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| With your eyes closed,
can you pick out the Red Delicious Apple? |
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| In honor of Helen Keller,
I’ll teach you how to pick out the Red Delicious …with
your eyes closed. |
APPLES (Monday, June 27): Today honors one of
my American heroes. She overcame great adversity to be an inspiration
to many. Helen
Keller. She was born on this date in 1880. When she was just
18 months old, Helen contracted a disease, which left her deaf and
blind. With the extraordinary help from her teacher Anne Sullivan,
Helen learned to read, write, and speak--in several languages—eventually
graduating cum laude from Radcliff College before earning other
degrees from Temple University; University of Glasgow, Scotland;
University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; University
of Delhi; Free University of Berlin; and Harvard University. She
became an author and an inspirational lecturer. She is indeed America’s
first lady of courage…one of my American heroes. So in honor
of Helen Keller, I want you to purchase several varieties of apples
today. Get a Red Delicious, a Golden, Granny Smith, Fuji, a Gala
and more, if you like. Now, set the apples before you, close your
eyes and feel each one. Just like Helen Keller, you can pick out
the Red Delicious apple…with your eyes closed. You see, the
Red Delicious is the only apple in the world that has five very
distinct bumps at the blossom end of the apple. It’s like
a crown for the apple. That’s why we call the Red Delicious
the “King of Apples.” It’s the only one with a
crown. You may find a Cameo has five bumps as well. Well, the Cameo
is a mutant offspring of the Red Delicious. By the way, to find
the sweetest Red Delicious, find the one with the biggest bumps.
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| There are still more than
20 million cartons of apples left. |
APPLES (Tuesday, June 28): Get out your apple
eating shoes. There are still a lot of apples in storage. Near perfect
growing conditions in Washington State, produced a record crop of
apples last year. As of today, there are around 20 million cartons
of apples in storage. That’s about 50% more apples in storage
than the same time last year when we had about 13 million cartons
of apples in storage. Even over a 5-year average, we have over 20%
more apples in storage this year. The biggest increase in storage
comes from Washington State, which has over 2/3 more apples in storage
right now than at the same time last year. Last year, in the apple
orchards of Washington, they had near perfect growing conditions
with warm days and cool nights. Those cool night temperatures draw
the sugar into the fruit and you end up with a better quality apple.
With more high quality apples, growers were able to put more into
long-term controlled atmosphere storage. The bottom line is simple
folks: Eat more apples! An apple a day by every American and the
growers will sell their crop before this year’s new crop begins.
Let’s see, if we average 125 apples per carton, that means
we have 2.5 billion apples. If every American just eats one apple
per week, that’s roughly 250 million apples a week. In 6 weeks,
apples would be sold out. Just in time for the new crop to start.
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| Washington State may be
known for their apples, but this time of year, it’s about
the Bing Cherry. |
BING
CHERRIES (Wednesday, June 29): They are the tiniest
of the stone fruit. And they are among the most treasured of all
fruit. The trembling Cherry. Celerbrate July 4th with Bing Cherries.
This year, with heavy rains in California, about half of the Bing
Cherry crop was ruined, but thank goodness for the apple state,
Washington. You better buy quickly, becaue the season is here and
gone before you can blink. The Pacific
Northwest is one of our main supplies of Bing Cherries. Most
Washington cherries are grown in the Wenatchee
Valley and the Hood
River area. Right now in the Wenatchee
Valley, cherries are in peak production. From down on the slopes
of the Columbia Gorge in Oregon up through the Yakima Valley and
into the area in and around Wenatchee, excellent fruit size and
quality abounded. Packing lines are peaking on 10.5 row fruit (that’s
a great size) with approximately 60% of the fruit running 10.5 row
and larger. Packouts also continue to be exceptionally clean, hovering
in the mid 80% range. Although rain affected some orchards in Oregon
on June 17th, much of the fruit that was hit was immature and growers
in the area believe that only 15% of their fruit was affected. All
in all, this loss will only marginally decrease product availability
from the Northwest. National Rainier Cherry Day - July 11th - is
sprinting closer.
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| The sizes of cherries
are counted by how many cherry rows can fit into a carton. |
Be sure to include Rainier cherries in your merchandising plans
in the coming weeks. Shipments from the Northwest peaked on June
20th and are expected to run strong through July and into August.
