Not the most recommended way to eat a hot dog, but interesting nonetheless.
Showing posts with label Hot Dog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hot Dog. Show all posts
The Rachael Ray Hot Dog Bracket: Our Search for the Best Hot Dog in the U.S.
Mark from A Connecticut Hot Dog Tour dropped me an email and alerted me to Serious Eats' Search for the Best Hot Dog in the US. It's a March Madness Bracket for Hot Dogs!
I will be following this "contest" as it plays out. It will give me some new destinations for Hot Dog Stories!
Seagull likes Hot Dogs
How many hot dogs can a seagull eat? Watch the video to find out! It may surprise you...
Hot Dog Vending Machine
My son, (affectionately known as Hotdogman Jr.) went to the Auto Show with a couple of his friends last week.
He took a ton of pictures of sweet rides like this one.
He also found two somewhat disturbing vending machines, pictured below:
Your eyes are not deceiving you, those are HOT DOG vending machines! I have bought drinks, snacks, even a toothbrush from a vending machine-but never a hot dog.
I have never heard of "Glatt Kosher" hot dogs. Whether they are any good or not, the concept of a hot dog from a vending machine is somewhat dubious. I'm not sure if I want anything that goes "from grilled to chilled in under a minute," probably less so if it comes from a machine.
HDM Jr. decided to do a little field research and try one, so he plunked $4.50 into the machine and waited. I appreciate his zest for research, but with less "scientific motivation," I must question the sanity of anyone who even THINKS about buying one of these things, let alone paying $4.50 for the privilege. For that kind of money, you can get THREE Coney Island Dogs at George's Coney Island in Worcester.
I am also having issues with the thought processes going through anyone's mind that would want to eat one of these:
1. I'm hungry.
2. What should I eat?
3. Snack bar?
4. Grab something after the show on the way home?
5. Oh, wait-there's a hot dog vending machine over there and they're ONLY $4.50! I am all over that crud!
The funniest part is the food court was about 20 feet from these machines.
HDM Jr. got his "chilled to grilled" dog in the requisite minute and he said it was the most foul hot dog he had ever eaten. It was luke warm, chewy, and the bun was soggy. He threw half of it away and said his stomach felt "a little gross" for a few hours after eating just half of it.
The moral of the story is, well, if you can't figure that out, I have a slightly used $4.50 hot dog I can hook you up with...
Hot Dog Cookout
If you have ever driven to Montreal from the Boston area in August, you will see corn.
Lots of corn.
There's corn growing everywhere you look.
So much that you may get dizzy! So what do you think they serve at the big family BBQ?
If you guessed corn, YOU'RE RIGHT!
But, there's other stuff on the menu too-standard party fare- veggies and dip, bread and pate, various appetizers and HOT DOGS!
The dogs get grilled until crispy...
We went a little easy on Little Miss' standard plain dog...
I dressed mine all around.
Someone ordered some poutine for delivery, so I made a poutine dog: all around with poutine on top! DELISH!
The Hot Dog Man, and the Recession
I have read this little story many times over the years. I found it at the Network for Growth the other day. It is an especially poignant story considering the times we find ourselves in.
Once upon a time, there was a good man, who had worked hard all his life. He disliked his work. It was not rewarding. His boss was never happy. But he worked hard. Until, one day, this man decided he had had enough, and he quit.
He just walked out. He went home and told his wife. She cried.
How are we going to send our boy to college”, she asked? The man thought for a minute and then said, “I will think of something”. After a while, he decided to do something he has always wanted to do. He would sell hot dogs on the street corner from a little hot dog cart on wheels.
He took his savings and bought a hot dog cart. His friends were not too sure about this. But the hot dog man started selling hot dogs on the street corner, in his hometown. They were good hot dogs. Best quality. Not cheap, but he charged enough to pay for them. Things went pretty well right from the beginning
People liked his hot dogs. He always made sure to have plenty of fresh ketchup and mustard and onions. Every customer got a smile with their hot dog.
He did very well, and soon more people wanted his hot dogs. More than he could serve. So he bought another hot dog cart. His son pushed the new cart. He made good hot dogs too.
