Tomato tale resonates with readers

OK. Once again I've discovered that, when I throw a story out there, I never know what's going to inspire someone to return a comment.

During the past 10 years, the biggest responses to this column have been about my ongoing mission to remind folks, especially along the Riverwalk, about the hazards of feeding bread and snack chips to ducks and geese.

That's not something I dreamed up. When I was a child, a fisherman at a pond enlightened a bunch of us about feeding swans. I believed him.

If you don't, simply do an online search for "feeding bread to ducks and geese." You'll find many references that feeding waterfowl "increases the chances of negative human/wildlife encounters, reduces their foraging instincts and can make them dependent on people for food."

At any rate, many readers enjoyed the irony last year when Karl, our Papillion pup, and I were chased by a gaggle of hissing and flapping geese near the Main Post Office one Saturday morning.

Other accounts about life with our dogs - first Prairie, then Karl - always seem to attract interest.

Another story that resulted in a deluge of e-mail was in January 2007 when I compared the costs of the then-proposed $35 million Naperville Park District Recreation Center to a much-needed $21.4 million expansion bridge over the Chicago River that serves some 40,000 daily commuters.

Now, after last week's column, you can say "to-mah-toes." I say tomatoes.

Everywhere I went last week - from my morning dog walk to Dean's Clothing's 50th anniversary ribbon cutting to the new Hollywood Palms movie theater - somebody mentioned the tomato story.

When folks commented, I asked if they could use tomatoes.

One response came from a former neighbor in Chatham, New Jersey.

"I so enjoyed reading about the tomatoes. - We stopped planting them as we couldn't keep the deer, squirrels and groundhogs at bay," e-mailed Diane Conlan, noting she now has a perennial garden. "Speaking of tomatoes, the best summer sandwich is peanut butter, garden fresh tomatoes on whole grain bread. I still get funny looks when I mention it."

By Friday I'd sampled sliced tomato sandwiches with both crunchy and smooth peanut butter. What a delicious combination!

"Great column in the Herald," e-mailed Joe Haselhorst. "I love tomatoes. Your list of tomato dishes is making me salivate."

I offered to drop off some tomatoes.

"Unfortunately, I started a no-carb diet," Haselhorst said. "We just started on Friday and it feels like a month. - It's amazing what insights you get to your eating habits when you try something like this. Milk, tomatoes and bread are my biggest regrets."

Haselhorst, a dentist, also explained that the high acidity in fresh tomatoes can sensitize exposed root surfaces. If you've been eating an extra amount of fresh tomatoes and your gums are suddenly overly sensitive, he recommends keeping up with your regular dental checkups.

"We read your article about the tomatoes and had to laugh," e-mailed Mike Barbour. "We are being overrun with ripe tomatoes."

Barbour also concocted a miracle growing solution.

"We used a magic formula of 2 ounces each of dark molasses, household ammonia and cider vinegar to a gallon of water. You apply to the root system of the plants and it promotes blooms. We have 13 plants and we gave each plant about 1/2 gallon three times this year. The results were outstanding. Jan got the recipe at a Cress Creek Garden Club meeting. It works!"

When I attended West View Elementary in Muncie, Ind., a nutritionist with a steel push cart visited our classroom. The cart had compartments for hot and cold food samples as well as a place to store tiny Dixie cups, napkins and toothpicks. I looked forward to the visits to learn about different fruits and vegetables and how they enriched our health with vitamins and minerals.

For instance, one time we compared cold carrot sticks to hot carrot coins. Another time she sliced apples served with apple sauce. It's likely we sampled sliced and stewed tomatoes.

Every time, the nutritionist explained how cooking can change flavor and nutritional value. She taught about calories, carbohydrates, fats and protein.

I wonder why we don't focus more on nutrition these days.

Why does it seem we used to do all the right things in the good old days?

• Stephanie Penick writes about Naperville. E-mail her at spennydh@aol.com.