Circumspect Fruit

The tomato is a fruit that one must approach with a certian degree of caution. It is considered a fruit by scientists because of the seeds, yet used as a vegetable in cooking. A tomato a fruit? I mean who has tomatoes with ice cream??

My Mom loves tomatoes. She would actually eat tomatos like an apple, grabbing the tomato and biting into it like it was an apple

I also have my own reasons to be wary of this fruit, in uncooked form, let me describe the circumstances.

Everybody knows how difficult it can be to get children to eat their vegetables (or fruits in this case :)

During my childhood, when  I was 10 or 11, our family was having lunch.  We gathered at the table and the plate was set down in front of me:

slices of tomatoes and cottage cheese.  Tomatoes *sigh* I thought. But I was sick of them, so the rebelious teenager in me came out (I was advanced for my age :) I said I wasn’t going to eat them.  My parents were like, oh yes you are.  I ate the cottage cheese, and sat there.  My brother finished his and asked to be excused to go watch TV, Sure my parents said.  I asked to be excused to go watch TV.  They said no, I had to clean my plate.  They finished their meal, and got up, and I sat there, staring at the tomatoes. I sat there, listening to my brother laughing at the TV in the next room, and sat there, for 6 hours until dinner time, with scant but a little cottage cheese in my belly  (I was allowed bathroom breaks) Finally, I thought, a reprieve.  Dinner time, everyone returned, and they had there dinner while I sat there with the uneaten plate of tomatoes.  I ask for some, but they pointed at the tomatoes.  Finally, I asked if I could go to bed.  I was granted permsission, but was told the tomatoes were going in the fridge, and would be breakfast tomorrow.  I went to bed with an empty tummy, and dread of the upcoming breakfast, and cried myself to sleep. In the morning, there were no tomatoes.

So for the next three decades, I have been picking tomatoes out of sandwiches, carefully selecting the least contaminated chip from nachos, and avoiding bruschetta like the plague.  Parents, think carefully how you discipline your children around the vegetables, or you may end up scarring them for life.

These tomatoes pictured, will probably end up in spaghetti sauce.  But it is time I grew up, so on this Mother’s day, I am going to eat a plate of tomatoes.