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With summer only a few weeks away, Soft fruit season is finally in full swing! I anxiously await all of the wonderful varieties of these tree ripened treats. Today I'll share some tips on a few of the soft fruit varieties that we carry here at AmazonFresh.

- Nectarines are easy to prepare since their skin does not need to be peeled. The skin does not interfere with its taste or texture when eating them fresh or cooked.

- Because of the delicate nature of apricots and their small size, it's not advisable to peel them. To eat a fresh apricot just cut along the seam of the apricot or separate the fruit with your fingers. Once the fruit halves have been separated the seed should be easily removed.

- Before eating or cooking peaches, wash them in cool water and dry with a paper towel or soft cloth to remove the remaining fuzz. Most of the fuzz is removed in the commercial washing process.

- To easily peel Peaches or Plums, place them in a strainer and dip them into boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds. Remove them promptly and put them into cold water to cool. This process makes the skin easy to peel with a sharp paring knife.

- Peaches, Plums and Nectarines are separated into two categories: Freestone Varieties, which are easily separated from their pit and Clingstone Varieties, which usually leave flesh attached to the pit when eating or preparing.

- To pit the freestone varieties of soft fruit, make a cut along the seam all the way around and through the fruit down to the pit. Then twist each half in opposite directions.

- Cutting sections right from the whole fruit by slicing down to the pit and removing the desired amount best pits the clingstone varieties of soft fruit.

- As with Apples and Pears, use a little Lemon or Pineapple juice on the cut areas to slow the browning effect.

As always, please feel free to drop me a post if you have questions about any of the wonderful, fresh produce we carry. I am always eager to share what I've learned!

We had a suggestion sent to feedback@amazon.com recently stating how helpful it would be to have storage and ripening instructions for our fresh fruits and vegetables. This is something that is definitely in the works, but will take some time. So today, I'll share some tips on some of the produce you get from AmazonFresh.

- When you have some Bananas that are just too green, I suggest putting them in a plastic bag, sealing it and putting it on the counter or the top of your refrigerator. Doing this helps to heat up the Bananas, which in turn, speeds up the ripening process.

- Apples are picked at the peak of their ripeness, so additional ripening causes them to turn mealy and mushy. We keep apples in the refrigerated section of our warehouse to stem this decay. When you get Apples delivered to your house, you should keep them as cold as possible. I suggest the back of your refrigerator where they should last up to six weeks.

- Pears on the other hand, are among the few fruits that improve after they are picked. They are best left on the counter where they will ripen in a few days to about a week. Most Pears will show a slight color change as they ripen and can then be stored in the refrigerator until you are ready to eat them.

- Cut off about an inch from the bottom of Asparagus, wrap the fresh cut end in a wet paper towel then place in a plastic bag in your refrigerators crisper drawer. This helps increase the storage life and gives you a few extra days before using. If the tips start to wilt slightly, soaking them in cold water will revive them.

- Never store fresh, uncut Tomatoes in the refrigerator. This will cause the ripening process to stop and may result in flavor loss. Tomatoes are best stored at room temperature with the stem end up. If you need to speed the ripening process, you can place them in a plastic bag with a Banana that you ripened earlier. The ethylene produced by the fruit will help ripen them naturally.

I hope this information proves helpful although it is just the tip of the iceberg. If there are any produce products in particular that you would like ripening or storage information on, please feel free to post a comment, I would love to share as much information as I can.

Thanks for reading,
Matt

I don't really ever stop grilling for the year -- I just slow down slightly in the winter. With the nice weather in the last couple of weeks, my grilling instincts are really starting to kick in, so I thought I'd share some of the items I'm looking forward to grilling this season.

- Asparagus is starting to pick up. Around mid-week, we'll have medium to large stems from California and some nice slender stalks from Washington. Personally, I prefer grilling larger asparagus as long as the stalks are green -- white near the base means tough.

- Onions are always good for grilling, but in the next few weeks, look for something called salad onions -- especially those from Walla Walla. These are the onions they thin from the fields to allow the remaining onions to grow large. Salad onions will still have tops attached like green onions, but the bulbs will be larger and they grill up beautifully.

- Believe it or not, many varieties of fruit are excellent on the grill -- don't be afraid to experiment! Honeydew, cantaloupe, peaches and nectarines are some of my favorites. Just slice them in half and grill cut-side down.

- I wait eagerly for figs all year because my wife and I use them in a favorite meal. We slice them in half, coat lightly in olive oil and roast indirectly on the BBQ until they start to bubble, about 10 to 12 minutes. Then top with a nice blue cheese like Kaserei German Cambozola. Let the cheese just start to melt and serve. Our favorite pairing is with a rack of lamb, a Caesar salad and a nice Cabernet Sauvignon (we like Clos du Val for this meal).

- Finally, a mixed medley is a grilling standby at our house. Starting with grape cherry tomatoes, I grill lightly with pineapple, peppers, mushrooms and onions -- then top with butter & salt. I grill them in a foil pan next to my steak until the cherry tomatoes just start to burst from the heat.

Happy Grilling!

Mike

Recently, Pat O. wrote us at feedback@amazonfresh.com and asked, "I would be really happy if the romaine were not so wet when it arrives. Do you need to keep it wet to keep it fresh?"

The short answer is yes, it is better for the lettuce if we keep it damp while in our facility. Your refrigerator is a little less "breezy" than our warehouse - the open air can tend to dry out lettuce a bit. Because your vegetable drawer also has some humidity control, lettuce doesn't generally need to be kept wet once delivered.

Here's a bit deeper explanation and a tip for you to use at home: Part of the quality preparation we do at AmazonFresh includes "crisping" our leafy greens (lettuce, celery, parsley, radishes, beets, chard, etc). We trim a little off the stem end and then soak the item in WARM water for 2-5 minutes (no need to trim root items like radishes). Then we let it drain and store in our cooler - ready to be picked for your order. The warm water opens up the cells and causes the item to draw in water, and the chilling causes the cells to tighten again, keeping your lettuce crisp and your celery crunchy for much longer. Upon delivery you can lightly towel your lettuce if you find it too wet, or just let it dry naturally in your vegetable drawer. If you find your leafy greens getting a bit limp and sad-looking, be sure to treat them like this, and quite often they will revive nicely!

Be looking for tips and information soon under the tag "tips" - our team has many to share and some fun trivia too!

Regards,
Mike