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County Faretasty fresh any rabid tomato or straw- berry lover who spends most of the year in (wise) denial waiting for that per- fect ripeness. So firm is the focus on the ripe that one could be forgiven for think- ing ripeness is a moment as cruelly sharp as the blade of a shiv. Here today, a goner tomorrow. Yet ripeness can be a much more relative con- cept than one might expect. "Really, ripeness is a personal thing," says Tovah Martin, a horticulturist and writer based in Roxbury, Conn. "For example, I eat gooseberries when they're overripe. I've tried them the other way and, eh, nothing. But let them get slightly overripe, and to me they're delicious. That's the beauty of being a gardener. You can experiment and define ripeness for yourself." "Webster's New World By Bill Daley Chicago Tribune (MCT) Ripeness matters. Ask College Dictionary" defines ripe as: "fully grown or developed ... ready to be harvested and used for food, as grain or fruit." Ripe and ready? It's all personal Packaged applesauce vs. fresh & A SALAD OF SUM- MER LEAVES, CURED PORK AND CHERRIES Prep: 15 minutes Makes: 2 servings as a light lunch MCT photo Many foods, like avocado, have a peak ripeness time but ripeness is really a variable quality with different meanings to different tastes. Harold McGee, in his landmark book, "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen," wrote that ripening was "long considered to be an early stage in the fruit's general disintegration. But now it's clear that ripening is a last, intense phase of life. As it ripens, the fruit actively prepares itself for its end, organizing itself into a feast for our eye and palate." always mattered, but today's emphasis on local and seasonal foods may be honing and articulating an appetite for it as an ideal. You can experience ripeness in two ways this season with two new books, both called "Ripe": Nigel Slater a London- based food writer, has fol- lowed up on his vegetable book, "Tender," with a recipe-filled musing on fruit called "Ripe: A Cook in the Orchard" (Ten Speed: $40) and Cheryl Sternman Rule has written a rainbow-hued book "Ripe: A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables" (Running Press $25). Ripeness has, of course, Fruits and vegetables do reach a peak stage in life. A vine-ripened red tomato is a perfect example. But that doesn't mean the pro- duce is inedible before or after that point, says Willi Galloway, author of "Grow Cook Eat: A Food Lover's Guide to Vegetable Gar- dening" (Sasquatch, $29.95). She focuses on the delicious possibilities found in eating produce at the various stages of its life. How one prepares the vegetable or fruit will depend on the age, she says, noting that young small arugula leaves will end up raw in salads while older, tougher leaves go into pasta sauces. Gardeners like Martin, Slater and Galloway have a far easier time deciding when something is ripe for them. The rest of us must follow the dictates of supermarkets and, if we're lucky, farmers markets or roadside stands. Use your senses to judge quality and ripeness. Touch, smell, nib- ble if you can; don't go by looks alone. "Just because it looks perfect doesn't mean it will taste perfect," Rule says, urging consumers to ask questions, especially at farmers markets. Sternman Rule's "Ripe: A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables" puts ripeness to work, using fruit in a savory, sum- mery appetizer. 1 orange gin olive oil pepper British food writers don't all swear allegiance to the strict, everything-mea- sured-exactly style of recipe writing found in the United States. Here's a wonderful example from Nigel Slater's "Ripe: A Cook in the Orchard." The idiosyncrasies — what is a "generous handful" or "a little" parsley anyway? — are balanced by the sim- plicity of the dish, which is echoed in the telegraphic delivery of the recipe. 