MICHEL MARTIN, BYLINE: This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
And I'm Leila Fadel. Good morning.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
FADEL: It's time for everybody's favorite holiday quiz show, Do You Know Your Ho-Ho-Ho?
MARTIN: Play along at home as Leila and I humiliate ourselves trying to answer seasonal trivia questions compiled by Southern Living Magazine. The winner will take home the coveted title of Holiday Know-It-All, an honor that is simultaneously priceless and worthless. Good luck, Leila.
FADEL: Thank you, Michel, and good luck to you. Now, let's meet our quizmaster and scorekeeper, Southern Living senior food editor Josh Miller. Hi, Josh.
(APPLAUSE)
JOSH MILLER: Hi, y'all. How are you doing?
FADEL: Pretty well. We're a bit nervous.
MARTIN: We don't know yet.
FADEL: Yeah.
MARTIN: We'll see.
FADEL: We'll see.
MARTIN: We'll see. OK.
FADEL: Alright, tell us the rules of the game, Josh.
MILLER: So holiday trivia is just like regular trivia, except we play by the grinches rules.
FADEL: Uh-oh.
MARTIN: Uh-oh.
MILLER: So I'm going to ask you questions one at a time, so we're going to take turns.
FADEL: OK.
MILLER: But if you answer incorrectly, the other player has the chance to steal the point with the correct answer.
MARTIN: Oh.
MILLER: So steal, like the Grinch.
MARTIN: OK.
MILLER: Best of luck to you both. And remember, no cheating. Santa's watching.
(LAUGHTER)
MILLER: OK. Who wants to go first? Who's feeling brave today?
MARTIN: I do. I'm nervous. I want to go first.
MILLER: So question one - which iconic Christmas song was released on a Christmas album that reached No. 1 in 1994, but didn't hit the top spot on the Billboard singles chart until 25 years later?
MARTIN: What? I have no idea. This isn't the music department. Yikes.
MILLER: You're going to kick yourself. Are you sure? You want to just give it a try?
MARTIN: Oh, is it Mariah Carey?
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
MILLER: It is. It's Mariah Carey.
MARTIN: Oh, OK.
FADEL: Oh, my God, I was thinking that, too.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU")
MARIAH CAREY: (Singing) All I want for Christmas is you.
MARTIN: I love that song. I'm sorry. I know there are haters out there.
MILLER: It's like you love to hate it. Once it comes on, and then it's in your head for, like, the entire holiday season.
MARTIN: But I love that song. I play it all the...
FADEL: Me, too.
MARTIN: Well, we're just jealous that we can't sing like her.
MILLER: I feel like we would break the recording equipment. So I'm going to...
(LAUGHTER)
MILLER: ...Spare us all that horror.
MARTIN: OK.
MILLER: So good job, Michel. That's one for you. Leila - in the classic holiday movie "Home Alone," where's the McCallister family going on vacation when they leave Kevin behind?
FADEL: Paris.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
MILLER: Correct.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "HOME ALONE")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Village Police Department.
CATHERINE O'HARA: (As Kate McCallister) Yeah, hi, look, I'm calling from Paris. I have a son who's home alone. Our phones there...
MILLER: Congratulations.
FADEL: Yay.
MILLER: So, one and one, we're doing good. So question number three. OK, Michel, before we start, do you like Christmas desserts? So are you a big baker?
MARTIN: Yes.
MILLER: OK. Then, pardon my pun, Yule (ph) love this next question. So which country did the Yule log cake come from - France, Switzerland or Sweden?
MARTIN: Oh, man. I feel like this is a trick question. I feel like I want to say France, so maybe I feel like I should say Switzerland, but I'm not sure. France?
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
FADEL: Good job.
MARTIN: (Laughter).
MILLER: My mom made us a Yule log one Christmas, and I think we were in our, like, mean high school stage. And she claims that we laughed at her because we thought it was ugly.
MARTIN: (Laughter).
MILLER: And she's never forgiven us. So who knows if that really happened?
MARTIN: All right. Go ahead, Leila. You're up.
FADEL: Alright.
