UPDATES on all of your Holiday Favorites
Dec 22
2009
2009
Curious about the fresh ingredients that are on your holiday shopping list? Based on what I’m hearing from growers and retailers, and seeing on the dock, this is what you can expect at the supermarket Christmas week:
- Clementines: Take advantage of great pricing with ad features on 5lb Gift Boxes of seedless, easy-peeling Clementines from Spain and Morocco. Yummm! In January ads on Clementines will not be as hot and quality will start to wane just a bit. Satsuma Mandarins from California are an outstanding Made in the USA alternative (even sweeter than Clementines, based on what I’ve tasted the past month).
- California Navel Oranges: Great quality, pricing and availability on all sizes! Buy some, enjoy them, give some away for other to enjoy. Juicy, sweet and healthy!
- Sweet Potatoes (Yams): See this week’s Eat This Now.
- Lettuces: Lettuces remain expensive. Supplies and quality on Iceberg, Romaine, Romaine Hearts, Red Leaf and Green Leaf have improved slightly versus last month.
- Bagged Salads: Quality has improved with the input product for Bagged Salads so most will hold up well to their expiration date. But the major snow storm that rocked the East Coast and beyond this past weekend has caused significant disruptions to the supply chain. Some parts of the country, especially the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic may experience some out-of-stocks on their favorite salads due to trucks with lettuce raw product not making it to the processing facilities in time which has a ripple effect on produce warehouses and the supermarkets they supply.
- Cranberries: Caution. All Fresh Cranberries are now actually storage Cranberries from earlier in the fall. Quality is suspect. Inspect your bags for soft and decayed berries. Firm berries are perfectly fine. It is a store’s goal to be out of Cranberries immediately after Christmas. Freeze your Cranberries if you want to extend your enjoyment.
- Green Beans: Quality from Florida has been good on Green Beans, but cold weather has put the brakes on supply this week.
- Celery: Weather has caused a serious shortage on celery right now and prices have shot through roof! What’s put on the shelf is good, but this is just not very much celery ready to be harvested in the fields. Many supermarkets planned their ads weeks in advance and put celery at a discount, so go ahead and take advantage if you can. If not on ad, celery and celery hearts are almost double the average price.
- Broccoli and Broccoli Crowns: Quality is just OK. The crown size has been a bit small and pricing firm, but if they look good – buy.
- Cauliflower: OK quality, pricing will be higher than usual.
- Romanesco: This specialty vegetable looks like a Christmas tree green cauliflower. If you find it – buy it. Steam and serve with butter.
- Brussels Sprouts: Delicious flavor, solid quality. Try some holiday – roasted or blanched then sauteed!
- Asparagus: See this week’s Eat This Now.
- Red, Gold, Idaho, White Potatoes: Quality and appearance on Red and Gold Potatoes is awesome! For best affordability, choose Idaho Russets (best for mashing) and White Potatoes.
- Spanish Yellow Onions: Great quality. Great pricing. Get cookin’!
- Carrots/Baby Carrots: Baby Peeled and Bagged Carrots have decent quality with affordable pricing. Bunched Carrots with tops are good too.
- Broccoli Rabe: Nice choice this week for a bold side dish, though pricing is strong.
- Anise (Fennel): Major shortage due to cool weather. Product will be expensive and small.
- Artichokes: Pricing is very high because of lack of availability due to cold weather which causes discoloration artichoke. This discoloration is referred to as “Frost Kissed” and is said to actually improve the flavor.
- Baking Apples: All of your favorites are good to go: McIntosh, Empire, Cortland, Red Rome, Granny Smith and Braeburn.
- Dessert Pears: Storage Bartletts are winding down, in fact Organic Bartletts are done for the season. Juicy Green and Red Anjous, Crunchy Bosc and Sweet Comice (The Christmas Pear) are fantastic options.
- Fresh Herbs: Buys some. Fresh Herbs like bay leaves, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme make the difference for holiday recipes.
- Italian Chestnuts: Go ahead, try out an old-fashioned recipe because quality is great. But this is you last chance to enjoy fresh Chestnuts. After Christmas, most stores hope to be sold out for the seasons.
- White Mushrooms: Look for aggressive holiday promotions, especially on jumbo-sized stuffing mushrooms.
- Baking Nuts (Pecans, Walnuts, Almonds): 2009′s crop is available in-shell. 2008′s crop shelled and ready for use. Go nuts – bake away!
- Cooking Greens: Conventional Collards and Kale were steady on the East Coast until this past weekend. Prices may jump up a bit. Organic Collards, Kale and Lacinato are expensive and tighter in supply.
- Tomatoes: Florida round Tomatoes are still high in price but showing signs of dropping in price and improving in quality. Grape Tomato quality is great and flavor is good. Look for in-store specials on Grape Tomatoes.
- Grapes: Expensive, expensive, expensive. New crop Seedless Grapes from Chile will be coming in January.
- Persimmons: Some growers are still promoting deals from a heavy crop, but this season is winding down. Fuyu variety you can eat right away, but Hachiya need to be soft-ripe.
- Pomegranates: Supplies of fresh Pomegranates are just about sold out for the season. Quality is so-so. Don’t worry, the juice is available bottled all year.
- Gold Pineapple: See this week’s Eat This Now
- Medjool Dates: Awesome flavor, sweetness and quality from California. So delicious they deserve to be on the cookie plate.
- Dried Figs: Black Mission and Calmyrnia varieties available dried.
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