The countdown to the 4th of July has begun. I love the 4th! It's not just that I get a paid day off work, although that helps! It's not just because of the idea of freedom for our country! No, it's mainly because I love food.
There are so many ways to cook All-American food that I lose count. But my favorite is the hot dog. I don't want to know what's in it....I just love it.
I'm not a hot dog snob. I don't care if it's beef, chicken or turkey. I don't care if it's Chicago style (yeah baby!), Chilli-ed up, or even plain.
However, the 4th is the time of year to publically declare my love for the SAUCE DOG.
A small diner in my hometown served SAUCE DOGs when I was growing up.
The secret to the bbq-ey tasting sauce was so heavily guarded that the owner supposedly made it at home, brought it in and when that batch was gone, that was it people. I ate there often, smacking my way through sauce dogs left and right. Never thinking that there could be a world without sauce dogs. Until I left home. I even told The Man about them and on the first "Family Visit" trip back home, he got to taste the bliss that was a sauce dog. And didn't even question why I ordered six to go and then put them in my purse.
But after that fateful visit, the diner closed and withit, the recipe for SAUCE DOGs....closed with it. Sniff, sniff, the though makes me tear up still today.
Now, does the memory of the sauce dog taste better than the actual sauce itself? Has the sauce dog become the "one that got away"?
Stay tuned, I think I've found a recipe people and I'm gonna try it out....on the 4th....With my new hotdog grillers*....
*You know I would never buy anything so tasteless, so I'm gonna have my friend purchase them for me. The look upon The Man's face will be compensation enough....
