A Little Taste of Home

by Debbie

Two months ago if I had walked into the supermercado and seen Safeway Select ketchup, I would have scoffed at how far the fingers of the United States can stretch. I would have turned up my nose at it and chosen one of the local brands to enhance my Chilean experience. That would have been two months ago, yesterday was a different story. It is an understatement to say the quality of food here leaves much to be desired. Simple things that shouldn´t taste bad can send your stomach into knots and pains for days. For example, what could have been a delicious veggie wrap was ruined by too much mayonnaise which made it taste uncomfortably fishy. My stomach gurgled for a good 24 hours. I find myself trying to get creative in the kitchen and put meals together I wouldn´t dream of at home, such as minestrone soup mix (dried packaged soup mix) with rice and pasta and heck throw some tomatoes and peppers in! The outcome was a disgusting, grey, golash concoction; again, sick for a day. I realize how easy it is to take for granted the comforts of home when in the United States, little things like digesting food hold a lot more merit to me now.

So, when we walked into the store with our hopes smashed of eating a decent meal, you can imagine how excited I was to see the familiar brand of Safeway Select ketchup sitting amidst the local brands which are doused with sugar. I grabbed it and hugged it to my chest and gave Cam the look that dared him to defy me this one comfort food. (I never thought I would think of ketchup as a comfort food!) We based the whole meal around what we could put the ketchup on, and it was the best hamburguesa and papas fritas I´ve ever eaten; although all I could taste was the ketchup, but I can honestly say that ketchup has never tasted so good! Kim I think I hopped on your bandwagon.

I can again look forward to meal time with the anticipation of the Safeway Select 4 Cheese Pasta sauce!