You say catsup, I say ketchup

Ketchup - the tomato kind - used to be the number one condiment in the US. The honor anecdotally belongs to salsa now, but ketchup is still tops with the junior set. My son orders his "ketchup burger" when we eat out and there better be a pile of it on his plate to go with fries.

Ketchup itself though doesn't have to be made with tomatoes. The condiment was made with fish brine, according to Answers.com. I'm not sure I'd love fishy ketchup, but I do like fish sauce in some things, so who knows. There are plenty of recipes on the Internets that offer apples, onions and other unexpected bits in the sauce. For those who garden, making your own ketchup might be a good way to use up a bumper crop. And just remember that great scene in "Meet me in St. Louis" with Judy Garland's family making ketchup. That's about as close to Judy as I'm going to get (well, I did sing Over the Rainbow at graduation, but that is another, embarrassing story...).

If you are inspired to try your hand at making a batch, you might as well give the famous
Fog City Ketchup recipe a try. If the diner is good enough for Mike Meyers in "So I married an Axe Murderer", it is good enough for me.

If you are like my sister and don't care for dear old ketchup, try using it to clean your copper pots and utensils. Oh, and don't think your ketchup lasts forever in your fridge. I've seen it reported that ketchup only lasts one month once the bottle has been opened. My goodness, I'm still using some from summer of 2007, but I guess I'll be picking up a new bottle. Perhaps it was a rumor started by a certain company that starts with H.