[thechat] Odd Ball Sports

Luther, Ron Ron.Luther at hp.com
Thu Nov 30 16:44:02 CST 2006


Mistir Joel D Canfield complained of lost time ... clearly needing a
break to stop and smell the raspberries!


More random Towmahtoe notes:

* Tomatoes are not vegetables, but are fruit (or more accurately,
berries)! 

* Tomato's Latin genus name Lycopersicon means wolf peach, peach for its
luscious appearance and wolf for its supposedly poisonous qualities. 

* The tomato was thought to be poisonous until the 1800's by North
Americans and Northern Europeans. 

* One 17th-century cookbook said that although it was safe but "not
advisable" to eat a cooked tomato, consuming a raw one would cause
instantaneous death. 

* The turning point for the tomato's reputation in the US came on
September 26, 1820 (or 1830 - there seems to be some wiggle room here)
when Colonel Robert Johnson ate a basketful of tomatoes in public and
without ill effect. 

--- he lose a bet or what?


* In 1893, the US Supreme Court stated that although "botanically
speaking tomatoes are the fruit of the vine," they were vegetables "in
the common language of the people." 

--- slow day in court or what?


* Ketchup originally started out as ketsiap, a 7th century Chinese sauce
made with fish entrails, vinegar, and spices. It wasn't until 1792 that
tomatoes were used as an ingredient. 

* We love our ketchup (at the rate of seven 14-ounce bottles of ketchup
per person each year), but we love our salsa even more! 



>>as Shrek says, "What you're dewing is the uppuhzit of help!"

as Lightening McQueen says, "Ka-Chow!"   ;-P



RonL.

Currently a bit more than 1/2 way through and thoroughly enjoying
"Fruits Basket", an enchanting little 'chick-flick' kinda anime series.



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