LONG PROMO:   Heh, what do you do when you cross the best eating apple with the best baking apple?  Ooo, right down here.  It’s the coolest, jazziest apple you’ve ever seen.  Plus Papaya.  Do you know how to pick out a good one? Plus corn is a four-letter word.  There’s another four-letter word you need to know when it comes to corn.  Plus, candy melon.  That’s right.  Candy melon.  Next week with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.

SHORT PROMO:  Heh, I’d like to introduce you…to the jazziest apple on earth…next week with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.
                                                                                                         
JAZZ APPLES (Monday, June 25):  In New  Zealand, we are getting new crop apples right now.  That’s right, it is the fall and wintertime down in the Southern Hemisphere.   And in New Zealand, right here.  This is the most popular eating apple on the face of the New Zealand planet.  The Royal Gala.  The most popular…right there…the most popular dessert apple.  You want to bake pies?  Right there.  The Braeburn.  Now, what would you do when you cross these two apples?  The best of both worlds.  Come right on over here.  That’s right.  It’s called the Jazz Apple, and this indeed is one of the coolest apples on the face of the planet.  Take a look at that.  You have never heard of a Jazz Apple?  You have got to try this new apple.  This is what I would call a truelly “sweet tart” apple.  It is loaded with sugar and flavor, but it has that tartness that most people love in a great baking apple.  Pus, it is super, super crisp.  Now, one of the things I did to test this apple, I actually left this apple out at room temperature for a couple of days.  Apples ripen 8 times faster at room temperature.  See how this is not as crisp anymore.  So, never, ever in a million years should you keep your apples out at room temperature.  Keep your apples ice cold.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man. (Takes bite) Mmmm.

TEASE:  Heh, in my next Produce Man report, can I introduce you to the jazziest, coolest apple in the apple bin? 

SUMMER SWEET CORN (Tuesday, June 26):  Today is a very important day…if you love corn.  Now let’s see.  C – O – R – N.  That’s right.  It is indeed a four-letter word.  Now there is another four-letter word that you must know when it comes to corn.  It also starts with a “C.”  C – O – L – D.  Cold.  You must keep your Corn ice cold, if you want super summer sweet corn flavor.  Not just barely cold.  Not a little bit cold.  Not just cold.  You must keep it ice cold.  Here’s what I suggest you do.  When you buy your Corn at the supermarket, make it the very last purchase.  The very last thing you put in the grocery cart should be the Corn.  And when you put it in the car, put it in the coolest place in the car, right up front with you, with the air conditioner running, or put it in an ice cooler.  Now, when you get home, the first thing you are going to put away…that’s right.  The Corn.  Because you’ve got to keep it ice cold.  Let me tell you what happens with Corn…even with the super sweet varieties.  Once you start heating it up, man, those sugars turn to starch.  We don’t want starchy Corn.  That’s the Corn that sticks to your teeth.  We want sweet Corn.  So remember that four-letter word.  COLD.  I’m Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.  

TEASE: Heh, in my next Produce Man report, we’re talking about four-letter words with Corn.

PAPAYA PART I (Wednesday, June 27):  You know, we are officially into Summer, and many of us think of the Tropics.  And of course, that means Papaya.  Mangoes, Papayas, Bananas…I’ve got my Banana shirt on today.  Now Papayas, one of the interesting things about Papayas, is that just like an Avocado, they will ripen after they have been picked.  You can buy a Papaya that is green, or partially green, one that we would call a “green tip” Papaya, green at the tips...and it will begin to ripen.  Now, the way that you ripen a Papaya is muey importante.  You must cover them up.  There are no natural oils on the skin of the Papaya to keep it from dehydrating.  So you need to cover them up with  a brown paper bag or a newspaper.  Now, can you ripen them in the refrigerator?  No.  This is a tropical fruit.  Tropical fruit hates the cold.  Cold kills flavor.  Cold stops the ripening process.  So, if you want a ripe Papaya, you’ve got to leave them out at room temperature.  Once they are fully ripened, you can then refrigerate that Papaya.  Oh, I’m ready for the tropics.  I’m Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.

TEASE: Heh, in my next Produce Man report, Papaya.  They call it a “Tropical Peach,” but how do you ripen them?

PAPAYA PART II (Thursday, June 28):    Oh man, get out the Lime juice, the Cayanne Pepper.  Now, when you are preparing a Papaya, one of the things you can do is to just get out your vegetable peeler.  And just peel it.  Kind of like peeling a Potato.  Next, you’re going to cut it in half, and what do you find?  That’s right.  All of those little black seeds.  Now, the best way to get out those little black seeds?  Ah ha…a melon baller.  That’s because the edges of melon baller are very sharp, making it really easy to scoop out the seeds.  They come right on out with this.  Now, most people take what I have just peeled, and scraped out, and they just throw it in the garbage.  Uh uh.  Never in a million years should you throw away these scraps, the seeds or the skin.  What you will do is to dry the scraps…then put it all into a blender.  Blend it all up.  Dry it.  Blend it.  It then becomes a rub on your meat, your steaks, to tenderize your steaks, your pork.  It tenderizes your meat.  It’s a natural tenderizer.  So, never ever throw away the seeds of the Papaya.  I’m Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.

TEASE:  Heh, in my next Produce Man report, see all those seeds of the Papaya?  What in the world can you do with them? 
  
CANTALOUPE (Friday, June 29):  Heh, before we leave June, June happens to be National Candy Month.  Oh, look…what's in there?  Candy for your kids.  Oh my goodness;  we are coming up to middle of the season Cantaloupe.  Beautiful Cantaloupe that taste like Candy.  My kids call them Candyloupe.  I’m not kidding you.  The brix content…Brix?  What are brix?  There are brix in there?  Brix is actually the term we use in the produce industry to describe sugar content.  We just call it brix.  B – R – I – X.  Not c – k – s.  The brix level, during the middle of the season right now, is hovering around 14, 15, 16 percent sugar.  A good Cantaloupe will taste really good at around 12 percent sugar.  So you know if you are getting up to 15, 16 percent sugar, it’s like candy.  Now, one of the things I love to do with my Cantaloupe, especially this time of year.  Get out the Orange Sherbet, right?  And then cube up your Cantaloupe.  Mix them together in a nice goblet.  Oh my goodness.  That’s dessert.  Candy for dessert.  I’m Michael Marks, Your Produce Man. 

TEASE:  Heh, in my next Produce Man report, this is my Candy bowl.  Ooo.  Right in there.  I’ve got candy.

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