LONG PROMO:   Man, I am so excited!  You know why?  New crops.  Satsuma mandarins right in this box.  I’m going to show them off to you and see how this year’s crop is looking.  Plus, navel oranges.  We had that January freeze.  Well, how is the navel orange crop from California doing?  Plus, holidays right around the corner.  You’ve got know how to pick out the best celery on the face of the planet…next week, with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.

SHORT PROMO:  How to pick out the best celery on the face of the planet…next week with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.
                                                                                                         
PERFECT 10’S - KIWI AND SWEET POTATO (Monday, November 12):  Hey, Nadia Comaniche turns 46 years old.  Remember her?  Three decades ago she was like the darling of gymnastics in the summer Olympics and the first person to get a perfect 10 in gymnastics.  So I thought, okay, if I was judging produce, which would get the perfect 10 in fruits and vegetables?  Well, here we go!  In fruits:  That’s right, you can’t get any healthier than…that’s right. A kiwi fruit – the healthiest fruit grown on planet earth.  It is indeed a 10 not only because of its nutrition but because of its great flavor.  It is fantastic!  Now in the vegetable side, okay, what would we do?  Ah, right over here.  Yes, we’ve got beautiful sweet potatoes loaded with vitamin A, the healthiest vegetable grown on planet earth.  To me it is a 10, and also because of its flavor.  I love nothing better than this time of year -  brown sugar, cinnamon, oh man, gotta get your sweet potatoes and yams.  So the perfect 10’s right here.  Perfect 10’s in gymnastics?  We’ll have to watch the summer Olympics coming up this summer.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, hey, who gets the perfect 10 in fruits and vegetables?

SATSUMA MANDARINS (Tuesday, November 13):  I’ve been waiting for this day.  I get so excited on this very day.  Right in here…hey, who’s gotten into my Satsumas?  Holy Toledo!  They’re mostly gone!  See somebody else is getting excited about my Satsumas too!  This is first of the season tangerines, and this is one of my favorites called the Satsuma mandarin.  Oh, I love these things.  Here’s why I love these things…two main reasons why I love these things.  First of all, kids love them so it’s easy to get your kids to eat them.  Second of all, take a look at this…look how easy they peel.  This is what we call in the produce industry a zipper peel.  And there’s actually another reason.  Let me show you this.  I’m going to open these up.  Take a look at this.  No Seeds! Satsuma mandarins - no seeds!  So it’s like perfect for your kids or your grandkids.  Are you trying to get them to eat more produce, especially this time of year?  Hey, go for the Satsuma mandarins.  Man, oh man, these are so good.  By the way, the sugar content is getting better every single day so go out and stock some up.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  (Takes Bite)  Mmmm.

TEASE: Hey, in my next Produce Man report…man, who stole all of my Satsuma mandarins?  Bummer!  (Takes bite) 

NAVEL ORANGES (Wednesday, November 14):  Hey, some of the first of the season navel oranges are coming in, and when the first of the season comes in, here’s the first thing I”ll do.  I will pick up a carton.  Oh, man.  These are heavy!  That’s the first thing I’m going to do because I’m judging the juice content.   The more juice, the more sugar.  Take a look at these, folks.  Oh, man, some beautiful first of the season navel oranges In fact, this is some of the best I’ve seen in many, many years.  A little bit lighter color on these which is very, very typical for the first of the season navel oranges.  Now let’s cut one open and see what it looks like inside, all right?  Come on down here.  Let’s take a look at this.  If they’re light on the outside, that generally means they’re going to be a little bit more pale on the inside.  Again, that is very, very typical.  But, man, look at that juice content in there.  What is the flavor like? Oh, by the way, you know last January of course we had those horrible freezes in California.  Thank goodness the orange trees survived.  In fact, they’re doing very well.  We’re going to have a really good crop of navel oranges this year.  Mmm, that is good!  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man. (Takes Bite)  Mmmm.

TEASE: Hey, in my next Produce Man report, I’ll tell you why I’m lifting this carton of navel oranges.

CELERY PART I (Thursday, November 15):  With the holidays just around the corner and a lot of soups and stews, you’re going to need something in your kitchen.   What is it?  Well, Julia Childs used to say, “There are two things you must always have in your kitchen – onions and celery.”  That’s right.  You better stock up on your celery.  But how do you pick out the best celery?  Ah ha!  Three things I want you to look for…are you ready for this?  First of all, make sure they are light green in color.  The lighter the green, the sweeter the celery.  If it is dark green celery, it’s going to be a bit more bitter.  Second of all, just hold it in your hand just like this.  It should feel very heavy for its size. The heavier it feels for its size, guess what?  The more juice content that is inside…the more juice inside, the more flavor.  Here’s the third thing.  Put your hands right around it and do this.  Squeeze it.  Do you hear that?  Yeah, if you squeeze the celery and it squeeks very easily, that means it is fresh.  Those are the three things you look for on celery that determines whether it is the best celery on the face of the planet.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, does your celery (squeezes celery to make it squeak)?
  
CELERY PART II (Friday, November 16):  All right, so you’ve picked out some really good celery for the holiday meals coming up, right, for your soups and stews.  Now, what are you going to do?  You get them home, you’ve probably go them in a plastic bag.  Are you just going to put that in the refrigerator?  No!  Never in a million years.  Here’s what you’re going to do.  Put all of your groceries away.  Put everything away.  Keep the celery out.  While you are putting your groceries away, I want you to be filling your sink with ice cold water.  That’s right.  Ice cold water, the colder the better.  Now, when you have it filled up with some water, what I want you do is I want you to pour some ice in it.  Ice cold!  Then what you’re going to do, you’re going to take that celery and get a knife, and right on the very end where it was cut you’re going to slice off just a little bit.  Ladies, you know what I’m doing.  You know, when you get a bouquet of flowers home, what is the first thing you do when you get a bouquet of flowers home?  That’s right, you cut off the very bottom and then you put them in the water.  Now, you’re going to take this celery…you’ve got that ice cold water in the sink, put this down in that ice cold water for about two minutes.  Let it soak up.  Then you can put it in the refrigerator in this plastic bag.  It will keep so nicely.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   

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