranch
Speaker 2: dressing is going to bring the world together here in
Speaker 2: the World Cup. And honestly, I didn't even necessarily know
Speaker 2: until this story and a recent experience that ranch dressing
Speaker 2: was quintessentially the American.
Speaker 1: It is all ours. It was invented by guys from
Speaker 1: Nebraska who moved to Alaska. Can't get more American than that.
Speaker 1: How out backy does that sound like? But when he
Speaker 1: invented it, he was in Santa Barbara. But we'll get
Speaker 1: into that later.
Speaker 2: You always asked me too, it's funny when we go
Speaker 2: to other countries Obviously we love to travel. I think
Speaker 2: anyone who listens to this feed knows that. And you've
Speaker 2: even asked, like what is American? Like, what do we
Speaker 2: have that people can only find here? And so we
Speaker 2: were trying to think like hamburgers, not really hot dogs.
Speaker 2: I don't know, because it's like the Germans started all
Speaker 2: of that, and then we kind of came up with
Speaker 2: barbecue and meats, and so that's where we had landed.
Speaker 2: Never once did it cross my mind that it was
Speaker 2: going to be ranch dressing that was going to put
Speaker 2: us on the map. I was gonna say, culinarily speaking.
Speaker 1: Yeah, ran dressing, it's our thing. So funny the French
Speaker 1: ab of their cuisine.
Speaker 2: Okay, we got our condiment.
Speaker 1: We got our range dress in this This is such
Speaker 1: a cool story and it did make sense rolls and
Speaker 1: it did because of recent experience. I thought it was
Speaker 1: in more than one place, but you and I bounced
Speaker 1: around Europe four countries in eleven days, and I thought
Speaker 1: it was more than one occasion, but at least one
Speaker 1: notable one where you couldn't get any ranch dressed.
Speaker 2: I actually had the gull and now I'm laughing at myself,
Speaker 2: but we would see where do we go. I didn't
Speaker 2: ask for it in France. That would have been really
Speaker 2: I was not dumb enough to ask for it in France.
Speaker 2: I didn't ask for it in Belgium, and I didn't
Speaker 2: ask for it in the Netherlands. I actually it didn't
Speaker 2: even cross my mind that they would possibly have it.
Speaker 2: But when we got to Ireland, I guess I felt
Speaker 2: the one speaking English, We're close enough. We know our
Speaker 2: cultures aren't that different. You know they should. I was
Speaker 2: just sure they were going to have ranch dressing. She
Speaker 2: looked at me like I had three eyes when I said,
Speaker 2: do you all have any ranch dressing or maybe some
Speaker 2: blue cheese dressing? Me like I was crazy and what.
Speaker 1: Were you trying to do? It was for the dip
Speaker 1: a wing.
Speaker 2: Or yes, I had some buffalo wings and I wanted
Speaker 2: actually asked for buffalo sauce too. I asked for any
Speaker 2: of those three things. All they could give me was mayonnaise.
Speaker 1: At this point, I'm hiding under the table as you
Speaker 1: keep asking the American.
Speaker 2: Questions different flavored mayonnaise. Ew And obviously in Belgium when
Speaker 2: they hand you fries, because one has to order fries
Speaker 2: when one is in Brussels, and they always just throw
Speaker 2: a big old plate of mayonnaise on the table, and
Speaker 2: for me, that is about as gross as it gains. So, yes,
Speaker 2: I just had this experience, foolishly thinking that in Europe
Speaker 2: I could have access to ranch dressing. Well, now everyone understands,
Speaker 2: or at least the folks who have come to America
Speaker 2: understand why I so badly wanted ranch.
Speaker 1: They have been denied this experience but fought too long.
Speaker 1: Welcome to America. Yes, rope didn't make sense. They're handing
Speaker 1: you mayo, but if they had ranch dressing available to them, well,
Speaker 1: they're getting exposed to it. Yes, folks, there are many
Speaker 1: places around the world, of course that have ranch dressing,
Speaker 1: but a lot of places it's not it's not that prevalent.
Speaker 1: People haven't come up with it, don't know about it,
Speaker 1: don't keep it. It's not in the grocery store, it's
Speaker 1: not in the restaurant. So robes they say, folks are
Speaker 1: coming here, and some of the stuff online the social
Speaker 1: media is hilarious about it. Folks are coming here, trying
Speaker 1: ranch dressing for the first time, losing their minds. I
Speaker 1: love it, trying to stock up and take it back
Speaker 1: home to the point that TSA has playfully but still
Speaker 1: they say it's serious. They're having to stop so many
Speaker 1: people trying to take ranch dressing back, and.
