LONG PROMO:   I am so excited!  Take a look at this – 28 pounds of beautiful asparagus.  I’ll tell you why I’m so excited to see this carton.  Plus strawberries are finally starting to come down in price.  I’ll tell you why.  Butter leaf lettuce is going to be the hit at the Academy Awareds.  Plus I’ve got a cute little thing you can do with your grapefruit…next week, with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.

SHORT PROMO:  Hey, the king of the plate at the Oscar’s is going to be butter leaf lettuce…next week with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.
                                                                                                         
STRAWBERRIES (Monday, February 18):  Holy Toledo!  Over the past month or so we have learned that strawberry fields are not forever, especially when bad weather hits.  We had rain in California.  We had freezing temperatures and winds in Florida.  Those two regions are the primary regions we get strawberries this time of year.  And then we had Valentine’s Day.  Huge demand.  Low supply.  What does that mean?  We had very, very high prices, didn’t we, over the last four to five weeks even, but now finally fields are getting back to normal.  Strawberries are getting back to normal.  Prices are starting to go down, but you’re still going to see the effects of all that wind and rain.  Take a look at this.  This is what we call a fan.  Not my fan.  A strawberry fan.  And when you have improper pollinization in the fields like with wind or with rain, that’s when you end up with these odd shaped strawberries.  Now this does not affect the quality.  Man, these will still eat really, really good.  They just look a little weird.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.    (Takes Bite)  Mmmm.

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, I’m really excited - strawberry prices finally coming down!

ASPARAGUS (Tuesday, February 19): Oh, my goodness!  I am so excited.  That’s right, I am thrilled to death over a carton.  So don’t go anywhere.  Stay right there.  Don’t go anywhere.  Stay right there.  Look at that - 28 pounds of glorious asparagus.  So why am I so excited about this?  This is 28 pounds.  Up until now most of the asparagus has been packed in little 11 pound containers.  Well, 28 pounds tells me one thing.  There’s lots of asparagus in the fields of Mexico, Baja, the desert region of California, and they’re starting to harvest Salinas.  And this week, guess what!  They’re starting to harvest in the Delta region of California – the most famous region in all the world.  Speaking of the Delta, you know, 1972, even today, Richard Nixon flew to China for the very first time and he had with him Delta asparagus.  That’s right – on Air Force One – so he could have nice dinners in China, had some beautiful asparagus.  It’s that time of year.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report…I am really thrilled about this!

GRAPEFRUIT (Wednesday, February 20):  So how do you do grapefruit?  Beautiful grapefruits.  Peak of the season right now.   Some of the best prices.  Some of the best quality.  How do you eat it?  Now my wife, she thinks the grapefruit is kind of like an orange, you know.  She peels the thing and its it like an orange.  Or are you the kind that scoops it?  You’ve got one of the fancy spoons, you know, with the serrated edges, and you just scoop it out like that.  May I suggest a fun way. I  came up with this several years ago, and now a lot of people, in fact several restaurants are doing this as an appetizer.  You take the grapefruit right in half.  Oh, doesn’t that look good!  Right in the middle, right there, you put a little pat of butter and then you sprinkle some cinammon and brown sugar all over this, and that goes in the oven or broiler just a few minutes.  If its under the broiler, no more than two minutes.  If you’re going to bake it – about 375 degrees for about five minutes.  Ah!  That comes out.  It’s the most delicious thing…you’ll fall in love with grapefruit all over again.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.

TEASE: Hey, in my next Produce Man report, I’ve got a cool way of eating your grapefruit.

SWEET POTATOES (Thursday, February 21):  The poor old sweet potato.  You know there’s only a few times a year that most Americans will enjoy a sweet potato.  There is, of course, Thanksgiving.  Then you’ve got Christmas.  And then you’ve got Easter, and that’s like it.  And for the rest of the year, 362 days a year, although this year 363 days out of the year we just kind of leave sweet potatoes alone, leave them in their own little section of the produce department.  May I suggest something to you?  At least once a month would you please eat a beautiful sweet potato?  Not because you feel sorry for it.  It does happen to be the ugliest vegetable in the produce department, but because it also happens to be the healthiest vegetable in the produce department - loaded with vitamin A, beta caratine.   This potato, oh…and it’s one of the few potatoes you can eat naked.  I mean, you don’t need anything on it.  You don’t need butter. You don’t need anything.  You just eat it.  Bake it.  Eat it like it is.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, can I get you to enjoy sweet potatoes a little more often this year?
  
BUTTER LEAF LETTUCE (Friday, February 22):  The 80th Academy Awards taking place this weekend and Chef Suki, a good friend of mine at the Beverly Hilton, he loves to make salad, and one of the items he uses a lot for salad…right here, butter leaf lettuce.  One of the reasons is really simple.  A lot of the actors and  actresses, many of them much older, butter leaf lettuce is one of the few lettuces you can actually digest.  Many people can’t digest iceberg and some of the other lettuces, but butter leaf lettuce, oh my goodness.  It’s one of the easiest.  One of the things I love about butter leaf lettuce, take a look at this.  You know why its called butter leaf?  Take a look right in the middle.  That’s right.  It looks just like butter.  The color of butter.  Absolutely gorgeous.  I love to just cut these in half, sprinkle some almonds on top and maybe sprinkle some segments of tangerines on top and a nice, sweet dressing.  Oh my goodness, butter leaf lettuce.  If you’ve never tried it…you’ve looked at it but never tried it, now’s the time to try it.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, the stars will be out for the Academy Awards, but you won’t see butter leaf on the red carpet at least. 
 

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