The magic of the ‘customer assistance’ phone number
Dorothy Eedy, Columnist On many products you can find an e-mail address and a phone number, usually
a free “1-800” call. I’ve only used this phone number twice and with
success, and have since heard from others that use it often when questions
need an answer, especially to do with allergies.
I always prefer to talk to a “live” person as I find you get an instant
answer and a solution to your problem. Using the e-mail, it could take more
time plus you get back far more information than you need.
Back to the telephone and my reason for calling just recently. My bridge
foursome was discussing cranberry juice as we have now cut out desserts and
tea and have only cranberry juice and snacks. When I said I always used
Ocean Spray frozen cranberry juice, another remarked  “but that isn’t pure
cranberry juice — it is cranberry cocktail.”
This piqued my curiosity and I phoned that tiny little magic number on the
can. A nice gentleman answered the phone (great public relations, he now
calls me by my first name and suggests I call anytime – mmm — even if just
to say hello?) and his answer to my question was that the name Cranberry
Cocktail was given their product in 1930 and is cranberry juice. Not pure,
as he said there is no such thing as pure cranberry juice in Canada. It
would be unpalatable, so a little sugar or something called glucose-fructose
is added. If you add the required amount water to frozen Cranberry Cocktail
it is exactly the same as Cranberry juice in a bottle, and I might add,
somewhat less expensive by 1 to 2 dollars.
A few days later a large envelope came in the mail and inside were several
pages of recipes, all new to me, and I was also thanked for my interest in
the product. The recipes, explained Robert, the nice gentleman, was to
encourage people to use cranberries all year round as they are a great
source of natural vitamin C. Cranberries are also packed with powerful
nutrients that cleanse and purify the body and help strengthen your immune
system.
As we are winging into salad days ahead the recipe as follows might add
interest to your menu.
Cranberry Spinach Salad with Warm Honey Dijon Bacon Dressing
1 package (284g) fresh spinach
1/2 cup Ocean Spray ‘Craisins’ (sweetened dried cranberries)
red onion slices
Dressing
4 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup lime juice
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Wash and dry spinach. Divide evenly among four salad plates. Top each with
approximately two tablespoons Craisins and onion slices. Combine dressing
ingredients in small glass mixing bowl using a wire whisk. Heat in microwave
on high for 1 minute. Makes about 1 cup.
The following I really liked.
Cranberry Clusters
1 cup Craisins
6 squares white chocolate, coarsely chopped
Place chocolate squares in microwave safe bowl. Microwave at 50 per cent
power for three minutes to partially melt chocolate. Stir in Craisins. Drop
by small spoonfuls onto foil-lined cookie sheet. Chill until firm, about 15
minutes. Wrap well and refrigerate. Store up to two weeks. Makes 16
clusters.
Apple Cranberry Crumble Pie
1 9-inch frozen deep dish pie shell
Crumble
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup softened butter
Filling
4 cups thinly sliced apples
1 cup Craisins
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
Preheat oven 350 degrees. Place crumble ingredients in small mixing bowl.
Work butter into dry ingredients until butter is size of small peas using
pastry blender or fork. Set aside.
Combine all filling ingredients in medium bowl; mix well. Spoon into pie
shell. Set filled pie shell on baking sheet, and sprinkle evenly with
crumble topping. Bake for 60 minutes or until golden brown. Loosely cover
with foil if pie browns too quickly. Cool. Makes one pie.