And every one of the Son's customers got a smile and a thank you to go with their hot dog. The hot dog man made sure to teach his son about this. The two did well, and saved the money they made, until it was time for the boy to go to college. There was enough money to send him to school even if the hot dog man paid another young man to push the second cart.
“Give them a smile with every hot dog,” he told his first employee. It worked fine.
This gave him an idea. He bought a third cart and hired a second employee.
Every year the city grew and every year he added a few more carts. The hot dog man’s company did very well. Buns and dogs were coming in bigger trucks these days. He was glad the son decided to study business in college. Their hot dog company was hiring more and more people and getting bigger and bigger. It would be great when the son returned home with all that college education to help him manage it.
The big day finally arrived. The son came home from college. Dad was excited. Mom too. There was a BIG Party. Everybody came.
Then it was time to get to work. But the son was not interested in working in the hot dog company. He wanted to do something more grand. The hot dog man was sad.
But then he asked, “Can you just look over our books and give me some advice?”
“Sure”, said the son, while looking at his watch.
“Things are going pretty good”, said the hot dog man. He got the books and paperwork out to proudly show the son what they had become while he was gone.
The son looked things over and thought for a minute. Then he said, “Gee, Dad, you have an awful lot of hot dog carts. And Expenses.”
Then he asked, “Don’t you know a Recession is coming?”. The hot dog man did not know what a Recession was, so he asked.
The son explained what he had learned in college about Recessions. The hot dog man shook his head in amazement.
He thought things were OK, but his son was just out of college. The hot dog man had worked a lot of hours to pay for that college education. He thought surely the college people knew more about business than he did, so he listened.
The son said, maybe you should mothball a few carts this season…
So that is what the hot dog man did. After a month or so, sales were down.
The son and the hot dog man looked things over again. The son said they should cut advertising expenses a little.
The hot dog man was sure the son must know about these things, So that is what they did. Sure enough, sales went down.
A few months later the books were worse. The Son said profits were being squeezed by the Recession. He said they should buy a cheaper hot dog. Save a little money. So they did. Sure enough, Sales went down.
After a while the son looked again at the books. Again. He said, “Gee Dad, you’re not making much money. Maybe you should cut payroll a little. So they laid off a few employees. The ones who stayed on were not too sure what would happen next. They stopped giving a smile with every hot dog. And sales went down even more.
Things were gloomy until the hot dog man had a great idea. He called all his employees together. Even the ones that had been let go. He told them something like this. "Sometimes things are easy and sometimes things are hard. It's easy to lose your way when things are hard." He admitted that he had been scared by this recession.
Then he went on. "Things have been hard lately. BUT, we are going to go back to doing what worked before. We will buy a better hot dog. We will run a few ads. We will get all the carts out of storage. And everybody will have a job. I don't care what it costs." Only one thing", he added, "Ya gotta give every customer a smile with their hot dog". They promised they would. And so they did.
Sure enough... sales went up.
And they keep going up to this very day.
Bimbo Dogs
A friend of mine's wife sent me this clip from the TV show "The Bachelor." One of the "contestants" (bimbos?) has a theory that she can judge men by what they put on a hot dog. I'll avoid the obvious banal jokes about buns and hot dogs. I will say that contestant Jillian needs to learn a few things about preparing hot dogs. Any dog prepared by a bunch of bimbos in cocktail dresses can't possibly stack up to the fare at the Hot Dog Truck.
The Weiners Circle
WARNING: R Rated Language!
A little video story about a profane hot dog stand in Chicago.
Ketchup on a hot dog.
Ketchup is very much a staple condiment-Ronald Reagan said it was a vegetable! Ketchup is great on fries, burgers-even eggs.
But not on a hot dog.
When I first opened, I would not put ketchup on a hot dog for my patrons. I had a basket of ketchup packets outside for the ketchup eating crowd. I would shell out a fair bit of abuse on the ketchup loving populace as well. Sometimes I'd ask for ID (the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council says ketchup shouldn't be put on hot dogs for anyone over age 18). Other times I'd say (incredulously) "KETCHUP?!?!? ON A HOT DOG?!?!?!" If there was a group of people and one guy ordered a dog with ketchup, I'd ask his friends if they could perhaps hold a hot dog intervention for him. Whatever insult I'd hurl, I'd sweep my hands contemptuously toward the Ketchup packets and say "I won't put ketchup on a hot dog, help yourself." This little schtick annoyed and amused the clientelle-it usually got a laugh and I have never been punched for it.
