LONG PROMO:   I am so excited.  You know why?  New crop sweet potatoes are here, but are they cured?  I”ll tell you about why they need to be cured.  Also, cauliflower.  The best month of the year is October for cauliflower.  I am very excited about that.  Plus take a look at this.  This little tiny pear is one of the sweetest pears you’ll ever eat.…next week with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.

SHORT PROMO:  This little pear, one of the sweetest pears you’ll ever eat…next week with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.
                                                                                                         
SWEET POTATOES PART I (Monday, October 8):  Thank goodness Humberto, you know, when it slammed into Texas and Louisiana, it kind of left the sweet potato growers alone.   Louisiana is like the number two sweet potato growing state in the country, so it kind of left them alone.  So we are in the middle…we’re harvesting right now – Louisiana, Carolinas, and, of course, California’s sweet potatoes. I love sweet.  It’s the only potato you can eat naked – the potato.  You don’t need anything on it.  So what is the difference between a sweet potato and a yam.  These are all sweet potatoes, and we all know what those are, but most people will market  these as yams - you know the bright colored one, but this is actually a variety of sweet potato developed in Louisiana State University back in the 1920’s.  He wanted to differentiate it from this colorless, flavorless, sweetless sweet potato because this one had color and it had flavor and it was sweet.  So he wanted to call it something totally different.  He called it a yam.  It’s just a variety of sweet potato, but we’ve been confused ever since, haven’t we?  But, it’s just a variety - a yam.  Go get ‘em.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, what is the difference between a sweet potato and a yam?

SWEET POTATOES PART II (Tuesday, October 9):  Hey, tomorrow Bill and Hillary Clinton celebrate their 32nd wedding anniversary, and Bill’s favorite vegetable on the face of the planet, right here - sweet potatoes – absolutely loves them.  But are your sweet potatoes cured?  That’s right.  What?  You didn’t know they were even sick?  Well, all sweet potatoes have to be cured.  The growers actually harvest these, and when they first harvest the sweet potato, they’re actually called green.  That’s right.  They’re still a little bit green so they have to cure them.  It’s kind of like putting clay into a kiln.  They actually put these into a hot kiln to warm them up.  And the reason, ah, see this has not been cured.  The reason you cure a sweet potato is so they won’t get mold on them.  So the skin actually gets very, very thick so you can actually store the sweet potatoes much longer.  Plus, the second part...oh, ho, ho!  This is the best part of all.  A kiln dried sweet potato that has been cured is a true sweet potato because it is sweeter.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  

TEASE: Hey, in my next Produce Man report, this little sweet potato is a little bit sick.  It has not been cured.

CAULIFLOWER PART I (Wednesday, October 10):  You know I love October because October is like the number one molnth of the year when we have the most cauliflower harvested.  That means the best supplies, the best quality, the best prices on cauliflower like all through the month of October.  But what do you look for when you’re looking at a head of cauliflower?  Most of it…look at this white.  This is actually called the curd up here.  Most of you will look at that and say, “Okay.  It looks okay.”  What you’re looking for…see if you see any brown spots on it.  This time of year if it is raining you can get little brown spots which will decay so you don’t want brown spots.  Also turn it over and look at the leaves.  These leaves should be nice and fresh.  In fact, these leaves – you slice these up.  Any way that you use bok choy, use the leaves.  Finally, hold it in your hand.  It should feel very heavy for its size.  If it feels really light like balsa wood, you don’t want it because it is going to mush up  when you cook it.  Finally, when you store this in the refrigerator, store it upside down  so if there’s any water in there, it actually comes out, and it won’t decay it.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.

TEASE: Hey, in my next Produce Man report, why should you store your cauliflower like this?

CAULIFLOWER PART II (Thursday, October 11):    Oh man, a little salt, a little pepper, a little lemon juice.  That’s all I need on my cauliflower.  Now how do you cut a cauliflower?  First of all, cut it with the celephane still on.  It saves you a whole step.  Just take your knife.  Go right down here and just cut it all the way around.  So you’re doing two things at once.  You’re cutting the end off plus you’re also getting the celephane off.  Now remember, this is 100% edible, including this.  If you peel all this, this it is really sweet inside.  It’s called the heart of the cauliflower right there.  Don’t throw it away.  Now when you go to actually cut the cauliflower, here’s what I want you to do.   You take one of the curds here and you don’t cut all the way through.  Watch this very carefully.  You’re going to cut half way down.  Pay very close attention.  Cut halfway down and split it.  You with me?  Halfway down.  I’ll do that again.  Halfway down and split it.  If you cut all the way through, you’re cutting through the cell structure of the cauliflower, and that’s what mushes up when you steam it or cook it, and that’s why your kids don’t like it.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  (Takes Bite)  Mmmm.

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, I’m going to show you how to properly cut your cauliflower.
  
 SECKEL PEARS (Friday, October 12):  I want you to come down and take a look at these cute, little pears.  Right here.  These little, tiny pears.  This is the only commercially grown pear that actually originated here in the United States.  Most other pears originated in Europe…most of them in France which is why they have French names like Comice, D’Anjou, and Bosque pear. But this one here, it’s called a Seckel pear.   I don’t have a clue who was named Mr. Seckel.  I don’t know if there’s a Seckel, Pennsylvania, but these actually originated in Pennsylvania.  We think the German immigrants who came through Pennsylvania actually left one of the trees there and produced this.  Now this pear, you know what its nickname is?  Its nickname is sugar pear.  Folks, if you love pears, you’re going to absolutely fall in love with this pear.  It’s called a Seckel pear.  Now if they’re out of the stores already…they’re only here for a short time…don’t worry about it.  Just put it in your calendar – mid September to mid October, look for Seckel pears, nicknamed the sugar pears. I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  (Takes Bite)  Mmmm.

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