Produce News for Week of May 9 - May 13, 2011

SPINACH (Monday, May 9): Heh, singer Billy Joel turns 62 years old this very day. You didn’t know this, but Billy Joel was one of the best marketers ever for Spinach. That’s right. Fresh Spinach. What? You have never heard his song for Spinach? Oh yes. Billy Joel wrote this song for Spinach. It goes like this. “Sing us a song Mr. Produce Man. Sing us a song tonight. Cuz we’re all in the mood for some healthy food…and I want my Spinach tonight.” Beautiful Spinach. Now, when you are picking out your Spinach in the store, here’s what I want you to do. I want you to check out the leaves. I want you to look at the bunches and I want you to find the bunch that has the smallest leaves. You see, when a Spinach leaf gets really big, it get tougher. So you look for the bunches of Spinach with the smallest leaves. The smaller the Spinach leaf, the sweeter the Spinach. Also, the more tender the Spinach. That’s what I look for. By the way…Spinach…it’s a superfood. It is so healthy for you.
GRANNY SMITH, PINK LADY APPLES (Tuesday, May 10): You will literally go gaga…over this lady. Actually, I brought a couple ladies with me. First, the Pink Lady. Oh my goodness. A fabulous apple. Oh my goodness. Pink Lady was first developed in western Australia. It’s a cross between a Golden Delicious and a Lady Williams. Now, that is an old, old variety that I am sure you have probably never heard. It’s a great antique apple. InAustralia, they still call the Pink Lady a Cripps Pink. I like the name Pink Lady. The apple does have a little pink blush to it. I think it is a gorgeous apple. A Lady to go gaga over. There is another lady from Australia. The Granny Smith. That’s right. You have been going gaga over this lady since the 1980s. The Granny Smith became the third most popular apple in the world. Although today, it’s dropped down a little bit. It’s either the 4th or 5th most popular apple in America today. Here are two ladies...in the produce department. Fantastic apple.
SWEET CORN I (Wednesday, May 11): Well, I am one very happy person. New crop summer sweet corn has finally been making its way into the supermarket. Florida…the Belle Glade growing region in Florida. California…the Coachella Valley in California, the desert region. I have seen some of the very first new crop corn from the Coachella Valley. I have been waiting. And it is gorgeous. This has been one of the worst winters and early springs for corn supplies that I have seen in all of my 30 years in the produce industry. So I am very excited. Now one of the things about corn, keep them ice cold. I tell my beautiful and lovely wife Julie, when she is in the store, Summer Sweet Corn is the last thing she buys, and when she gets home, it is one of the first things she puts away. Keep it ice cold. When you don’t keep Corn ice cold, let me tell you what’s going to happen. Look at the ear of Corn. See the kernals. If those kernals have a cute little dimple in them, that’s when the sugar has turned to starch. Never ever in a million years should you eat corn that has dimples in it. That’s the corn that sticks to your teeth…because of all the starch.
SWEET CORN II (Thursday, May 12): I know…the little Marks Brothers…little Landon and Lincoln. They are 8 and 7 years old. Now, they love Corn…but you know, they are at that age where they are loosing some of their teeth, so it’s a little hard to eat Corn on the cob. So they ask Mom if she can cut the Corn cut off the cob. So we do that for them. No big deal. But, one of the things about cutting the Corn off the cob is that you have this big, long 7” ear of Corn, and you take you knife and start to cut the Corn off the Cob. What happens to the kernals? Yeah, they like fly everywhere, and end up all over the counter, on the floor. You better have a dog around the house, so that they can clean up the mess. So here’s what you do. Instead of cutting the Corn off the full ear, simply cut that ear of Corn in half. Now, it’s only 3-1/2” long. Now, when you take your knife and cut the kernals off, it’s closer to the cutting board. The kernals don’t go flying everywhere. It makes it a whole lot neater.
SWEET CORN III (Friday, May 13): Super Sweet Summer Corn is finally coming into the supermarkets. I love it. There are a couple things about Corn…Oh by the way. You know the silk on the Corn? Right. You see all that silk. Well, there is one silk for every kernel of Corn. That’s right, one silk for every kernel of corn. Now, one of the other things about Corn that you probably didn’t realize is…you can eat it raw. That’s right. You don’t have to boil it, microwave it, grill it. You can just eat it raw. That is so good. What? You never heard of that? You don’t have to heat it up? No. There is only one purpose, only one reason on the face of the planet to heat up the Corn…and that’s to melt the butter. So I say put the butter in the microwave, melt it and then drizzle the melted butter over your Corn. So you don’t need to heat the Corn. Also, one of the other fun things you can do with Corn, for the kids…turn your Corn into Corn Lollipops. Simply cut the Corn into inch and half pieces. Get a wooden skewer and poke right through the middle of the Corn. Now, you have a cute Corn Lollipop. Get some fun toppings or dips for Corn and your kids will love it. It’s very fun for the kids.