Speaker 2: I understand it because it is so versatile. Think about it.
Speaker 2: What can't you dip ranch dressing into. It's great, obviously
Speaker 2: it's a salad dressing. But then you've got the crue
Speaker 2: de te vegetables and you're not even a fan of
Speaker 2: anything creamy, but you love your ranch dip for the wings,
Speaker 2: the wings, the vegetable, the potato chips. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: has anyone dipped a lazed potato chip at ranch dip?
Speaker 2: It's like crack, It's so good. So yes, not that
Speaker 2: I would know. That's just to say so yes, please
Speaker 2: please understand that was just colloquially meant. But here's what
Speaker 2: the TSA put out. I thought, is this duffy again
Speaker 2: because he has been very clever.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think it's some probably twenty two
Speaker 1: year old running their social media games.
Speaker 2: Okay, very cute, it reads it lands, it's very good.
Speaker 2: Here's the TSA post today. Who knew dip plomacy could
Speaker 2: be achieved through addressing the obvious ranch is the king
Speaker 2: of condiments. The world is slowly discovering ranch pairs perfectly
Speaker 2: with pizza, chicken, wings, fries, onion rings, caesadillas, crackers, chips, vegetables,
Speaker 2: and the list just keeps growing. Are you kicking around
Speaker 2: the idea of flying home with your favorite dip? If
Speaker 2: you're traveling within the US, make sure to keep your
Speaker 2: carry on sauces to three point four ounces or less
Speaker 2: and place any larger containers in your checked bags. Some
Speaker 2: heroes wear capes, others bring ranch.
Speaker 1: Well done.
Speaker 2: That was awesome.
Speaker 1: That's really really were of.
Speaker 2: That in this world from our government agencies.
Speaker 1: They just engaged with the public in a playful way.
Speaker 1: I don't have that many pleasant TSA experiences ropes.
Speaker 2: I don't think many people do.
Speaker 1: This is a nice one. That's cute, that's fun, that's engaging,
Speaker 1: and it kind of humanizes them. I really really like
Speaker 1: that and wish there was more.
Speaker 2: And so this was all put up these next So.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what you read was the captions, but they had
Speaker 1: these just individual images, just blank black pages with this some.
Speaker 2: Of this writing on social media, so yeah, with the.
Speaker 1: Same post and these were clever little sayings as well.
Speaker 1: One of them said Okay, please avoid chugging your ranch
Speaker 1: outside security. The airlines will check it for you. It's
Speaker 1: kind of making a plan on you see people all
Speaker 1: check the water.
Speaker 2: But that's hilarious. I like this one days since the
Speaker 2: last airport ranch incident colon zero. That's good. And then
Speaker 2: this is the other. If you're visiting for a very
Speaker 2: large sporting event and you happen to discover ranch while
Speaker 2: you're here, please pack it in your check bag on
Speaker 2: the way home. Thank you. So they're literally putting out
Speaker 2: PSAs the tsay is about what to do with all
Speaker 2: the ranch stressing you're trying to bring with you.
Speaker 1: It's adorable and I'm not sure how much they're really
Speaker 1: trying to cut down on the problem. But they noticed
Speaker 1: a little uptick in something, so I don't know if
Speaker 1: they're just being playful or or there is really something
Speaker 1: behind this. I haven't seen numbers about how many of
Speaker 1: these things they've collected, or or what some people look.
Speaker 1: We've flown places before and been in another country, found
Speaker 1: something we wanted, they put it in our carry on.
Speaker 1: They stopped us at the gate, and we had to
Speaker 1: make a decision. We're just gonna throw this away or
Speaker 1: we're gonna go back and repack it and do the
Speaker 1: whole thing, and maybe some people are just going back
Speaker 1: and repacking and making sure they get their rank.
Speaker 2: It's that valuable because you cannot get it anywhere else.
Speaker 2: I liked what the Santa Clara Police Department put out.
Speaker 2: They jumped on this bandwagon as well and had a blast,
Speaker 2: and I thought this one was really clever. They said,
Speaker 2: We've spent years preparing for the World Cup, traffic plans,
Speaker 2: security plans, emergency plans. What we did not prepare for
Speaker 2: was a coordinated international enthusiasm for ranch dressing. We are
Speaker 2: now monitoring an emerging situation involving visitors and ranch dressing,
Speaker 2: which appears to be spreading across multiple regions. If ranch
Speaker 2: dressing is accompanying you on your journey back home, please
Speaker 2: report your country of origin in the comments. We're trying
Speaker 2: to assess the scope of the situation.
