I Can't Believe I Made My Own Catsup!

When you ask anyone who did WW in the late 60's through early 70's about the early days of the program, they will always tell you two things:

1. You had to eat liver, and
2. You had to make your own ketchup (or "catsup" as they said in those days).

So when I was deciding what to make for my first official Retro WW recipe, I knew what it had to be. It had to be Catsup.

I began at 2:00pm. To get me in the right frame of mind, I turned on my satellite radio and tuned into the "70's on 7" channel. I was hoping for some inspiration from a great 70's band like the Bee Gees or Three Dog Night. Instead I got Looking Glass - Brandy (You're a Fine Girl). Ugh. That would have to do.

In the 1972 WW Revised Program Cookbook, Jean Nidetch published a recipe for make-your-own-catsup that sounded easy enough to make, and I actually had most of the ingredients on hand. See the cast of characters below. (absent from photo: garlic & mace)



So, after boiling the heck out of this mixture of tomato juice, celery and various spices comes the FUN part... You have to strain it and squeeze out the juice from the celery. Then put it back in the skillet to boil 10 minutes more with vinegar. Then, after adding your sweetener...voila! You have catsup. Or something like it.



The final product is a bit watery. Remember those old commercials with the people anxiously waiting for the delicious catsup to come out of the bottle while the song "Anticipation" plays in the background? Yea, well this is nothing like that. Surprisingly, it does not taste half bad though. I am planning to put some on my scrambled eggs in the morning. My husband says he will try some too, but I can tell he is just trying to be nice.

Jean says it will keep in your refrigerator for several weeks, or you can bring it to your next WW meeting and share with your friends. Hmmmm. Another fun idea might be to put it into little decorative jars, and give it out as gifts to your neighbors. On second thought, I think I'll just keep this delectable little concoction to myself.

I have accomplished the task of making of my own catsup. My initiation is complete.