Snappy Dogs Friday Special

My wife's cousin from England, Geoffrey, has been visiting for the past three weeks. I have been promising to take him over to Snappy Dogs for a Friday special. He's been "pretty keen" on the Pearl Franks while visiting, so today was the day! Lisa and Theresa were serving up "The Candidate," a grilled Snappy Dog with roasted peppers, crisp red onion, feta cheese, black olives, and parsley pesto.

Lisa has done it again- it was DELICIOUS!

Slawsa at Snappy Dogs

One of the benefits of being The Hotdogman is people send me stuff! I recently received some Slawsa from the nice folks at Nicole Foods. Co-owner Judson Odom of Chattanooga, TN has been whipping up batches of Slawsa for decades. He recently partnered up with Julie Busha and Julie took Slawsa nationwide. The condiment, which is a mix of slaw, mustard, and other goodies is billed as a hot dog topping. Basically, it's a cross between cole slaw and salsa. I hadn't tried it- until today.

I decided to see what the local "Queens of Condiments," Lisa and Teresa, the wacky and lovable Snappy Dogs gals, thought of Slawsa, so I headed out to Hopkinton with a jar of the Spicy Slawsa. The Snappy Dogs ladies have more than a dozen home made condiments on their trailer, so I wanted their expert opinion. 

Slawsa fits right in with what they're doing at Snappy Dogs. Both Slawsa and Snappy Dogs use down home style recipes and both businesses believe in giving back to their communities.

Here's Lisa taking an order for some Snappy Dogs.

That's Teresa, being a bit silly- as usual!

Big Tony- Lisa's dad- tried the Slawsa.

So did this gal. I detected a southern accent while chatting with her, so I thought it might go over well with her.

Quite a few Snappy Dogs got loaded up with the Slawsa. The jar was GONE when I left! I had a Slawsa Dog before it got emptied out. I had it with Dr. Pepper Barbecue Sauce and Onion Crunch.

I couldn't resist the Snappy Dogs Friday Special. Today's special was the Senor Beefy - a grilled Snappy Dog topped with marinated and grilled steak, avocado, and a bright pico de gallo. Snappy Dogs is AWESOME!

Mrs. HDM and I will be taking Slawsa on the road with us later this month when we go Hot Doggin' in Maine, so we'll get more reactions then.

Here's a little video I shot of my visit. I have it posted up as the featured video on Hot Dog Stories too.

National Hot Dog Month Day 13

Snappy Dogs was the Friday the 13th stop on the National Hot Dog Month 2012 Tour. Teresa and Lisa, those wild and wacky Snappy Dog gals, were in rare form today. Friday is the day Snappy Dogs puts Lisa's Cordon Bleu chef training to the test because that's the day Snappy Dogs has their special, gourmet dog of the week! I challenged Lisa to come up with an extra special Friday special and she did not disappoint.

If you didn't know, Snappy Dogs is located in the parking lot of Colella's Market, at the intersection of route 85 and 135, in downtown Hopkinton, Massachusetts. The ladies are in their fourth season of grilling up Pearl all beef franks with delicious, gourmet style, home-made toppings.

I have worked on their trailer in the past, and as it turns out, it's a good thing I was there today. Lisa had an emergency- her daughter needed a tow- so I was pressed into service in the middle of the lunch rush for about an hour. I went there to film a Hot Dog Story, and I got put to work!

Drew Bennett took the usual pile of really good pictures (as opposed to the blurry, low resolution ones I shoot) and they will be up on the Hot Dog Stories Facebook Page.

I am still catching up on the videos after last weekend's computer disaster, I hope to be caught up by the end of this weekend.

Get the full story of our visit to Snappy Dogs on Hot Dog Stories.

Guest Doggin' at Snappy Dogs

I had the opportunity to work at the Snappy Dogs trailer the past two days. I relished the opportunity and was glad I was able to cut the mustard. I was even able to ketchup with some of my old customers. If the ladies ever need help again, I will be sure to get my buns down there. I had a great time- it was fun to be slinging dogs again.

Rockin' the Grill at Snappy Dogs

Friday is Snappy Dog Special Day. Today's special honors Hopkinton native Keegan Bradley, winner of the PGA Tour.

The Hotdogman will be on the grill!

Slinging Snappy Dogs!