Speaker 1: That's cute, and that's not something we usually assign to police. Cute.
Speaker 1: That's cute. That's almost even the service to the community there.
Speaker 1: I just love them getting in and engaging in this way.
Speaker 1: I've I got no negative when it comes to this.
Speaker 1: But again, Rope it's just it's kind of fascinating to think.
Speaker 1: And we've gone places before and you discover something, and hell,
Speaker 1: we've packed hot sauce into our ya bag. We bring there.
Speaker 1: Certain liquor you can only get in certain countries in
Speaker 1: the Caribbeans, certain.
Speaker 2: Chocolates you can only get. I even like I didn't
Speaker 2: like European gum. I mean, there are certain things you
Speaker 2: just like in different countries that you bring back with you.
Speaker 1: And you stock up. So it's kind of cool that
Speaker 1: we have something now that's coveted.
Speaker 2: That we never realized. I mean, think about how many
Speaker 2: times you and I have had that conversation. What is
Speaker 2: it that we have here in America that people don't
Speaker 2: know about, that people can't get Never would have thought it.
Speaker 2: But this you did a little well, you did a
Speaker 2: big deep dive. Not to minimize your dive. You did
Speaker 2: a dive on ranch dressing history. And the creator, Steve
Speaker 2: Henson born in Nebraska, moved to Alaska in nineteen forty nine,
Speaker 2: so he's been at this where he was at this
Speaker 2: for a while.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a cool It really is a cool American
Speaker 1: story that, of course I didn't know. Look, I guess
Speaker 1: I assumed that it was made in America, but I
Speaker 1: thought maybe just some big company, some Craft or yeah,
Speaker 1: whatever like that. They mixed it up in a somewhere
Speaker 1: in the lab and here's the flavor that we present ranch.
Speaker 1: But it wasn't that at all. I am going to
Speaker 1: explain that history. But to go along with Robes, I
Speaker 1: wanted to stick with our theme of companies getting in
Speaker 1: on this police department in on this because Craft did
Speaker 1: get involved. And I don't know, and if you can
Speaker 1: tell me was this serious or not? Are they f real?
Speaker 2: I don't know, but I feel like maybe they would
Speaker 2: issue a small batch or some sort of a one
Speaker 2: time marketing ploy and if it takes off, maybe they
Speaker 2: would start making little ranch bottles that are three point
Speaker 2: four ounces or less, just like look you've got the
Speaker 2: alcohol bottles that are in those self served sizes. Maybe
Speaker 2: this is an opportunity for them that they're about to seize.
Speaker 2: But yeah, they put out a photo It was partially
Speaker 2: AI generated, which they acknowledged, but it says that they
Speaker 2: are working on a travel friendly way to bring the
Speaker 2: taste of America home. So it said introducing tsa compliant ranch.
Speaker 1: That's amazing. Are they for real.
Speaker 2: I mean, look, they say that they're working on the
Speaker 2: real thing. I would take them at their work.
Speaker 1: What if you could capture what if they're capturing a
Speaker 1: moment here? Now the world is talking about ranch dressing,
Speaker 1: but even folks. I mean, if you had the opportunity
Speaker 1: to carry a few packets of ranch around with you
Speaker 1: when you flew, would you do that?
Speaker 2: Yes, people walk, people carry hot sauce with them. We
Speaker 2: you and I carry you and I okay, I won't
Speaker 2: say what we're carry but we carry seasonings with us,
Speaker 2: especially when we leave the country. So yeah, if you
Speaker 2: really I love ranch and you can't get it anywhere else.
Speaker 1: It's so funny. I asked that question that I immediately thought.
Speaker 1: I was like, wow, we absolutely carry ingredients that we
Speaker 1: might need. Yes, around thought too absolutely. But yeah, I
Speaker 1: did not know this very much American story. I also
Speaker 1: didn't know what's in the stuff. It makes sense, But
Speaker 1: did you know what was in the I did not,
Speaker 1: but mayo, buttermilk, and herbs of herbs.
Speaker 2: I knew there were herbs, and I knew there was buttermilk.
Speaker 2: The mayo, I guess, might have been in the original recipe.
