Thursday, May 23, 2013




 My friend Les Wiseman told me many years ago that any food you consumed before you went to bed in the evening would be with you in the morning. What he was saying was that if you ate before bedtime you would gain weight.

Because I have an intermittent sleeping problem I often go to bed with a little plate of Gruyere since they say that a milk product will induce sleep. With a German Gruyere I get at Safeway I may accompany it with a few bread and butter pickles. Because of encroaching plumbing problems I have curtailed that large mug of tea.

There are times when you are hungry for something salty. Rosemary will reluctantly buy Planter’s Dry Roasted Peanuts because it is difficult for both of us to stop, when you open the jar. We like saltines (with sesame seeds) but these produce itchy backs when sleeping. We do not agree with our son-in-law's dictum of never eating in bed. You must consider that we have had daily breakfast in bed for at least 15 years which we enjoy with our New York Times and Vancouver Sun.

But there are some evenings when I am really hungry and the best thing in the world is a ketchup sandwich in which the bread slices (must be white) are generously buttered (European, unsalted cultural butter, natch). Should the ghost of my friend Les Wiseman suddenly appear I would shoo him away.

The ketchup sandwich just got better. A few days ago while shopping with Rosemary at Save-On I spotted this bottle of Heinz Red Thai (no matter what it says on the label this is indeed ketchup). I must report that Red Thai is excellent. As for my English friend Ian Bateson who opts for HP sauce on his sandwich I can only hope he sees the light soon.