Little Miss and I went to Snappy Dogs today and they offered me a job- for two days anyway...

Guest Doggin'

On Thursday and Friday this week, I'll be putting on the hot dog apron and slinging dogs at Snappy Dogs! I will be assisting the lovely and talented Theresa at the funky red wagon in Hopkinton while the fabulous Lisa drives her son to West Virginia for college.

Good food and good fun is a guarantee!

Snappy Dogs on Chronicle

The Snappy Dog gals have hit the BIG TIME- they were on WCVB Channel Five's Chronicle program last night. It's a Boston/New England based news magazine show that features fun and funky stuff in New England.

Here's a link to the video.

I am In Snappy Good Health

A lot of folks commented about my health while on my month long quest to eat a hot dog a day in honor of National Hot Dog Month. Hot dogs, while very tasty, don't have the reputation of being "healthy food." Tuesday, August 2nd, I had some blood tests done; I had my check-up today to go over the results. My last check up was in January of 2011.

After my Doctor finished asking me questions about different hot dog joints, he shared the lab results with me.

My HDL cholesterol levels (that's the "good cholesterol") went up from 41 mg/dl to 48 mg/dl; anything over 40 mg/dl is considered a good measurement. My LDL cholesterol went from 128 mg/dl to 114 mg/dl; anything less than 130 mg/dl is considered a good measurement. My total cholesterol went from a 224 mg/dl to 194 mg/dl; this number needs to be under 200 mg/dl to be considered healthy or not at risk.

My Doctor and I were both amazed. He stopped short of endorsing my hot dog eating ways, rather he credited exercise and eating sensibly overall over the course of the past six months as reasons for my weight loss and improved cholesterol levels.

So how does one celebrate such a good, clean bill of health? By visiting Snappy Dogs in Hopkinton, Massachusetts of course!

Friday is my favorite day to go to Snappy Dogs, it's the day of their Special Dog of the week. Today's special was a "Jersey Shore" dog. That's a quarter pound Pearl Frank grilled up and nestled on top of a bed of Eggplant Parmesan, then topped with a Balsamic reduction, onion rings, and fresh basil. Lisa and Theresa always cook up something fun on Fridays and this was no exception. The contrasting flavors and textures, combined with the hot, grilled dog and my favorite side- onion rings- on a freshly baked roll made it a real treat.  They do things to a hot dog nobody else does at Snappy Dogs. Just look at that hot dog!

Snappy Dogs is a real treat too. Go there on a Friday and tell the gals "the Hotdogman sent me."

You can check out the video of my visit on Hot Dog Stories, the website that has the most information about hot dogs in Massachusetts, New England, the USA and the world.

After lunch, I drove to Newton to appear on Broadside's weekly news IQ quiz show on NECN. I faced off against NECN meteorologist Nelly Carreno in a news trivia challenge! I will have the video up when it airs so you can see how it turned out.

A Hot Dog a Day Number Eight: Snappy Dogs

For the eighth installment of a hot dog a day for National Hot Dog Month, another old favorite was on the docket: Snappy Dogs in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.

I chose to go here today (even though it was kinda rainy) because it was a Friday and that's the day Lisa- a classically trained chef turned Hot Dog Woman- concocts her Friday Snappy Special. I saw the description on Snappy Dogs' Facebook Page:

The Mediterranean is Friday's Snappy special: a grilled Snappy Dog loaded with pepperoncini peppers, black olives, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, feta, and capers, with a squirt of basil vinaigrette.

That made me hungry!

Of course, every day is special at Snappy Dogs- they offer over a dozen, fresh, homemade toppings every day.

They even make their own pickles, fercryinoutloud!

Here's a picture of the aforementioned Mediterranean Dog. All those yummy toppings are sitting in a freshly baked roll with a quarter pound, grilled to perfection Pearl All Beef frank. (They have smaller dogs too for the feint of heart).

I was ready to 

CHOW DOWN!

The dog, as usual, was out of this world. The sharpness of the contrasting flavors of pepperocini,  feta, capers, and artichoke hearts was an earthy delight on the palate. Lisa has real talent in the kitchen- the hot dog world is lucky to have her. Her partner, Theresa (usually the grill master), was on vacation today.  :o(

HAPPY NATIONAL HOT DOG MONTH!

Check out the video of my visit to Snappy Dogs on Hot Dog Stories.