Speaker 2: But I just know a lot of times we get
Speaker 2: the packets and mix it up ourselves with like sour
Speaker 2: cream and the dip. I like that. I just look.
Speaker 2: I just don't like anything that has that oily mayo
Speaker 2: like bass or texture. And I never taste that or
Speaker 2: feel that when I'm putting it on. It always just
Speaker 2: it's so buttermilky, I love it perfect, It's so good.
Speaker 2: Those herbs are amazing.
Speaker 1: So how does this guy come up with? This? Name
Speaker 1: is Steve Henson. He was born in Nebraska, but he
Speaker 1: moved to Alaska in nineteen forty nine after a stop
Speaker 1: in California when he was a teenager. Now he worked
Speaker 1: robes in Alaska in nineteen forty nine but was able
Speaker 1: to retire at the age of thirty five. He was
Speaker 1: working as a plumbing contract successful then.
Speaker 2: Quite that was so successful he was able to afford
Speaker 2: to move to Santa Barbara, Hey in the fifties.
Speaker 1: I assume it was still a three swanky place.
Speaker 2: But he bought a ranch.
Speaker 1: He got there right and got bored and retired at
Speaker 1: thirty five. Maybe a gentleman, Okay, so he wants to
Speaker 1: be a rancher. So what does he start doing? Ranching?
Speaker 1: And he bought what was called Sweetwater Ranch in nineteen
Speaker 1: fifty six and he turned it into the name of
Speaker 1: Hidden Valley Ranch. That's awesome the company we know now,
Speaker 1: But he didn't start it robes to make dressing. He
Speaker 1: started to be a literal guest ranch where you could come,
Speaker 1: you could rent homes, you could stay, and you could
Speaker 1: go fishing, hiking. It's an outdoorsy thing. But he started
Speaker 1: serving the dressing at dinner time to the guests there.
Speaker 1: Folks started going crazy. Words start spreading, and then he
Speaker 1: gave a batch to a local tavern who was a
Speaker 1: friend of his started selling it. That was the first
Speaker 1: place that ever had on a menu, and it just
Speaker 1: went crazy. The ranch became a mail order business. They
Speaker 1: ended up out growing the ranch and had to move
Speaker 1: to a big warehouse. He finally sold the company in
Speaker 1: the early seventies. That is where you get your ranch.
Speaker 2: And that is about the most American story I have
Speaker 2: ever heard, or American success story I've ever heard. So
Speaker 2: that's pretty cool.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah. He came up with it to feed his
Speaker 1: construction workers and whatnot, the plumbing business in Alaska. That's
Speaker 1: when he came up with it. It was just a random.
Speaker 2: That's amazing and I never knew that story. And who
Speaker 2: would have thunk that it took the World Cup for
Speaker 2: us to actually learn something about that is a quintessentially
Speaker 2: American continent that we all know and love that perhaps
Speaker 2: we just didn't know anything about until now. Very very cool.
Speaker 2: How about this when we come back. Yes, talked about
Speaker 2: how ranch is sweeping the world, but so is a
Speaker 2: song from nineteen seventy one. We'll tell you what it
Speaker 2: is when we come back and welcome back everyone to
Speaker 2: this episode of Amy and TJ. I wonder if all
Speaker 2: of you listening, or at least some of you listening,
Speaker 2: have been swept up with the World Cup fever. And
Speaker 2: you know what, I don't even really think you have
Speaker 2: to love soccer that much to just get excited about
Speaker 2: seeing all of these people from around the world make
Speaker 2: their way, some of them to America for the first time.
Speaker 2: And they're not just going to big cities like New
Speaker 2: York and La No, they're going to Dallas, They're going
Speaker 2: to Seattle, They're going to all throughout this country and
Speaker 2: experiencing our country, and maybe we're seeing our country through
Speaker 2: their eyes. People going crazy over free refills costco the
Speaker 2: waffle House, twenty four to seven diners, all these things
Speaker 2: that we kind of take for granted, they're in awe of.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm still kind of fascinated by some of
Speaker 1: those things.
Speaker 2: We even were just in Ireland and we had some
Speaker 2: amazing people we met who were telling us every time
Speaker 2: they land in America, the first place they go is
Speaker 2: to CBS so that they can buy all the things
Speaker 2: that are banned in Europe, like teeth whitening toothpaste and
Speaker 2: whitening eye drops and melatonin. It's just funny. You don't
Speaker 2: realize when people come here, they're so excited to take
Speaker 2: in so much of what we take for granted. And
Speaker 2: so it's been cool, I think, to see that all
Speaker 2: happen in a lot of news articles. So many people
Speaker 2: are on TikTok, and it's just so cute to see
Speaker 2: Germans shocked that we have free refills. I mean, just
Speaker 2: little funny things like that.