There was one guy who got wise to the act and ordered his hot dogs plain to avoid the abuse. He'd then sneak a few ketchup packets and go back to his car to eat so I wouldn't hurl abuse at him. This guy is a big Red Sox fan and we'd always chat about the Sox while he was waiting for his dogs. He is a seasonal worker so he wasn't out in the winter. In the spring of 2005 (after my Red Sox won it all) he popped by and told me he was going to see the Sox play on opening day in New York City. I asked him how he scored the tickets and he said he had a new girlfriend from Connecticut and she was a Yankee Fan.
I said "brother, if you can date a Yankee fan, I can put ketchup on your hot dogs."
So now you can get ketchup on your dogs at the Hot Dog Truck-I've even toned down the abuse.
Led Zeppelin
My FAVORITE BAND OF ALL TIME!
And they have a song called "Hot Dog." Cool video if you like Led Zep.
Real Men of Genius: the "Foot Long"
I love these "Real Men of Genius" Bud Lite commercials in general. This one is particularly poignant for broadcast on the Hot Dog Truck. While I don't serve "foot longs," their inclusion in the lexicon of hot dog lore can't be ignored.
Hot Dog Pizza
They keep trying to do new things with pizza. I like stuffed crusts, deep dish, thin crust-pretty much all kinds of pizza. This ad for Pizza Hut in Korea shows how they use a hot dog in the pizza crust. I like pizza and I like hot dogs. I don't think I'd like this...
Miller just isn't as funny as Bud Light
This Miller commercial tries to be funny in an off handed way. Miller Lite used to have funny commercials, now they just fall flat (like the beer). Bud Light commercials are much funnier. Give me the Real Men of Genius any day!
Uh Oh
This funny little video of a commercial for the Vienna Insurance Group highlights another reason to NOT put ketchup on a hot dog!
I Don't Think So
This video of an old Bud Light Commercial might have been the origin of the term "ass clown."
Hebrew National
This is an updated version of the classic Hebrew National Commercial.
They answer to a higher authority!
Country Club Franks
We went to a fireworks show at my folk's club Saturday night. It was the "makeup" fireworks from the 4th of July which was rained out. This is a spectacular show as we get to sit a par four away from where they light the fireworks. They're close, they're big and they're LOUD. The show lasts about 35-40 minutes and is my favorite 4th of July fireworks show-except this year it was September 1st fireworks.
On the 4th, it's a carnival atmosphere with tons of food, desserts, popcorn, ice cream, BEER, a moonwalk and face painting for the kids and, of course, the fireworks.
Saturday night it was popcorn, BEER and hot dogs. I don't usually eat hot dogs as a rule when out and about (I eat one at the truck almost every day), but Saturday I had no choice.
They were shriveled Pearl Country Club Franks on sub rolls. UGH! The only saving grace was there was lots of room in the sub rolls for onions. Their onions were nicely minced so I drowned the dogs in them.
Thank GOD for the BEER!
The Hot Dog Man's Online Money Making Mission: Introduction
There are a lot of money making blogs out there. This blog is not about making money, but I do things on this blog to make myself a few bucks. I initially started this to get some publicity and to have an online "home" for my Hot Dog Truck. I enjoyed creating all the silliness and sought to find ways to earn some extra money from growing readership.
The only money I spent setting up this blog was for the purchase of a domain name. When I found out "thehotdogtruck.com" was available, I dropped the 9 bucks for the domain. It was money well spent.
So I thought I'd outline, in a series of posts, my experiences with creating a blog and making money with it.
The first part will be a collection of the resources I used to learn about blogging, site design and how to make money blogging.
The second part will highlight some of the programs I have been involved with.
The third part will highlight the programs that have had success earning money.
Stay tuned for the series of articles!
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