"THE HOT DOG CAPITAL OF THE WORLD"

SIGN IN MIL'S ATTIC:
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"HOT DOGS ARE A GREAT SOURCE OF HIGH QUALITY PROTEIN."
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It is a cold April day, the wind is blowing, as it always is here in N.M. in  the middle of April--and it is supposed to freeze tonight! I've got a small fire going in my little efficient woodstove and am sitting here in my attic, pondering deep thoughts, which is what attics are for, isn't it?

I even dug out my fadedest Carhartt blue denim shirt---soft and warm---there's nothing like it on a day like this, for attic reading and musing.

You see, what I am thinking about is: HOT DOGS. Yes! What is puzzling me is---why don't women like them? The more I think about this whole thing...the more puzzled and hungrier I get!

My thoughts started with those delightful coffee mugs over there on my workbench---there by my old chrome coffee pot, with the spigot. I got to looking at those mugs and thinking about our friends (now passed on), who bought them for us. There must be eight or ten cool mugs there. (I drink from a different one every time I'm up here!) 

The short of it is that, after nearly fifty years of marriage, we were down to our last official cup from our early marriage set: "TICKLED PINK." Oh yes, we had others but I wanted some heavy-duty well-insulated man-style cups. Accordingly I asked our friends, "As you go around the country in your many vast travels, if you will pick me up some real mean mugs, I'll pay you!"

Did the mugs ever pour in---from Arizona (is there a "London Bridge" out there?)--- from Boston, from the Alamo, from a rock bridge in Colorado, and from New Castle, Pennsylvania, my friends' hometown, and their favorite spot on earth. For you see, and hereby hangs a tale---New Castle is TA-DUM: "THE HOT DOG CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!" Now you see why I think of hot dogs up here in my attic...it's those New Castle mugs over there!

Now, as a bonus for you, and while I've got you reeling from that info, here's the "two punch" (that goes with the "old one-two): New Castle is also called: "THE FIREWORKS CAPITAL OF THE USA." My readers, I know you are thinking: "What a place to go for the Fourth of July!"

My N.C. friend, who when there, stuffs in as many hot dogs at a time as he can handle, He indicated that this popularity of "dogs" in New Castle began in the early part of the twentieth century and came from the skills and expertise of the Greek immigrants who settled the area. They were excellent sausage-makers, and chili sauce specialists as well!

When you get to studying and delving into this New Castle "sauce miracle," and see that the whole state of Pennsylvania loves and makes the "dogs" too, it is almost like New Castle leaked its famous sauce into the ground for miles around, and out of the ground sprouted a state of hot dog lovers!

The Nittany Lions even have their own official hot dogs, made by BERK'S.  A couple of cleverly-named "dog" restaurants are: "John's Doggie Shop," and "The Dog House."

In perusing a lengthy list of Pennsylvania hot dog restaurants, and their condiment menus, we find that most of them have similar ingredients as hot dogs made anywhere---things  like onions, mustard, pickle relish, mayo, catsup, cheese, and sauerkraut. The secret with all these places is IN THE SAUCE. The sauces vary considerably and the ingredients are secret.

My N.M. friend, from New Castle, once brought us two bottles of New Castle's  Famous Hot Dog Sauce. To embellish this story with humor and to impress on you the importance he attached to this sauce, here is how it might have gone down:

A Brinks Armored Services van pulls up to the front of my house. My friend from N.C. alights---he has returned from his trip to PA. He, escorted by a guard, hurries to my front door, slips in, comes into the kitchen, and lays an aluminum briefcase on the kitchen table. He unlocks it, opens it, and there, resting beautifully and colorfully in foam cut-outs, side-by-side, are two bottles of hot dog sauce, bright red. Gently and carefully he picks one up, and with great pride, holds it up, so I can see it in all its glory!

It happened sort like that, we'll say. And it was good sauce for the "dogs," if people just wouldn't take nips, and drink it all up!

Well, the "HONOR ROLL OF HOT DOGS" would likely fill several pages, with places all over America listed. Included right at the top for most of us would be Coney Island Cafe, 214 Main Street, Clovis, New Mexico. Nathan's, of Brooklyn, New York, is one of the most famous of all. As I have said, there are dozens!

I like my own hot dogs and you would too! In circa 1970, I obtained the chili recipe from a famous chili-maker at the New Mexico State Fair. Over the years, I tweaked it and improved it and made it several times a year, mostly in cold weather. It is not a small amount. I don't fool around with little dabs of chili. It starts with 3 1/2 pounds of lean beef and sometimes 1/2 pound of pork. Well, I won't bore you with all the details...(and my chili is not only for hot dogs, but also Frito pie, burritos, flat corn enchiladas, juevos rancheros, or just eating a plain old bowl of chili with a corn bread muffin!)

          
But knowing that no hot dog bun holds very much stuff, I make mine flat with one open bun, or 1 1/2 if really hungry. Two long Oscar Meyer beef wieners, deli style. Generous mustard. Chopped onions. Cover the whole thing with semi-liquid chili con carne, with beans. Eat with knife and fork, and maybe spoon. Sometimes I split the two wieners. I don't like DRY chili.

GENTLEMEN! START YOUR APPETITES! Get your plates! You are now eating at MIL'S house---"THE HOT DOG CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!!

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BY MIL
4/17/13