Spring at last and thoughts of ketchup

[altivo]

Well, the tornado-spawning thunderstorms on Thursday seem to have brought spring with them. Blue scylla and white daffodils are opening. I was able to let Tess out into her pasture for the first time yesterday. She only gets about 45 minutes to start with since she has had grass founder in the past and needs to be exposed gradually, but she was excited to go out and behaved well when I made her come back in. The pasture is green now but very wet from the flood of rain earlier in the week. The farrier will approve, as her feet tend to dry out and getting them wet helps.

We have used the charcoal grill a couple of times already, but yesterday we really went in for it big with barbecue slathered chicken breasts, some brats, and fresh asparagus on the grill. Also sweet corn, not the first of the year but probably the best so far.

We had a discussion back at Easter about ketchup. Gary's family always had to have two ketchup bottles, because his dad and one brother liked Brooks and everyone else preferred Heinz. I remembered Brooks ketchup but didn't think I'd seen it anywhere for a while. We went looking and failed to find it at any of the supermarkets we normally visit. Looked for it online and found Amazon selling it for about $8 a bottle. That seemed pretty ridiculous to me. Then yesterday I stopped into Sullivan's, the second supermarket in town and one we usually skip because their prices are on the high side. Sure enough, they had Brooks ketchup for $2.19 a bottle, which isn't outrageous and is only about 25 cents higher than Heinz or Hunts.

Brought one home to surprise Gary, and he was indeed surprised. So, I did a little more research and learned that Brooks started in 1907 with canned chili beans. Ding! Though I remembered seeing the ketchup occasionally, my mom always used Brooks chili beans in her chili. The trademark is the same, and the beans are easier to find. Nearly every grocer around here has them. The ketchup came later in the company's history. According to Wikipedia, the ketchup was manufactured in Collinsville, Illinois, and marketed mostly in the midwest. They have (or had) a water tower there in the shape of a giant ketchup bottle in fact. The Brooks trademark and business has apparently been sold to Birdseye. The factory in Collinsville was shut down, and the ketchup is made in Canada now. However, it still is the same recipe or very close to it. The spicy flavor is unlike the other ketchups even though it now has the dreaded high fructose corn syrup in place of the cane sugar that was once used.

Now I have a craving for chili made with Brooks chili beans too. Also a quest for proper cheddar cheese curds to put into poutine. Anyone know where to get those around Chicago?

Comments

[sabbath_silverclaw]

See if there are any Amish stores around. They carry some very good cheddar curds. Well, the ones down here in Oklahoma do.

[altivo]

You're right, that would work. Alas, the nearest one to here is about a 90 minute drive each way, and not by buggy either. I'm sure I've seen them somewhere, though.

[frith]

I suggested to someone in Florida that she try soaking her cheese curds in a salt brine overnight. I believe they use squeaky "farmer's" cheese in Quebec.

[altivo]

The one time I've had poutine, the curds weren't squeaky but I have heard that they should be. These were quite melted which may have de-squeaked them. However, I've had squeaky curds that were marked "cheddar" too. The rubbery squeakiness is related to both freshness and process temperature, I believe.

[frith]

Yes, the squeakiness would be for fresh and unmelted cheese curds. Once in the poutine, the curds don't squeak. ^_^