We Salute You, National Hot Dog Day

July 23rd marked National Hot Dog Day.

Anyone that knows me, knows that I am a HUGE holiday person. HUUUUUUGE. And this new holiday I learned about is a winner. A huuuuge winner.

 

If you think about it, National Hot Dog Day is more than just a holiday. It celebrates America, one hot dog at a time. It is only fitting that this dog gets its day.

 

To honor this winning holiday, I hosted a National Hot Dog Day Celebration at my house. On Saturday, a dozen people attended (the wiener club + significant others, and a few honored guests) arrived at 6pm to ring in this special day.

Around the World Wieners/Hot Dog Buffet:

The Parisian: Sliced pears, melted brie, honey, balsamic, hot dog, all in a sweet bun. Amour!

Pizza Dog: Pepperoni, marinara sauce, fresh mozzarella, crushed red peppers, hot dog, wrapped up in a french roll. Mangia!

La Mexican: Jalapenos, crumbled bacon, siracha/mayo. Ay Ay Ay!

(no picture taken, oopsies).

We also had the "every day condiments" and some others thrown in for fun... so people such as my husband could make their own variation (con queso, pepperoni, jalapenos, bacon, 2 wieners, 1 sweet bun, messy face).

Yes, he had two hot dogs of the same "variation".

Here are some snapshots of the spread:

Sliced Pears, Sliced Brie, Crumbled Bacon, Sliced Jalapenos

Marina, Fresh Mozz, Pepperoni

A snapshot of the overall spread

We Salute You Hebrew Nationals & Sweet Chicken Apple Sausages

French Rolls & Sweet Buns

Greek Salad

"Secret" Pasta Salad

All that was left for "Round 2"

 Before Wiener Wednesdays, every time I'd order a hot dog I'd get the usual: a pound of ketchup, a splash of yellow mustard, sometimes a dash of relish to give it some green color. I never stepped outside of my hot dog boundary. And then... something happened. When WW was born, we had just wanted to try hot dogs from locations all over the Phoenix area. And then we started realizing: the more unique hot dogs we tried, the better tasting they usually were! So now, I go for the odd hot dogs; the ones with fruits, the ones with cheeses I can't pronounce, the ones with coconut shavings, the ones with "secret" ingredients, the ones that taste BEST. This is why I'm voting that The Parisian was absolutely the best hot dog served on Saturday night: it was out-of-this-world. I woke up craving the warm brie, the drizzle of honey, the snap of the crisp grilled hot dog mixing with the soft sweet bun.

A dozen of us sat around eating hot dogs from our bright yellow & red hot dog trays, drinking beer, and playing apples to apples. The grand finale was supposed to be this hot dog cake recipe I had found online, but one of the girls wanted to give it a try. Unfortunately, at 6:08 (8 minutes after the 6pm start time of saluting the hot dog), I got a text message with the following:

"umm hot dog cake fail. I'm realllly sorry but I have no dessert to bring" with this picture attached -->

My husband sometimes refers to me as "Patty Planner" because I'm anal about any sort of planning in my life, especially when it comes to events. But, knowing that everyone would stuff their face with the hot dog bar, I took a deep breath (namaste), stretched (this was mainly for my stomachs benefit seeing as I knew how many hot dogs I'd be consuming within the hour) and whipped up chocolate chip cookies.

Most guests left after a few hours, and the stragglers stayed behind until midnight. This is about 3 hours past my bedtime... so when I fell asleep, it was with a full belly and images of hot dogs dancing through my dreams. Until my nightmare, when a giant hot dog cake knocked on my door, to eat me.

Hope you had as amazing of a National Hot Dog Day as we all did!!

Hungry for hot dogs? Here is some amazing wiener trivia to memorize and keep up your sleeve:

• -Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, and Franklin Roosevelt have served hot dogs at official White House functions.
• -Sara Lee made a hot dog that measured 1,996 feet to celebrate the 1996 Olympics. It took over 2000 buns to hold the huuuuuge hot dog!
• -The first hot dog was rumored to have been created in Frankfurt, Germany. However, the citizens of Vienna (wien) have declared they created the first dog!
• -During baseball season, Americans consume over 26 million dogs.
• -When polled on "what should be done with condiments remaining on the fingers after eating a hot dog" the Hot Dog & Sausage Council ruled you should "lick them away" as proper etiquette.