30-Day Drawing Challenge: Day 3

A lot of people think they don't like tomatoes. (A lot of people are crazy. I think there may be a connection.) I have to assume that some of them don't like any tomatoes under any circumstances, ever... but for most of them, I've long held a theory that they just don't really know what a tomato tastes like.

See, those tomatoes you buy at Stop & Shop are not real tomatoes. The poor little guys have been plucked long before they've reached their true potential. They are sad imitators of tomatoes -- imitomators? -- that taste like dirt and sorrow. I beg of you: do not judge all tomatokind based on the mega-depressing stock at Stop & Shop.

To be fair, I'm kind of spoiled. Growing up, my grandparents had a large garden in their back yard in Concord, North Carolina, and every summer it provided a steady supply of luscious and delicious produce for my family. Okra, green beans, butter beans, summer squash, zucchini, corn -- it seemed totally normal at the time, but I realize now how incredibly lucky I was, especially when I think about those tomatoes. Gawd.

Of course, anyone who has gone out to eat with me (or spent a few hours with me when I'm upset or depressed) knows that I love rich comfort food. When I first started contemplating today's prompt -- my favorite food -- many of those dishes crossed my mind: mac and cheese, fried chicken, biscuits and sausage gravy, country-fried steak and mashed potatoes (and again with the gravy... mmmm... guess you really can't take the South of the girl, eh?). Even as my palate has become more sophisticated over the years and I've learned to appreciate textures, flavors, and spices that I never would have imagined for myself ten years ago, my tastes are, at the core, pretty simple.

Thus, on this, the third day of the 3o Day Drawing Challenge, I give you an unremarkable depiction of a remarkably tasty fruit: the almighty tomato!