Dazed And Cornfused

My colleagues and I went for our annual mystery trip at Long & Scott Farms in Mt. Dora, FL recently. Kudos to Tacy for picking a great place to test our ability to find our way out of this six acre corn field.

Long & Scott is a great place that grows some of the best sweet corn you will ever find and cucumbers for pickles in the jars of some of the best brands. It is a great place to visit that offers a lot for agri-entertainment. They grow a great corn "maize" on about six acres, and it ain't easy. They give you these flag poles to wave if you get hopelessly lost.

I shot this this video of our trip "Blair Witch Project" style. We broke up into two teams to see who could find the most stations hidden in the field, and more importantly, find your way out. There is some dispute of who actually won.

Would the two intrepid teams find their way out? Would they avoid the condition called cornfusion? Would they wave the flag of surrender? You will will have to watch this 6 min. feature to find out.

Day Two @ PMA

Well, I spent some more time at the Produce Marketers Association Fresh Summit today. Here is a shot of part of the show floor. If you scroll down, you can see a video clip that I took on day one from this high vantage point. The folks in the media room told me they expected about 17,000 folks to be here at this year's show at the Orlando Convention Center.

Remember you can double click to see the picture full screen. Hit the back button to come back to the blog.

Oh Ambrosia

I stopped by the Ambrosia apples booth and sampled the sweet, crispy apples that are grown in British Columbia. For some reason, I was compelled to stop by this booth many times during my two days here at PMA. Not sure why.... Double click for a closer look ;-0 wink wink

Back To The Rambutans

As you will see below, I sampled some rambutans on day one of the PMA. I decided to go back again today to shoot a little clip, so you could get a better feel of what they look like. The lovely ladies were back again, which suited me fine.

Cooks Cooking Up A Storm

Many of the exhibitors had chefs on hand to cook up whatever produce they where hawking. I did some serious sampling over the days that I was at PMA. I could feel my pants getting tighter as I went. This was at the artichoke folks booth.

A Mushroom Lover's Paradise

If you love mushrooms, PMA is a paradise. There were many retailers showing off their shrooms. Here is a picture that was pretty common at the displays. Double click the picture for a closer look.

Great Litte Recipe

Here is a clip of a great little fresh dish.

Here is what you need:

• 14 Amorosa Cocktail Tomatoes quartered (about 1 pound)
• 7 Babee Seedless Cucumbers sliced 1/8 inch
• 3 oz. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 oz. white balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp. of basil
• 3 tsp. of sea salt or Kosher

Mix the liquid and salt in bowl until salt dissolves then gently mix in the tomatoes and cukes. Wait 10 min. before serving.

Displays Galore

There were some amazing displays of fresh produce of all kinds. Check this one out, which has a bunch of stuff I've never even seen before. I don't ever recall seeing any of this stuff at the Red & White.

The Chef Is In Action

Here is a clip off one of the many chefs cooking at the different booths. Some of the things this guy was saying was so meaningful to me....

Back Again

Like I said for some reason I kept coming back to the Ambrosia booth. Just can't figure out why I was drawn there so often.

Lone Rose

There were some floral exhibits at the show. Here's a nice shot of a rose I took.

A Great Meeting

As you know, I am a great fan of Honeycrisp apples. For the past two seasons, I've ordered these great, juicy apples from Pepin Heights in MN. In doing so, I stuck up a correspondence with Dennis Courtier, who runs things up there. I had the surprise and pleasure of meeting Dennis this weekend at the PMA Fresh Summit in Orlando.

Dennis also sent me a sample of a new apple he is growing that will go commercial next year called the SweeTango...It is sweet, complex and has a great texture.

Here's a photo of us...remember you can double click the images to see them bigger.

Trying A Rambutan

While at the PMA, I got to test a fruit they call a rambutan. It is pretty freaky looking on the outside...like, I don't know if I should eat that thing. But I did. In the picture you see the inside of the fruit, which is a jelly-like fruit with a pit. It is sweet and nice. If you look to the right, there is a picture of the fruit which shows its hairy outside. Plus, if you double click the image you can see the girls are holding the fruit in their hands.

BTW, there were some nice ladies serving the treat. A lot of the booths had similar nice ladies......:-)

From Wiki:

The rambutan (IPA: [ramˈbu.t̪ɑn], Nephelium lappaceum) is a medium-sized tropical tree in the family Sapindaceae, and the fruit of this tree. It is probably native to Southeast Asia, although its precise natural distribution is unknown. It is closely related to several other edible tropical fruits including the Lychee, Longan and Mamoncillo. It is believed to be native to the Malay Archipelago.[1]. Rambutan in Indonesian or Malay literally means hairy or hairy fruit caused by the 'hair' that covers this fruit. In Panama, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, it is known as mamón chino. There is a second species regularly for sale at Malay markets which is known as "wild" rambutan. It is a little smaller than the usual red variety and is colored yellow.

PMA Fresh Summit

I attended the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit in Orlando this weekend. It is a huge show with some 15,000 fresh produce folks from around the world in attendance. My feet are sore, but I got to sample fruit and veggies a plenty...some I've never even heard of before. The exhibits were very big and cool. Check this clip I took from one them that had a platform so I could shoot the floor. Keep in mind that I panned right and didn't catch the left side, which was about as big.

Tricked Out Gator

I attended an event recently where John Deere showed off their new line-up of new toys. One was a customized Gator with an amazing sound system.

How's The View?

At recent meeting in Florida, we had a nice dinner with a "decent" view. Check the clip.