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Summertime Fruit ~ Tomatoes

Food

Did you know that tomatoes are technically a fruit instead of a vegetable?  I found this blurb about it that says what I wanted to!

To really figure out if a tomato is a fruit or vegetable, you need to know what makes a fruit a fruit, and a vegetable a vegetable. The big question to ask is, DOES IT HAVE SEEDS? If the answer is yes, then technically, (botanically) you have a FRUIT. This, of course, makes your tomato a fruit. It also makes cucumbers, squash, green beans and walnuts all fruits as well. Along with the fruit from a plant or tree, we can often eat the leaves (lettuce,)stems (celery,) roots (carrots,) and flowers (broccoli.) Many of these other parts of the plant are typically called VEGETABLES. Now don’t go looking for tomatoes next to the oranges in your grocery stores; fruits like tomatoes and green beans are usually (alas, incorrectly) referred to as “vegetables” in most grocery stores and cookbooks.

Interesting huh?!

As a youngster I did not like tomatoes at all.  I tried and tried and tried to like them.  But I just didn’t.  I ate my BLT’s without the T.  I ordered my burgers with everything but onion and tomato.  (I don’t like onions much either)  I picked the tomatoes out of my salads or made salads without tomatoes.

I did like salsa and spaghetti sauce and pizza sauce and ketchup.  Just not a fresh plain tomato slice.

Somewhere along the line my taste buds finally ‘grew up’.  I don’t remember for sure what point it was but I went from not liking them at all to loving them.  At first it was just on sandwiches, in tacos, stacked in a Mexican ‘straw hat’.  I still didn’t eat them plain but on a burger I loved ’em.

These days when the garden fresh tomatoes arrive I am first in line to buy some.  I have tried for years to grow them here but, alas, they refuse to grow.  So I buy them from whoever has them available.

The inside of a real garden tomato is not uniform.  It is dark red, juicy, and tender.  Not pale red.  Not dry.  Not hard.  I buy tomatoes  at the grocery all year – I pick the best available.  But nothing compares to the big fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes we have in the summertime.

Slice ’em up, sprinkle with a little sea salt, and drizzle with ranch.  Yum.  Yes, I have learned to love slices of fresh tomatoes!  (Onions are a completely different story and I have no wish to force myself to like them.  Their ‘aroma’ is just not that pleasant)

Do you like tomatoes?  Do you grow your own?  What is your favorite way to eat them?

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About Jill Flory

I am the blogger behind this blog, a small business owner, both retail and wholesale. I'm a designer and design consultant, I blog about DIY projects, sewing tips and tutorials I've picked up along the way in the more than 25 years I've been using needle, thread, and machine, home decor, homeschooling, and life.

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Comments

  1. Rosanna says

    It must be a family thing; I remember Anita couldn’t stand tomatoes. Don’t know if her tastebuds have grown up yet or not. I love to grow (and eat) tomatoes. If I can walk out my door and pick a ripe tomato, I consider myself a rich woman. Fresh salsais one of my favorite things to do with them. Also stuff them with egg salad. Summer’s not summer until I’ve had some.

    Reply

    • Jill Flory says

      That’s right, Anita didn’t like them either. I will have to ask her if she ever learned to next time I see her! I stuffed some tomatoes with chicken salad and I have been craving it ever since. Must make some more of that salad soon! If we ever move to the country I WILL be trying to grow tomatoes again!

      Reply

  3. Brian says

    Did you know that if you put salt on a tomato and put it in the oven you can make MSG nature’s way? Tomatoes are high in glutamate. Put some sodium together. Add some heat. Voila, you have Mono Sodium Glutamate. Pretty interesting, heh?

    Reply

  5. deborah says

    I’ve liked tomatoes ever since I was a kid. I forget how yummy a tomato fresh from the garden is till summer arrives. Thank goodness for my mother-in-law’s garden!

    Reply

  6. Sharon says

    A fresh garden tomato means summer to me. They are so good! We eat them many ways, sometimes just as a tomato basil sandwich with a bit of salt and pepper. Sometimes in a tomato pie, which is so good, and everything in between.

    Reply

  8. Amy says

    What beautiful pictures. My father in law nurtures 100s of tomato plants (for fun) every summer so I have plenty of tomatoes to last me through the summer and beyond.

    Reply

  9. Mrs. K says

    My tastebuds have never grown up, I do not like fresh tomatoes or onions. I will eat onion rings and cooked onions (just not big chunks) and cooked tomatoes, even big chunks of tomatoes in chili or soup. But I can taste a tomato even if it was on my sandwich and I take it off. I don’t despise them any longer like I used to.

    I remember my dad eating them for every meal in season when I was growing up. He’d have them with sausage gravy over them for breakfast and with cottage cheese for lunch, then just plain or in whatever Mom was making for supper. My dad grew up in a children’s home and several summers grew an acre of tomatoes and sold them to the local tomato cannery 🙂

    Reply

  11. breida @ breidawithab.com says

    Well, you know I DO grow my own tomatoes – they are not NEARLY ripe though. I’m getting desperate!!
    And I have to tell you- I had the exact same experience with tomatoes that you did. Exactly. But I can pinpoint the the very first time I ate one that I liked. At the diner one night I just decided to put the tomato slice ON the burger – and I’ve never looked back. I don’t eat them with Ranch – though I do like ranch. My favorite way to eat a fabulous tomato is in a caprese salad – with a drizzle of balsamic reduction!!!! ohhhhh! yummmy!

    Reply

  12. Janice says

    Tomatoes are Eldon’s BIG hate…so it kind of stunts my use of them. But we’ve been enjoying them sprinkled with sea salt, fresh pepper and splashed with a good balsamic. I also have a recipe for an AMAZING tomato/cucumber/basil/olive salad thingy. I’ll have to share it with you if you like all those things!

    Reply

    • Jill Flory says

      Well, tell Eldon his taste buds just haven’t grown up yet – LOL! and I would love that recipe 🙂 My kids would have a fit but Travis and I would like it!

      Reply

  14. Jennifer Carroll says

    I had campari tomatoes on my sandwich today! I love them! I also really like tomatoes at breakfast – it always reminds me of a trip to London a few years ago – the Brits love tomatoes at breakfast too!! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

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