Look out France, Here We Come!: Gotta Love 'Em

Here's something we make better than the French: ketchup chips.

French people don't eat ketchup. They balk at ketchup; they laugh at us for eating it. I told my hairdresser recently that it will be hard for me to go back to eating grocery-store food when I return to Canada, since this region of France, Burgogne, is known for being a cornucopia of high quality and widely celebrated breads, cheeses, wines, meats and pastries. Most average food at the supermarket is completely natural, with no artificial colours or flavourings and no preservatives (hence the reason I have to haul my kids onto the bus twice a week to shop for it).

Anyway, my hairdresser laughed and muttered some comment about ketchup. "Oh no," I spoke up quickly, defending the faith. "My family eats a lot of ketchup. We love ketchup!"

But the French don't, and so I can't imagine why they set out to make ketchup chips. The end result tastes like nothing more than vinegar, with no salt.

Plus, it's only on rippled chips, so not enough of the chip touches your tongue to ensure a good BURN, you know?

Back when we visited Great Britain, we bought good ketchup chips. Shawn hated them immediately, and Annabeth rejected them instantly, then hesitated just long enough to think about what she'd just eaten... and she begged for more.

Below are some photos of ketchup chips, and much more:

THUMBS DOWN!

Doesn't look right, does it?

Genetically modified food is banned from France, so all the grapes have pits in them. My kids don't mind anymore, and the grapes are delicious. Only at McDonalds in Kids Meals have we seen grapes with no pits.

Granola bars = another foodstuff the French DO NOT know how to make.

I later retracted this thumbs-up.

I really don't think our neighbourhood grocery store "welcomes" our family at all: each child wants their own mini-cart, plus the stroller, and the shopping stroller, and the big shopping cart. All in a store half the size of Price Chopper.