1 teaspoon Dijon mus- tard vinegar 2 teaspoons red wine 3 tablespoons olive oil Pinch of salt 4 whole-wheat flat- breads (4-6 inches wide) 2 tablespoons extra-vir- Salt and freshly ground 1/2 cup (4 ounces) mas- carpone cheese 3 medium firm but ripe peaches (about 1 pound), peeled, thinly sliced 1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion vinegar 1 tablespoon balsamic 1. Remove half the orange zest in fine shreds, the other half in long coils. Squeeze orange juice into a small bowl. cream Parsley, finely chopped 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 ounces thinly sliced cured ham, such as lomo, speck or coppa Freshly ground pepper 3 tablespoons whipping salad leaves halved, pitted apples? Fresh wins By Heidi Stevens Chicago Tribune (MCT) sauce always, every time, without fail, tastes the same. Buy a bag of Galas and each one tastes slightly different. One Pink Lady is sweet, one is tart. Braeburns are anything but uniform. And yet, a scoop of applesauce is a scoop of applesauce is a scoop of applesauce. "I have no idea why that is," says registered dietitian Jean- nie Gazzaniga-Moloo, spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. It does not fill her with delight. "We're kind of uniforming the flavor of that particular fruit for children," she says, "instead of letting them experience how individual fruits — even of the same variety — have their own unique flavor." Applesauce is one of life's great mysteries. Unlike the apples from which it originates, packaged apple- warmly embraced by kids from the moment they can stomach solids, a fact not lost on food companies, who've begun pack- aging the stuff in squeeze pouches that eliminate the need for a bowl or spoon. We recently brought three popular brands of squeeze apple- sauce (Mott's, Ella's Kitchen and GoGo Squeez) to a family picnic and asked the six kids in attendance to rank them in order of tastiness. What do you know? They all tasted pretty much the same. ("I like them all." "I don't know. They're all good!") How, then, does a conscientious parent choose the best one? Gazzaniga-Moloo would like to see us forgo all of them, Of course, that uniformity is probably why applesauce is so frankly. "I would put applesauce in a squeeze pouch on par with 100 percent fruit juice," she says. Not a Twinkie, in other words, but also not, you know, an apple. small bowl with the vine- gar, olive oil, salt and a grinding of pepper. Whisk together; whisk in the cream. Add parsley. Tear the ham into strips. Toss the salad leaves with the ham. Add cherries. Drizzle over the dressing. 4 generous handfuls 4 handfuls cherries, Put the mustard in a 2. Brush flatbreads with oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Repeat on the flip side. Grill bread over medi- um direct heat, flipping once, until they puff slight- ly and grill marks appear, 3-4 minutes. Cool to room temperature. 8049 Hwy 99E, Los Molinos, CA We Accept EBT Still, determining when to join in on McGee's proverbial ripeness feast has long been dictated by necessity and personal taste. Slater, for example, writes lyrically of "walking round the garden late on an autumn morning, pushing past the spiders' webs that festoon the pathways and plucking those last, wine- colored berries from their blackened canes is as good as life gets." "Speak up, ask them to pick for you," she suggests. "Being bold and unafraid is my biggest piece of advice at farmers markets. And that goes for the produce manager at the supermarket as well." PEACH MASCAR- PONE FLATBREADS Prep: 20 minutes Cook: 4 minutes Makes: 6 appetizer serv- ings This recipe from Cheryl 3. Season the mascar- pone with 1/8 teaspoon each salt and pepper, the shredded orange zest (save the coils) and 2 tablespoons orange juice. Stir until smooth. Divide among the flatbreads, spreading thick- ly. Top with peach and onion. Cut each flatbread into thirds (if oblong) or quarters (if round). 4. Place the vinegar in a small microwave-safe bowl; microwave until slightly thickened and reduced by about half, about 1 minute. Drizzle over flatbreads. Garnish with the coils of orange zest. Serve immediately. 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"It's going to have more dietary fiber, a stronger nutrient pro- Each of our brands offers up 1 gram of fiber, 20 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C and a range of 7 (Ella's) to 12 (GoGo) grams of sugar. The vitamin C, Gaz- zaniga-Moloo points out, is added in during the processing, in the form of ascorbic acid. "Applesauce is going to be lower in vitamin C because you lose a lot when you peel the apple," Gazzaniga-Moloo says. "You're pretty much just getting natural sugar and some more natural sugar." 384-1563 STAMPS ACCEPT FOOD WE Happy Father's Day Dad! Meat Specials Boneless Beef New York Steaks Boneless Country Style Pork Ribs Fresh Fresh, Extra Lean, (Not to exceed 15% fat) Ground Beef Bagged Fryers $599 lb. California Red Cherries Yellow Corn White or $189 Sweet lb. Produce Specials Fresh 99¢ Romaine, Red or Green Leaf Lettuce lb. 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