I was craving ketchup today, so I ate a baked potato simply because I needed something to put it on. And it occurred to me that, after all these years, it's amazing that they still haven't figured out a better way to package ketchup. What's with those little packets you get that contain about .00001 ounce of ketchup? You have to rip open the corner, squirt it out, it's invariably a complete mess, and you can never get all the ketchup out of it. And besides, who eats one little squirt of ketchup? So you have to cope with hundreds of these little packets and the mess grows exponentially with each little glob that squeezes out. Not to mention that it's a career move just to get a reasonable amount of ketchup piled up at once so you can sit and eat in peace and not have to fuss with any more more of the Ketchup Packets of Torture. I haven't been to a drive-thru in years, but if they can supersize your hamburger and frenchfries, why can't they give you a mack daddy container of ketchup to take with you? It's like some sort of bizarre and tragic rationing system that I don't get.

buy the squeeze-bottle.

I miss sparkle ketchup.

Sparkle ketchup?

What is the difference between Catsup and Ketchup? I've never understood why these are differentiated. One of these years, if I get a real big tomato harvest, I should make my own ....yeah, that stuff.

Ketchup with sparkles. aka Sparkle Ketchup.

I think the best indonesian food in the western hemisphere can be found in the hague, where all the evil dutch-indonesian colonists returned after the japanese showed the natives that the white man isn't always boss. I've been going to relatives' (we're all dutch-indonesians) houses for dinner, and each night I get some wonderfully spicy and fattening indonesian dish that I never get to have in the pacific northwest. gado gado (spicy peanut sauce over a green salad). beef satay, chicken satay (shishkebabs). sambal badjak (sweet and hot pepper sauce). and, since I'm a half-breed, during the day I get to eat bland but lekker dutch food. krantebolen (sweet currant and raisin rolls) with belegen kaas (mild dutch cheese, sort of like gouda, which, by the way, is not pronounced "goo-dah"). stroopwafels. and, since I'm two blocks from the north sea and about 40 miles from belgium, mussels with patat frites and duvel beer. I really didn't want this to be a culinary vacation. oh well.

Cyst, I am sure of all the intelligent conversations we have around here that almost everyone here knows how to pronounce fucking Gouda cheese, sorry just a bug up my ass this am, (see the hunting thread) I say stick to chocolate, pot and beer, your constituion will be much better off when you come back to the states, Will youy be coming back to the states, or are you officially and expatriot?

oh. everyone I know must be dumb then, because I've never heard it pronounced correctly by a non-dutch person. and rarely does anyone say "van gogh" right, either. not that I care at all. I purposely mispronounce the "gogh" in "van gogh" (there's no glottal stop) so non-dutch will know who I'm talking about and the real dutch won't laugh at my bad accent. I've had plenty of chocolate, pot and beer. dutch beer sucks, though. but in holland and france, there's plenty of good belgian beer. and framboise. I like the coffeeshops here in the hague better than the ones in amsterdam because they're so laid back. no garish color schemes, no american frat boys. it's a thrill to go to the back of bar and peruse their huge selection. in the states, central america and in other european countries, I've never had much of a choice. you buy pot. you aren't presented with a huge cupboard full of fat buds that only cost $6 each. I kept mine in my pocket with my money for my first few days, and when I'd pay for something at a store, I'd accidentally pull out the weed and freak out for a second. then I think, oh yeah, it's ok here. I like that it is ok here. the rest of the world needs more dutch legislators. whatever happened to the good old days when america elected presidents with nederlandse names like "van buren" and "roosevelt"? we need politicians who have been here and would be willing to publicly acknowledge that you can decriminalize marijuana and prostitution, and it's all good. I'll be an ex-patriot forever, but I'll be an expatriate for only one more month. northern france for the eclipse, istanbul for whatever, then boat to odessa and train back to kiev, and airplanes to portland. that is the rest of my summer.

I am dumb and unashamed. I say "goo-da." How does everyone else say it?

the dutch g is tricky. it's sort of like a cat spitting up a hairball. the phrasebooks probably explain it as the "ch" in scottish "loch." and the "ou" is pronounced "ow." in holland it sounds more like "howda" than "gowda," but if I were in a cheese shop in the u.s. I would probably just ask for "gowda" with a regular english hard g sound.

yeah, but do they have ketchup in holland?

if they do, I'm sure they charge extra for it.

how about tobassco or tapitio?

My friend Helma is a chef,she ate mayo on her fries,but she taught me how to make that wonderful potato,egg,and beet salad.She also taught me how to make a dish with chicken and onion,over rice,with the peanut sauce on top,I love it!!!But if I had to pick a good beer,Red Stripe does it for me.

you don't see tabasco and tapatio much here. by the way, tapatio is the mexican word for a male resident of guadalajara. it's also the masculine adjective used to describe something from guadalajara. now you know. of course, waffles probably already knew.

UH...no actually i didn't sweets, but thanks for the info,.......once I moved to california i had never had tapatio before, now i can't get enough of it.....YUMMY!

I learned about tapatio from my ex-roommate. my umm friend in france has all sorts of pepper stuff in the apartment and most dinners we make get sprinkled with dried habanero flakes from a shaker. I just had a joint and now there is all sorts of interesting food and drink to choose from. - fruit salad with mango and big grapes - "american-style" chocolate chip cookies - stroopwafels ("What is a Syrup Waffle? Or Stroopwafel as it is known in Holland is a unique type of cookie that has been around for centuries in its native country the Netherlands. ... Syrup Waffles are made with two thin wafle-type wafers that have a very special caramel filling.") - pistachios - blood-orange juice - duvel beer - toasted ciabatto bread with lox - dutch cheese with crackers - this really great indonesian thing but I have no idea what it is. imagine shrimp-flavored pork rinds.