MILLER: Alright, Leila. Question four. In what decade did the first Christmas stamp appear in the U.S.? And this is multiple choice. So do you think it was in the 1940s, the '50s, or the '60s?
FADEL: The '40s?
(SOUNDBITE OF BUZZER)
MILLER: It was close. OK. What about you, Michel?
MARTIN: What do I think?
MILLER: Yeah, do you want to steal?
MARTIN: Oh, I'm going to say the '60s.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
MARTIN: Yes.
FADEL: How did you know that?
MARTIN: My brother used to collect stamps. That's the only reason. Yeah.
FADEL: I also like that Josh was so nice. He was like, You're so close. I was the furthest off of the three options.
MARTIN: (Laughter).
FADEL: OK.
MILLER: So, the U.S. Postal Service issued its first Christmas stamp in Pennsylvania in November of 1962, and by the end of the year, 1 billion stamps had been printed.
MARTIN: Oh, wow.
MILLER: I just can't believe that, like, back in the day, it only cost 4 cents for a stamp. It's pretty amazing.
FADEL: (Laughter).
MILLER: OK. So final question - winner takes all.
FADEL: Wait, so far, I'm losing, right?
MARTIN: Well, no, it's not that you're losing...
FADEL: It's that...
MARTIN: ...It's that I'm winning.
FADEL: OK. That's right.
MILLER: OK. What is the name of the traditional Southern holiday dish that typically contains oranges, pineapple, coconut, cherries and sometimes even marshmallows and can be eaten as a dessert or a salad?
MARTIN: Oh, I know that.
FADEL: Oh, that thing...
MARTIN: That thing.
FADEL: ...That nobody should eat. What is that called?
MARTIN: Oh, man. It's not - I know what Waldorf salad is. That has apples and...
FADEL: No, it's not Waldorf. It's...
MARTIN: ...Walnuts. I'm from New York. I shouldn't - there's no reason I would know this.
MILLER: (Laughter).
MARTIN: I know Waldorf salad.
FADEL: Yeah.
MILLER: I can give you a hint.
FADEL: OK. Give us a hint. Give us a hint.
MILLER: So think Greek mythology.
MARTIN: That does not help.
MILLER: (Laughter).
FADEL: Aphrodite salad?
MARTIN: Ambrosia.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
MILLER: Yes.
FADEL: Ambrosia.
MILLER: Yay.
MARTIN: Yay. When you said Aphrodite...
MILLER: Yes. Oh, my God.
FADEL: I was like, I don't know. Ambrosia. That's the salad.
MARTIN: Ambrosia. That's so funny.
FADEL: I've never understood that salad.
MILLER: I love that you said the fact that nobody should eat it. Y'all...
(LAUGHTER)
MILLER: ...My grandmother - it's kind of true. Like, if you do ambrosia fresh, it's great. But once you start throwing marshmallows in...
MARTIN: Yeah.
MILLER: ...It gets a little wonky. But my grandmother used to serve her ambrosia straight from the crisper drawer. She would make it in the refrigerator crisper drawer...
(LAUGHTER)
MILLER: ...And then bring it to the dining room table and serve it. It was the weirdest thing. So...
MARTIN: So yeah...
FADEL: Wait, does that mean that Michel is the winner takes it all Know-It-All.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELLS)
MILLER: Oh, it's a Christmas miracle. Congratulations. So our winner is Michel.
MARTIN: Yay. What do I get, though? Do I get ambrosia?
FADEL: You get to be known as Michel who Knows-It-All...
MARTIN: (Laughter).
FADEL: ...Which I already knew.
MARTIN: Well, I...
FADEL: I didn't need a game for that.
(LAUGHTER)
MILLER: You know, I'll tell you what. We will set our test kitchen on developing a recipe for ambrosia that is shelf stable, and I will send you a box in the mail.
(LAUGHTER)
MARTIN: And I'll give it to Leila.
FADEL: (Laughter) The prize we all want.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
FADEL: That was Josh Miller, senior food editor for Southern Living Magazine. Thank you so much. That was really fun.
MILLER: Yeah, thank you so much. This was the greatest Christmas gift, getting to chat with y'all. This was so much fun. So thank you so much. Happy holidays.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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