LONG PROMO:   Heh, summer is the time for homeruns and beautiful Peaches and Nectarines.  Oh, we’re going to talk about not only the yellow flesh Peaches, but also the white flesh Peaches and Nectarines.  Plus, get out your toothpicks and get out your melon baller.  I’m going to show you a really quick, fun appetizer.  Plus Grapes, oh, all kinds of Grapes.  Next week with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.

SHORT PROMO:  Oh, these are the Bikinis of the produce world.  Next week with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.
                                                                                                         
PEACHES AND NECTARINES (Monday, July 9):  Heh, the 78th annual baseball All-Star game is happening tomorrow, so the Boys of Summer are playing, and it’s going to be a great game.  Oh, but the Joys of Summer…oh my goodness, I’ve got them right here.  The Joys of Summer…beautiful Peaches and Nectarines.  They are absolutely gorgeous.  We are…oh, look at that.  This Peach is now what we call a semi-freestone.  Did you see?  It did pull away from the pit.  Earlier in the season, we had a lot of what we call “cling” Peaches, where the flesh just clings to the stone.  And, oh, man…that’s why we call these “stone” fruit…because of that stone in the middle.  And those cling Peaches are so difficult to eat.  Let me do another one.  We’re just going to cut this all the way around, from the north pole to the south pole.  Twist the fruit around the blade.  Then we are just going to twist it off.  See, another semi-freestone.  Now as we move later on through the season, we will have full freestone Peaches and Nectarines, where the flesh so easily pulls free from the stone.  Oh, and that’s great, because it makes it so much easier to eat those beautiful Peaches and Nectarines, the Joys of Summer.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.

TEASE:  Heh, in my next Produce Man report, is this a Cling or a Freestone…or a semi-Freestone? 

WHITE PEACHES AND NECTARINES (Tuesday, July 10):  You know, this time of year, I really love grilling.  This time of year, you’ll find me out at the pool almost every day, grilling, and one of the things I love grilling, especially this time of year, when you have great Peaches and Nectarines, I love grilling Stonefruit.  Now, you have yellow flesh Peaches and Nectarines, but what has really become hot are the white flesh Peaches and Nectarines.  Over the past 10 years, the popularity of these has really skyrocketed, becoming a huge category in the produce industry.  Take a look at that.  Now one of the things about white flesh Peaches and Nectarines, is that they have high sugar content…very high sugar content.  But they also have low acid content, which is why many people call them low-acid Peaches, or sub-acid Peaches and Nectarines.  Now as they ripen, the fruit stays firm…and that’s why I love them, especially if you’re going to put them on the grill.  Because the stay firm on grill.  If you have never tried a white flesh Peach or Nectarine, this is the season, because about 30% of the stonefruit crop…will be white flesh Peaches and Nectarines.  I’m Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.  (takes bite)  Mmmm.

TEASE: Heh, in my next Produce Man report, these are so good.  White flesh Peaches and Nectarines. 

GRAPES (Wednesday, July 11):  Mmm, Mmm, Mmm.  These are so good.  This happens to be National Bikini Month.  The bikini was like first developed this month about 50 years ago.  So I thought it would be fun to talk about the “Bikinis of the Produce World.”  Here they are.  Beatiful grapes.  Asolutely sbexy, small Grapes…and they come in a variety of colors.  These are like the tiniest fruit in the produce department…well, except for tiny berries like Raspberries or Blueberries.  And as you can see…take a look at this…they come in a variety of colors…just like Bikinis.  They come in red, green and they come in black.  Three different colors.  Now, the way I tell a good grape, a fresh grape…I get really close to them.  Take a look at these black Grapes here.  See all of that white powderish film on them?  This is actually called “bloom” and see, you can actually rub it off.  Bloom is a good signk, because the more bloom you see on the Grape berry, the fresher the Grapes are.   Those are the Grapes I take home to eat.  That means they are super sweet and super juicy…and super fresh.  I’m Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.  (Takes bite) Mmmm.

TEASE: Heh, in my next Produce Man report, the bikini of the produce world…small, sexy Grapes.

MELONS AND GRAPES (Thursday, July 12):    Alright.  Get out your melon baller.  Get out your knife and your toothpicks.  I want to show you a really fun, simple summer appetizer.  In fact, it’s so easy, you could get your kids or grandkids to help you with it.  First of all, cut a melon in half.  It can be any melon you want.  I’m not the Melon Police, so I won’t come over to your hosue and get mad at you for using the wrong melon.  You can use any melon your heart desires.  This is a Persian Melon…looks a lot like a Cantaloupe, doesn’t it?  Now get out your Melon Baller.  Now, here’s what we’re going to do.  Are you ready?  We’re going to make a nice melon ball out of this.  Now, set his down.  Now, we’re going to get a Grape.  See that Grape?  It’s going to go right on top.  Now, you can use any Grape you want.  You can use Black Grapes.  You can use green Grapes.  You can use red Grapes.  Put that Grape right on top of the melon ball.  Make sure the Grape is standing up.  Now that toothpick will go right down the very middle of this Grape/Melon stack.  Now you have a really cool, refreshing appetizer.  Oh, now what you could do…you could put some Proschuto ham right in between the melon and Grape.  Oh, man that is so good.  But this, in and of itself is one very cool appetizer for the summertime.  I’m Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.  (Takes bite) Mmmm.

TEASE:  Heh, in my next Produce Man report, get out your melon baller and your toothpicks.  I’m going to show you a really cool summer appetizer.    
  
RED ONIONS (Friday, July 13):  Heh, July happens to be National Hot Dog Month.  Oh, man, nothing goes together better than home runs and hot dogs.  Oh, you better have some onions on those hot dogs, right?  Some Onions.  So, I thought I would show you how to properly cut that Red Onion for your hot dogs.  First, cut off the south pole…that’s the root end.  Then cut off the north pole…that’s the neck.  Lay it down and then what you’re going to do is to cut it right in half.  Do you know why you do that?  It makes it easier to peel this puppy.  Now, these early summer onions tend to have a very thin peel, which does make it harder to peel.  But that’s alright.  Now, what you are going to do…cut this into nice thin slices.  Nice and thin.  Just like so.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out.  Nice thin slices.  Now, what you are going to do, turn those slices over and lay them down.  Now, simply slice these slices into a small dice.  Now when you get these diced, oh, man, get out the hot dogs…and sprinkle those red diced onions all over those dogs.  Nothing like a hot dog on a hot summer day.  I’m Michael Marks, Your Produce Man. 

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