As most people already know, I’m a bit of a history buff. I’m always running across things that surprise and interest me, so I found an article quite by accident that’s provided material for a blog.
With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, it’s a given that we’ll be eating tomatoes. But did you know that in the early 1800s, tomatoes were only used as medicine and not eaten? In fact, people thought they were unappetizing, poisonous in fact!
An Ohio doctor put them in pill form and sold them as a medicinal tonic that would cure indigestion, jaundice, and a host of other problems. But when F. & J. Heinz began making and marketing ketchup, people decided they were tasty.
In 1883, the Supreme Court declared tomatoes as fruit due to them having seeds and growing from a flowering vine.
This has always been a bit weird to me because they seem to be a vegetable.
But ketchup changed the way people thought of tomatoes and began eating them.
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Another weird article I saw was about cucumbers. They weren’t well liked prior to the 18th century and people saw them only as food for livestock. They called them “cowcumbers” and that continued until after 1870.
Louisa May Alcott joked about cowcumbers in a letter to her sister Anna. Food was a scarcity from the 14th century to the 20th and people could’ve been eating them all along. Just seems so strange to me to starve when there was food.
So when you’re eating your Thanksgiving dinner, you’ll have something to tell your guests. Tomatoes were medicine and cucumbers were cowcumbers. HaHa!
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I have a new Christmas novella coming on November 30th. LOVE COMES TO CHRISTMAS is #7 in the Christmas Stocking Sweethearts series by seven of the Fillies.
I loved writing this story and making some Christmas magic. It stars Gillian Everly and Brett Love. Also Zema the border collie.
It’s available for preorder HERE.
The launch date is Dec. 4th and I’ll have a post then also and tell more.
But, here’s a blurb. Also, there is no mention of tomatoes or cucumbers in this story.
Someone is going to great lengths to convince Gillian Everly her beloved Christmas store is haunted. Sudden, mysterious occurrences keep her unsettled, still she doesn’t buy into ghosts and spirits. An intruder has to be getting seemingly through locked doors. With a big Christmas Eve performance planned, she doesn’t have time for strange shenanigans.
Brett Love, a new customer, is taken by the beautiful shop owner and tries to help. He loans her a dog to keep her safe against whatever is happening in the shop. It seems the perfect solution.
The unthinkable happens when Gillian confronts the intruder, and she’s left with a maimed hand. Will she ever be able to perform again? Watching another dream die will shatter her fragile hope.
Tell me if you’ll be eating tomatoes and/or cucumbers this Thanksgiving. Or you might mention if you like this cover. I’ll give away a $10 Amazon gift card.