There’s nothing like popping a cold cherry in your mouth,
but add them to a few recipes
for even greater joy. And cherries are very healthy,
loaded with anti-oxidants and phytonutrients. Altogether this year,
Northwest Cherry growers expect to harvest about 180 million pounds
of Cherries. That would be a record this year, giving us plenty
of Bing Cherries through July and into early August.
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| The Rev. Billy Graham
stays strong by eating his Greens. |
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Growers checking
a field of greens for dehydration. The secret to great Greens
is rapid growth,
and that comes with proper irrigation.
Each time Greens wilt, they lose flavor. |
GREENS
(Thursday, June 30): Many people love their Greens. Good reason.
Greens are good for you. As a group, Greens are actually the 5th
most nutritious vegetable grown on planet earth today. Most of us
need to get to know our Greens once again. There are three main
types of greens: Bitter Greens, Spicy Greens and Sweet Greens. The
Bitter Greens would be your chicories, Belgian Endive, Radicchio,
Endive. These are all very famous in Europe. These Bitter Greens
are actually very healthy for you digestive system. They help you
digest your meals easily. That’s why in Europe, often times,
the salads are served after the main entrée. They Spicy Greens
would be your Mustard Greens, Turnip Greens, Collards and Kale.
The Rev. Billy
Graham recently held his last crusade. Several hundred thousand
people flocked in Flushing Meadows in New York. Graham has been
suffering the past several years with ailments that have weakened
him, but at 86, he remains strong. That’s because he loves
his Mustard Greens cooked all day with ham hocks. No wonder he has
lived so long. The third category of Greens is the Sweet Greens,
Chard, Spinach and Mache. Many leafy green vegetables are excellent
sources of vitamins A and C and contribute calcium, iron, fiber
and other nutrients. The federal government's National Cancer Institute
reports that foods rich in vitamins A and C have been associated
with the reduced risk of certain cancers. Greens are very low in
calories and sodium. For instance, once cup of chopped raw spinach
has just 14 calories! A 1/2 cup of cooked collards has just 38 calories!
All greens are free of fat and cholesterol. When selecting greens
for cooking, remember they cook down considerably -- from one-quarter
or more -- from their original volume. So purchase accordingly,
i.e., 1-pound raw kale yields about 2 1/2 cups cooked kale; 1 pound
mustard greens yields 1 1/2 cups cooked greens. To store greens,
wrap them in damp paper toweling, then place in a perforated plastic
bag and refrigerate. If the greens are purchased in good condition
and if the paper toweling is kept moist, most varieties will keep
one week. Wash greens thoroughly. Place them in a sink filled with
lukewarm water and swish around; (tepid water helps to remove the
grit faster than cool water). Remove any roots, stem the greens
if necessary, and repeat the washing process until the grit disappears.
For salad greens, whirl in a salad spinner or pat dry in paper toweling.
Mild-flavored greens like spinach, kale or chard can be steamed
until barely tender. Stronger-flavored greens like collards, mustard
or turnip greens benefit from longer cooking in a seasoned broth.
They should also be blanched before adding to soups and stews, otherwise
a bitter flavor will predominate. Don’t cook your greens in
aluminum pans. Pans made of aluminum or copper react with sulfur
compounds in vegetables to create unpleasant odors and flavors,
and destroy vitamin C, folic acid, and vitamin E.
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| These hot dogs need some
diced onions. Sooo, just how do you dice that onion? |
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| Spring Sweet Onions are
perfect for baking. |
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| Once you peel the onion,
four simple cuts, and you have perfectly diced onions. |
ONIONS (Friday, July 1): July is officially the
month for Hot Dogs. How in the world can you enjoy a Hot Dog without
diced onions? Well, how do you dice the onions? There is a proper
way, you know. First, cut the north pole and south pole off the
onion. On the root end, don’t cut it too deep into the onion.
This way, the root end will hold together as you slice and dice
the onion. Peel the onion. Next, cut the onion in half, from the
north to the south. Lay the cut side down. Place one hand on top
of the onion and make about three cuts into the onion, from the
north pole to the south, being careful not to cut all the way through.
