Tomat-O'-Lantern.

Thanksgiving over, I suppose it's time to turn our thoughts to the next holiday. With its built-in excuse to devour succulent, succulent, miniature chocolate bars (really, they may be smaller, but eating the whole box sort of negates the reduction in calories this provides), I welcome Halloween with open arms. And an open pillow case.

Which brings me to the freakiest-looking tomato I have ever seen. Yes, that is a tomato. And it's already got its game face on. Ever the green thumb, SCS may have cultivated the first Halloween-ready fruit.

The tomato had grown into cracks between the bricks at the side of the house, resulting in its disfiguration (or figuration?) Really, no pesticides. Not the result of a science experiment gone extremely awry. It was a little sensitive about having been called 'pear-shaped' as a child. And having been called a Franken-fruit hurt him right to his seeds. But clearly, two eyes, a large nose and even a mouth. eBay? Can we say it looks like some religious disciple? The Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese woman was able to get $28,000 for a burnt sandwich. And then had it tattood on herself. Surely we can come up with a bald celebrity look-alike who might look a little green after a late night partying. Howie Mandel? Deal or no deal? If not, I have it on good authority that tomato soup goes well with a grilled cheese sandwich.

Interesting little note from Wikipedia about tomatoes, which I had always been told were fruits. This touches on the great fruit/vegetable debate. And introduces them as berries! No wonder the one above is having an identity crisis.

Fruit or vegetable?
Botanically speaking, a tomato is the ovary, together with its seeds, of a flowering plant, that is a fruit or, more precisely, a berry. However, from a culinary perspective, the tomato is not as sweet as those foodstuffs usually called fruits; and it is typically served as part of a main course of a meal, as are other vegetables, rather than at dessert. As noted above, the term "vegetable" has no botanical meaning and is purely a culinary term.

While the Tomato can be classified as a fruit, it is officially categorized as a definite vegetable in the United States. The USDA also considers the tomato a vegetable.

But due to the scientific definition of a fruit and a vegetable, the tomato still remains a fruit when not dealing with tariffs. Nor is it the only culinary vegetable that is a botanical fruit: eggplants, cucumbers, and squashes of all kinds (including zucchini and pumpkins) share the same ambiguity.