Instructions: * Storage: Store them stem end up in a cool spot on a shaded windowsill or countertop. (Note: Do NOT refrigerate uncut tomatoes; that robs them of taste and aroma. Their flavor begins to deteriorate at temperatures below 54 degrees.

Store them on a tray or in a bowl at room temperature.)

* Preparation: The best ways to eat vine-ripe tomatoes are the simplest: on a sandwich with white bread and mayonnaise or diced and tossed with cucumbers and green onions, salt and pepper.

* Peeling: The easiest way to peel tomatoes is to drop them into boiling water for five to 15 seconds, depending on ripeness. Remove, let cool and the skin will slip off. (Note: Carefully cut an - through the skin on the bottom of the tomato before blanching to make removing the peel easier.

* Seeding: Cut tomato in half horizontally. Hold each half over a bowl, cut side down and gently squeeze out the seeds.

* Nutrition: Tomatoes are low in calories (35 for one medium tomato). rich in lycopene and vitamin C, and are a good source of vitamin A and B-complex vitamins and potassium.

* History: Tomatoes, which still grow wild along the coastal plains of Ecuador and Peru, were first cultivated by the people of the Caribbean, the Incas and the Aztecs who called the fruit "tomatl." They were carried back to Europe shortly after Cortez conquered Mexicos Aztecs.

Love apples:
* Because tomatoes are so round and plump and juicy and so completely foreign from Europes native turnips, cabbages and carrots, people assumed the New World fruit was an aphrodisiac. Such a racy reputation inspired the French to call tomatoes "pommes damour," and young men presented his sweetheart with

"love apples," hoping it would inspire more than mere affection.

* Straight-laced Puritans were afraid that eating tomatoes would arouse their carefully checked passions.

* Tomatos lusty notoriety lingered into the 20 th century when the term

"hot tomato" entered American slang as "a sexy female."

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