Catsup/Ketchup

I hate the stuff. I think it tastes awful. I used to "can" ketchup each summer and that mixture I loved. The thickened tomato soup that comes in a jar now doesn't taste anything like the recipe which was in the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, 1966 edition.



The reason for this talk about catsup/ketchup (CK from now on) is that I'm currently out of CK in my pantry and refrigerator. That's because I made one of Alan's favorite dishes the other night. It was a staple of his mom's when they lived in Kenya because she could get the main ingredient easily. The main ingredient is SPAM. Yes, that's right, SPAM, that stuff that comes in a blue can.



Anyway, last night I was going to just make hamburgers for dinner, but then I realized I was out of CK and Alan would never eat a hamburger without CK, whereas, I would never eat a hamburger with CK (unless it's made by McD's).



So, I had to have pork chops instead, which meant making a full dinner with the trusted three sides -- a starch (lima beans), a green veggie (green beans) and a salad (always a salad), a lot more work than I wanted to do.



Back to CK. I posted this recipe for SPAM which has to be served with rice. I can't stand the taste of it, but Alan loves it, so three or four times a year I make it for him. I eat the rice and maybe a spoonful of the SPAM dish. And, I'm probably repeating the entire previous post. But I have an excuse. I'm getting old and forgetful. I do remember my name today, though. A good sign.



Apparently children love the taste of this dish. I don't know why, but they do. And if you go back and read the recipe I posted a few weeks ago, you know why I'm out of CK. It takes quite a bit of that nasty tomato condiment to finish off the SPAM dish properly.

I'll be out of CK for the next couple of weeks. My shopper went to the store for me yesterday and she doesn't go again for a couple of weeks. Am I sad to be missing CK in my fridge or pantry? Not at all, but now I will have to wrack my brain to think of some other way to make a hamburger so that Alan will eat it. Maybe I will douse it with bar-b-q sauce. That might work.

PS: I don't particularly like BBQ sauce either. I guess I'm hard to please.