LONG PROMO:   Hey, Mother’s Day is coming up, and I bet you’re going to have a barbecue for mom so all next week I’m going to get you ready for that barbecue.  We’re going to show you how to slice your tomatoes and when to slice your tomatoes, what onion to put on that burger.  Skip the mayonaise for mom and use avocados plus a little bit of lettuce.  And a little bit of food safety…next week, with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.

SHORT PROMO:  Hey, we’re getting you ready for Mother’s Day and the barbecue season…next week with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.
                                                                                                         
TOMATOES (Monday, May 5):  Hey, all this week we’re getting you ready not only for the barbecue season but also for Mother’s Day.  I think we’ll probably have a little barbecue for mom at our house.  So the first thing you’re going to do at the barbecue if you’re going to have some burgers for the kids or something...you’re going to put a tomato, a nice slice tomato on that burger, right?  By the way, who did this to my tomato?  You know, I’m feeling these, and these are actually very cold.  Somebody has been storing my tomatoes in the refrigerator.  That’s the last place you should be putting your tomatoes.  Also see how they’re upside down?  They should actually be stored like this.  This is the weakest part of the fruit.  This is called the crown, and if you store it like this, all the weight of the tomato is on the weakest part of the fruit, so when you go to slice it, it’s going to be mushy down here.  You’re going to end up wasting it.  So if you want a full-flavored tomato, here’s what you’re going to do:  Keep it out of the refrigerator and slice the tomatoes just before you use them at room temperature, and that way you’re going to have the fullest flavor of tomato on that burger.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  (Takes Bite)  Mmmm.

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, you want a good burger from the grill?  You’ve got to have a good tomato for it too.

RED ONIONS (Tuesday, May 6): You know all this week we’re getting you ready for Mother’s Day and the barbecue season, so one of the things I love especially this time of you - beautiful red onions.  These are called Italian sweet red onions.  These are the flat ones – the flat red onions.  Now let me give you a hint about these.  Are you ready for this?  The flatter they are, the sweeter they are.  That’s right.  So you want a nice sweet red onion?   Here you go.  Here’s what we’re going to do.  You know, you’re just going to cut off the North pole and the South pole.   You’re just going to put a little slit around it right just like that.  That way you can easily get the outer layer off.  Now, there’s a couple things.  You can put a nice, thick slab on your burger or what I love to do – here, watch this.  Very nice and thin.  You need a sharp knife for this…really nice and thin.  So if you’re going to do a salad for Mom, this is what I do.  Nice and thin.  And then I will take these out.  Now this is what’s going to go into the salad.  Beautiful red color.  You’ve got the beautiful flavor of a red onion but you don’t have the huge bite.  So you want little nice thin slices for Mom.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  

TEASE: Hey, in my next Produce Man report…how to pick out the sweetest Italian sweet red onion.

GREEN LEAF LETTUCE (Wednesday, May 7):  Hey, we’re getting you ready for the barbecue season so you’re going to have some burgers for Mother’s day and that means you need some lettuce to go on that burger.  Now here’s what I do. This is a great way of getting the kids in the kitchen as well.  You know, you get your green leaf lettuce, and a lot of people use green leaf  because it’s a little crispier than butter leaf or red leaf.  And you know, it looks good on a big burger there.  But instead of getting the knife out to cut this…what would happen if you cut this, you’re cutting through the cell structure of this leaf lettuce.  What that would mean is that it would oxidize very quickly so what you want to do, and you can have your kids do this.  Just find the very middle of this and then tear the leaves off the core just like so.  Now, instead of cutting through here you’re going to have very little oxidation.  Now what you’re going to do, you’re going to tear this just like so.  Now you have two halves that are going to go on your burger, and you’re going to have very little oxidation.  It’s going to look super fresh when you got it on that burger and it’s going to beb nice and crispy as well and look pretty.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.

TEASE: Hey, in my next Produce Man report, hey get the kids in the kitchen to help you with the lettuce for that burger.

AVOCADOS (Thursday, May 8):  Skip the mayonnaise.  Hey, all this week we’re getting you ready not only for Mother’s Day but for barbecue season.  May happens to be National Barbecue Month so I mean all of you are getting out your grills and starting to barbecue. One of the things I love on burgers, you know, you can put mayonnaise on there and I know a lot of people do, but may I suggest you skip the mayonnaise and add some avocados instead.  Avocados, because they’re nice and moist and have good oil content, they’re almost going to feel like…oh, look at that!   Oh, man!  You’re mom’s gonna love this.  You can use the avocado either on the burger or you can use it on a salad, and here’s one way you can do it.  Slice them nice and thin.  A lot of times I will slice them first before I peel them because you get nice slices that way and now you can go in and just go ahead and peel it.  See how easily it peels?  Oh, man!  Put that on a burger or put that in a salad for Mother’s day.  Oh!  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  (Takes Bite)  Mmmm.

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, skip the mayonnaise.  Use avocados on those burgers.
  
FOOD SAFETY (Friday, May 9):  All right.  You’re going to have a picnic or barbecue for Mom for Mother’s Day.  I know we probably are.  I’m going to stoke up the grill, and we’re going to be grilling out there - the  little Marks brothers, Claire, and I, we’re going to be grilling maybe some pork or some steak, certainly some burgers for the kids.  One of the things you need to remember about any barbecue or any picnic - numero uno, number one priority – food safety. That’s right.  Food safety.  Not just for you but for everybody that’s coming to the picnic.  So make sure everybody washes their hands before they come up to that picnic table and start eating, especially the kids.  Make sure they wash their hands.  Make sure you wash all the produce before you cut it.  That’s right - before you cut it.  You did know that produce grows in dirt.  Also have plenty of ice with you.  Look, ice is a lot cheaper than a trip to the emergency room, so have plenty of ice at your picnic so you keep cold things cold.  When you cut up produce, put it in the cold chest.  And keep hot things hot and keep everything clean.  Your mom was right – eat your fruits and vegetables and wash your hands.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, the most important topic at your picnic or barbecue this weekend.