Years ago before the pandemic, I used to take sliced pineapple to parties for an appetizer. I remember taking overripe pineapples back to Costco and returning them to Safeway as well. It seemed like the quality varied widely with the pineapples often being too ripe and even rotten.

When I had a tea party Friday, I decided I’d get a pineapple. I wanted Rainier cherries, but Safeway didn’t have any and the red cherries didn’t look good.

Fortunately, I didn’t have time to prepare the pineapple for the party. Because when I cut the top off on Sunday, it was rotten, really rotten. It was the worst pineapple I’ve ever seen.

In a bag it went for another return to Safeway. See my Sunday article on “The Quest to Find Some Edible Celery.”

Here are some suggestions for selecting a pineapple:

Color. Look for vibrant leaves and a greenish-yellow color.

Smell. Check for a sweet scent near the base of the pineapple.

Leaves. Pull on the leaves. If they’re hard to pull, it may need to ripen more.

Texture. Squeeze it. A ripe pineapple will have a firm shell but will be slightly soft when you squeeze it.

Weight. Look for a pineapple that feels heavy for its size, which means that it’s more ripe.

Best wishes in your pineapple selections. Due to weather problems and increased demand, similar to celery, the quality and selection pineapple may be limited.