Speaker 1: So those things, you know, what are they calling it none?
Speaker 1: This is hilarious And if you ever get time to
Speaker 1: do it just for giggles, use the hashtag FIFA fifteen.
Speaker 1: Hashtag FIFA fifteen robes. They're saying, people like your freshman year,
Speaker 1: you gain weight. People are coming to America consuming all
Speaker 1: of our stuff and they're picking up a FIFA fifteen pounds.
Speaker 2: That is, it's good, actually, hilarious and sad, ye all
Speaker 2: in one, because yes, we do know how to cook
Speaker 2: some real we like to call it comfort food, but
Speaker 2: it's just really massively unhealthy. So yes, they are leaning
Speaker 2: into the comfort food. They can go back and eat
Speaker 2: their healthy food and when they get home, I guess.
Speaker 2: But the other fun little piece of America that is
Speaker 2: just spreading like wildfire is the song that I love,
Speaker 2: John Denver's take Me Home, Country Roads. I think it's
Speaker 2: just called country Roads, but I didn't realize this. The
Speaker 2: US soccer team chose that song is their postmatch celebratory song,
Speaker 2: and so they it's kind of become the US men's
Speaker 2: national theme song. And so now there have been a
Speaker 2: lot of videos circulating of people in the stand they're
Speaker 2: screaming country Roads and they want you to sing it.
Speaker 2: So yes, it makes sense when you hear a bunch
Speaker 2: of US fans cheering on the United States singing country Roads.
Speaker 2: So yes, it was just swept over the Seattle Stadium.
Speaker 2: It swept over several other stadiums where the US was playing.
Speaker 2: But what was really cool is, all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: over the weekend in Atlanta, you have Checchia versus South Africa.
Speaker 2: All of a sudden, the crowd just starts singing country
Speaker 2: Roads and they keep singing even after the band stops
Speaker 2: playing it. The same thing happened with Spain's match against
Speaker 2: Saudi Arabia on Sunday, so to see, you know, people
Speaker 2: from other countries who might not even speak English singing along.
Speaker 2: There's a video even in Boston showing a crowd of
Speaker 2: Scottish fans singing Country Roads by John Denver. It's kind
Speaker 2: of amazing.
Speaker 1: I love it, folks, I absolutely love that, dude. That's
Speaker 1: one of those like sweet Caroline type stadium songs that
Speaker 1: everybody can sing along to, and it's cool and it's
Speaker 1: right to see them doing it. I guess we, or
Speaker 1: maybe so I look just as silly singing bella chow,
Speaker 1: bella chow. But I love that song. I can consume
Speaker 1: a culture with not being in it, maybe fully understanding it,
Speaker 1: but you just love it when you hear it. So
Speaker 1: I dig the and that John Denver song. It's a
Speaker 1: great stadium song. It is a great world cup song.
Speaker 2: I get chills like I look at me, I have
Speaker 2: chills thinking about it. We need more stories like this,
Speaker 2: We need more stories where we can all be from
Speaker 2: very different places. But there are some things that we
Speaker 2: can all agree on just are awesome, like ranch dressing
Speaker 2: and country roads a few you know we've been. We're
Speaker 2: all look I shouldn't say well, but some of us
Speaker 2: might might not want to shout from the rooftops. We're Americans,
Speaker 2: you know, when you when you see the world and
Speaker 2: maybe perhaps how we're viewed. But it's nice. It's nice
Speaker 2: to lean into some of our culture enjoy it and
Speaker 2: enjoy watching other people from other countries actually get to
Speaker 2: experience it and like it. That's fun. So we hope
Speaker 2: you enjoyed this episode. And yeah, this has just been
Speaker 2: a we need more episodes like this bid.
Speaker 1: It's kind of a relief, but we have like a
Speaker 1: don't we have a trial to cover?
Speaker 2: That's all right? All right? Well, anyway, we hope you
Speaker 2: all enjoyed this respite from darkness that we usually end
Speaker 2: up having to talk about. So we appreciate you as always.
Speaker 2: I'm Ami Roboch alongside TJ. Holmes, we'll talk to y'all soon.