My Favorite Food Things - Day #22 - Fresh Ingredient

My childhood home was surrounded by 50 acres of corn and tomato fields.

When it comes to these two items, my mother would say that there is nothing better than fresh corn on the cob. A fresh tomato however, wins my heart.

As a child, I would run out to the tomato fields to be met with that thick aroma of the vines. A pale pinkish-red would stain the bottoms of my shoes from trampling on those that fell to the dirt. And my mouth would water with anticipation.

OH! There was nothing better than picking a plump tomato from the vine and biting into it, eating it like an apple. The fruit’s juice trickling down my face. My taste buds dancing with joy as the tomato flavor exploded in my mouth. A slight sugar rush from the tender sweetness. And finally the satisfaction of looking up from my tomato juice drenched hands to see acres and acres of more tomatoes just waiting to be consumed, to be consumed all by me. So I would pick a second, then a third, and a fourth, and when I would think that I just can’t eat any faster, I would fall deeply ill. So full from tomatoes that it seemed as though that my inners would burst from the fruit’s acidity. I would fall to my rear, legs flanked out in front of me on either side allowing room for my belly to sag ever so gently. And I would giggle. I would giggle with pure happiness. That happiness that one feels when they’ve reached rapture. Then I would pick one more tomato and slowly devour it…giggling all the way.

Oh, the joy - the pure, pure joy - of a freshly picked, ripe tomato.