Now take the tip of your knife blade and slice vertical cuts, but
again, do not cut all the way through the root end. These vertical
cuts can be made close or far apart, depending on what size dice
you want. Now you can you’re your final cuts, again, making
close cuts or wide cuts, depending on what size dice you want. Onions
are one of the oldest known cultivated vegetables known to man,
and is one of the most widely grown vegetables around the world
and domestically. Julia Childs says that she doesn't know how any
civilization could survive without onions. In fact, she often says,
"There are two things you must always have in your kitchen.
Celery and Onions." Julia's not alone. In Onion history and
trivia, even General Ulysses S. Grant refused to move the Union
army during the Civil War, unless they had some onions. The next
day, three trainloads of onions were sent to the Union front line.
Onions are one of the most versatile vegetables, used in recipes
for appetizers to main dishes to desserts. There are two main crops
for onions, storage onions and sweet onions, or Spring Sweet Onions.
The main sweet onion crops include the Vidalia, the Texas 1015Y,
the Maui, the Imperial Sweet, Walla Walla, and the Oso Sweet from
Chile. There is still a lot of research being done to improve onions.
Some of the most prolific work is being done by Dr. Leonard Pike
at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. The onion, which is
believed to be one of the earliest wild plants to be cultivated,
was a well-loved food in the ancient world. Onions were pictured
on Egypt's pyramid of Cheops (as an important food eaten by the
laborers who built it), and it was mentioned in the Old Testament
(Numbers 11:5) as being eaten by the Hebrews during their captivity
in Egypt. Socrates and Homer mention the ancient Greeks and their
love of onions as a relish at their banquets, and Strabo the geographer
wrote of a flourishing onion market in Phoenicia. Onions also served
as ceremonial food for the gods in ancient Egypt, with sculptures
at places such as Thebes illustrating different methods of tying
up strings of onions for placement as altar offerings. In addition
to being an early source of domesticated food, onions are mentioned
throughout history in several other interesting contexts. Yellow
onions make up more than 75% of the worlds production of onions.
Americans eat 18.8 pounds of fresh and storage type onions on average
each year. The U.S. produces well over 2 million metric tons of
onions annually. The official state vegetable of Georgia is the
Vidalia onion. The official state vegetable of Texas is the Texas
Sweet onion. According to the National Onion Association, onion
consumption in the U.S. has increased approximately 50% over the
past 20 years. The onion is a member of the pungent Allium genus
of the lily family, which also includes garlic, leeks, shallots,
scallions, and chives. The word onion comes to us from the Latin
unio (meaning large pearl), which in Middle English became unyon.
Most commercially grown are of the common or seed variety. Did you
know that the bustling city of Chicago was named for a variety of
onion the Native American Indians called chicago (A. canadense)?
The onion was considered as valuable as gold in the Middle Ages
and has long been a symbol of eternity due to their structural composition
of layers within layers forming a sphere. When buying onions, choose
those that are heavy for their size with dry, papery skins, and
that show no signs of spotting or moistness. Avoid onions that are
soft or sprouting. Young onions are sweeter than old ones. They
should have absolutely no smell at all. If they do smell, especially
a strong aroma, the onions are probably bruised somewhere under
the skin and are on their way toward decay. Store onions in a cool
dry place with good air circulation for up to three months. Sweet
onions have a shorter shelf life than common varieties due to a
higher water and sugar content. Thus, it's important to store them
properly. Ideally, they should be stored in a cool, dark, dry location
and spread out for optimum air circulation. Most growers suggest
placing onions in a clean pair of pantyhose, with knots tied in
between each onion, and hang them in a cool, dry place. Just snip
off below each knot when you need one. Stored properly, sweet onions
should last in your pantry about ten days to two weeks. Cut, raw
onion leftovers should be tightly wrapped and refrigerated to be
used within a few days. Although sweet onions are best eaten raw,
they can be chopped and frozen for future cooking uses, with no
blanching necessary. Frozen onions begin to lose their flavor after
about twelve months in the freezer.
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Try a new melon each week. From left to right, we
have the
Casaba, Crenshaw, Juan Canary, Santa Clause and the Sharlyn. |
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