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49 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, December 9, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 3, 2004 Since you asked Better tag that pie as dessert Since the holidays are upon us, I have two quick, pertinent questions: 1) Olives (green or black): Fruit or vegetable? 2) Pumpkin: Pumpkins are squash, squash is a vegetable, so is pumpkin pie a vegetable? Signed, Hungry in Medford (— Lee F., Medford) Well, Lee, your logic may be flawed, but if it gives us a reason to count dessert as a vegetable, we’re all for it. It may surprise you, but the holiday foods you’ve named are all fruits. Olives are the small, oily fruits of olive trees. Under-ripe olives are always green, but ripe olives may be either green or black, according to "The Food Lovers Companion" by Sharon Tyler Herbst. Advertisement Pumpkins are fruits as well, but they are also members of the gourd family, which includes muskmelon, watermelon and squash, Herbst writes. But by the time the large, orange gourds are peeled, pureed, sweetened and cooked into pie, there’s no way to define them except as dessert. Sorry, Lee. You’ll have to eat your vegetables in another form. Send questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by e-mail to [email protected] . We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities