KETCHUP 2010

Ahh...ketchup. I love ketchup. I have grown up on ketchup. I have influenced my girls enough that they have grown up on ketchup. If I get a chance...I will influence my grandbabies and they will grow up on ketchup.

My experience goes back to my earliest remembrances of eating at the kitchen table. One staple always present...was ketchup.

Today...there is always...not only 'A' bottle of ketchup in the fridge...but one or two in the pantry...as backup. Only once...do I recall one of the girls opening the fridge and then hearing that faint cry..."dad...we're out of ketchup!" As I recall...the meal stopped until I ran to the store and purchased the POT OF GOLD...another bottle of ketchup.

I recall dad teaching me the fine art of opening a new bottle of ketchup and how to get that first drop out...as well as the equally fine art to get that last drop out of that nearly empty bottle.

Dad...was a ketchup expert. He passed that on to me...and I did the same to my girls.

Back then, it was the small glass bottles of Heinz 57...the only type I ever remember having. Maybe there were other brands then...but I only remember Heinz. Then they made the move to BIGGER glass bottles of ketchup. Then they moved to plastic bottles...and then HUMONGOUS bottles of ketchup. And new names popped up...Hunts...Red Gold...and many, many others.

I remember how hard it was to open that glass bottle. You tugged and twisted...you banged the cap on the kitchen counter...you grabbed a knife and banged it on the lid. Sometimes the meal was delayed for 5 minutes...until you 'finally' got that dang lid off the bottle. Now...the plastic bottle lids come off easier. Kids today don't know how hard it was...to simply get the lid off the bottle!

It seems that during my high school years, the little 'tear open' packets became a major use. I believe that would coincide with the timing of the 'fast food' places like McDonald's and Burger Chef.

Now...Heinz is making the next step. They have come up with a new packet...one that you can 'tear open'...but also 'peal open'. The new peal open option will benefit those of us who like to 'dip' our fries...or whatever else we might need to dip.

I love my ketchup. If they EVER quit making it...I think I'll probably just stop eatin'.


Dan