Martha A. Cheves's Blog, page 63

Lettuce Types and How to Buy Them

Among the Nation's leading vegetable, lettuce owes its prominence to the growing popularity of salads in our diet.  It's available throughout the year, at various seasons, from California, Arizona, New York, New Jersey, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Wisconsin and other States.  Four types of lettuce are generally sold:  iceburg, butter-head, Romaine and leaf.

Iceburg lettuce is the major group.  Heads are large, round, and solid, with medium-green outer leaves and lighter green or pale-green inner leaves.

Butter-head lettuce, including the Big Boston and Bib vrieties, has a smaller head than Iceburg.  This type will be slightly flat on top and have soft, succulent, light-green leaves in a rosette pattern in the center.

Romaine lettuce plants are tall and cylindrical with crisp, dark-green leaves in a loosely folded head.

Leaf lettuce includes many varieties - none with a compact head.  Leaves are broad, tender, succulent, fairly smooth and vary in color according to variety.  It is grown mainly n greenhouses or on truck frms and sold locally.

When buying look for signs of freshness in lettuce.  For Iceburg and Romaine, the leaves sould be crisp.  Other lettuce types will have a softer texture, but leaves should not be wilted. Look for a good, bright color - in most varieties, medium to light green.

Avoid heads of Iceburg type which are very hard and which lack green color (signs of overmaturity).  Such heads sometimes develop discoloration in the center of the leaves (the 'mid-ribs'), and may have less attractive flavor.  Also avoid heads with irregular shapes and hard bumps on top, which indicates the presence of overgrown central stems.

Check the lettuce for tipburn, a tan or brown area (dead tissue) around the margins of the leaves.  Look for tipburn on the edges of the head leaves.  Slight discoloration of the outer or wrapper leaves will usually not hurt the quality of the lettuce, but serious discoloration or soft decay definitely should be avoided.

How to Buy Eggplant

Eggplant is most plentiful during the late summer, but is available all year to some extent. 

When buying, look for firm, heavy, smooth and uniformly dark purple egg plants. 

Avoid those which are poorly colored, soft, shriveled, cut, or which show decay in the form of irregular dark-brown spots.

How to Buy Cucumbers

Although cucumbers are produced at various times in many States - and imported during the colder months - the supply is plentiful in the summer months.

When buying look for cucumbers with good green color which are firm over their entire length.  They should be well-shaped and well-developed, but should not be too large in diameter.  Good cucumbers typically have many small lumps on their surfaces.  They may also have some white or greenish-white color and still be of top quality.

Avoid overgrown cucumbers which are large in diameter and have a dull color, turning yellowish.  Also avoid cucumbers with withered or shriveled ends which is a sign of toughness and bitter flavor.

How to Buy Corn

Sweet corn is available practically every month of the year, but is most plentiful from early May until mid-September.  Most supplies are yellow-kernel corn, but some white corn is sold.  Sweet corn is produced in a large number of States during the spring and summer, but most mid-winter supplies come from south Florida. 

For best quality, corn should be refrigerated immediately after being picked.  Corn will retain fairly good quality for a number of days, if it has been kept cold and moist since harvesting  For the same reason, it should be placed in the home refrigerator as soon as possible and kept moist until used.

Look for fresh, succulent husks with good green color, silk-ends that are free from decay or worm injury, and stem ends (opposite from the silk) that are not too discolored or dried.  Select ears that are well covered with plump, not-to-mature kernels.

Avoid ears with under-developed kernels which lack yellow color (in yellow corn), old ears with very large kernels, and ears with dark green kernels with depressed ares on the outer surface.  Also avoid ears of corn with yellowed, wilted, or dried husks, or discolored and dried-out stem ends.

How to Buy Chicory, Endive and Escarole

These vegetables, used mainly in salads, are available practically all year round - but primarily in the winter and spring.  Chicory or endive has narrow, notched edges, and crinkly laves resembling the dandelion leaf.  Chicory plants often have "blanched" yellowish leaves in the center which are preferred by many persons. Escarole leaves are much broader and less crinkly than those of chicory.

Always look for freshness, crispness, tenderness, and a good green color of the outer leaves.

Avoid plants with leaves which have brownish or yellowish discoloration or which have insect injury. 

Note - Witloff or Belgian endive is a compact, cigar-shaped plant which is creamy white from blanching.  The small shoots are kept from becoming green by being grown in complete darkness.

In Honor of our Vets.

A Poem Worth Reading

He was getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion,
Telling stories of the past.

Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.

And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
Al l his buddies listened quietly
For they knew where of he spoke.

But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For ol' Joe has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a Soldier died today.

He won't be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.

He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
'Tho a Soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.
Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young
But the passing of a Soldier
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Some jerk who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?

The politician's stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.

While the ordinary Soldier,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension, small.
It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.
Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever waffling stand?

Or would you want a Soldier His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Soldier,
Who would fight until the end.

He was just a common Soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his likes again.
For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honor
While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days.

Perhaps just a simple headline
In the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."

How to Buy Chinese Cabbage

Primarily a salad vegetable, Chinese cabbage plants are elongated, with some varieties developing a firm head and others an open, leafy form.

When buying look for fresh, crisp, green plants that are free from blemishes or decay.

Avoid wilted or yellowed plants

How to Buy Celery

Celery, a popular vegetable for a variety of uses, is available throughout the year.  Production is concentrated in California, Florida, Michigan, and New York.  Most celery is of the so-called "Pascal" type which includes thick-branched, green varieties.

When buying look for freshness and crispness.  The stalk should have a solid, ridge feel and leaflets should be fresh or only slightly wilted.  Also look for a glossy surface, stalks of light green or medium green, and mostly green leaflets.

Avoid wilted celery and celery with flabby upper branches or leaf stems.  You can freshen celery somewhat by placing the butt end in water but badly wilted celery will never become really fresh again.  Also avoid celery with pithy, hollow or discolored centers in the branches.  Celery with internal discoloration will show some gray or brown on the inside surface of the larger branches near where they are attached to the base of the stalk.  Avoid celery with 1.  "Blackheart," a brown or black discoloration of the small center branches.  2.  Insect injury in the center branches or the insides of outer branches. and 3. long, thick seed-stem in places of the usually small, tender heart branches.

Simple Ice Packs

Just in time for Summer!