Go for the Grapefruit

The summer grapefruit crop, grown primarily around Riverside, is still abundant and needs to be sold--a winter crop from Arizona and the Coachella Valley is ready for market. That means lots of fruit at reasonable prices--for instance, five for $1 at Lucky last week. Oranges, on the other hand, are in short supply and costly.

Grapefruit is a good source of Vitamin C, provides fiber and potassium. And half a medium grapefruit sets you back only 50 calories. It’s also a good, tangy eye opener for breakfast.

Oroweat is now making a version of Australian toaster biscuits. Split like an English muffin for easy toasting, the biscuits can serve as the base for anything from eggs Benedict to strawberry shortcake. Or serve them toasted with butter and jam for breakfast or tea. Introduced in September, Oroweat’s Australian toaster biscuits are in most chain markets, priced about $1.79 for a package of six, but cheaper on special.

You don’t have to wait until next spring to make strawberry shortcake with your toaster biscuits. Cold weather this year delayed berries by several weeks, so they are in abundant supply now. Quality is excellent; to maintain their texture and flavor, refrigerate the berries right after purchase and leave the caps on when you wash them to keep water from soaking inside.

Pepperidge Farm has a new line of moist and chewy low-fat cookies called Wholesome Choice. The line includes six flavors: raspberry tart, carrot-walnut, oatmeal-raisins, cranberry-honey, date-walnut and apple-oatmeal tart. Each cookie supplies no more than two grams of fat and contains no tropical oils, artificial colors, artificial flavors or preservatives. The 6 1/4-ounce sacks sell for $1.79 in supermarkets.

October is national seafood month. Species that are plentiful in the southwestern United States at this time of year include swordfish, mako shark, opah, bluefin tuna and California spiny lobster. Salmon, catfish, trout, shrimp, mussels and fresh tuna are in good supply nationally, according to Seafood Source, a newsletter put out by the National Fisheries Institute.