Framingham Food Truck Festival Today

Little Miss and I are off to the Framingham Food Truck Festival today where I will be eating at my 99th different hot dog joint. I'll have that story up on Hot Dog Stories in a day or two.

In the mean time, here's last year's video of the Festival.

Enjoy.

National Hot Dog Month Day 28

Day 28 of the National Hot Dog Month Tour brought me and Little Miss to Donna's Dawgs in Middleboro, MA. Donna Vickery treated Little Miss and I like old friends. She was quite possibly the most kind and welcoming host in two years of the National Hot Dog Month Tour. She had Little Miss wearing ketchup and mustard costumes and even let her help out behind the counter serving customers!

Donna's Dawgs is located on route 28 in Middleboro. The two year old business is one of the most adorable little hot dog joints I have encountered in my travels. We arrived early on a dreary, grey Saturday. Things were a tad slow at first, but before long, Donna's Dawgs was slammed.

Drew Bennett was working today, but I still managed to post some pictures on the Hot Dog Stories Facebook Page!

Get the full story on our visit to Donna's Dawgs on Hot Dog Stories.

National Hot Dog Month Tour 2012 Day 7

July 7, 2012 was day 7 of my National Hot Dog Month Tour. I found myself in Onset, MA at So Sabe's: the area's newest hot dog spot. Owner and Pastor Gerry Fernandes has only been open since March.
I brought Pastor Fernandes and number one So Sabe's hot dog man Rick "RAM" McGruder some Jalapeno Pearl Franks, Onion Crunch, and a NHDM 2012 Tour tee shirt from DreamMaker Hot Dog Carts.

There was a local reporter on hand too- you can read her report about our visit to So Sabe's here.

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

What food would you most like to banish from school cafeterias?

Every week, the Circle of Moms has a question they ask to folks in their group. Even though I am not a mom, I am married to one and I am big on the local 'mommy scene" as the "cool dad." This week, they asked the question "What food would you most like to banish from school cafeterias?"

To see my answer, Click here.

Framingham Food Truck Festival: Good Times

Little Miss and I attended the First Annual Framingham Food Truck Festival over at Shopper's World on Sunday. The event featured 12 different mobile food vendors from all over eastern Massachusetts. It was a perfect day and the place was packed! The odors in the parking lot were making my tummy grumble.

Three of Framingham's Selectmen were on hand- they all concurred that this should (and will) be an annual event. Selectman Charlie Sisitsky (far right) thought it should be a weekly event. I'm with you on that one, Charlie!

The Snappy Dog ladies were on hand with their "adorable little trailer." Here's Lisa, WZLX morning host Pete McKenzie, and Theresa mugging for the camera before things got started. Theresa told me they sold 504 hot dogs- their busiest day ever.

One of the coolest stories I heard from a vendor was from Vanessa Woodman from Woodman's of Essex. This is a brick and mortar joint in Essex, Massachusetts that does a lot of mobile catering. Vanessa Woodman, pictured here, is the fourth generation running the business. Her great grand parents started the biz in 1916 and their claim to fame is they invented fried clams. How cool is that? 

Frozen Hoagies was on hand selling their home made ice cream sandwiches. They make ice cream sandwiches out of home made ice cream and home made cookies. YUM!

Diane DiMarco, a former textbook publishing exec, was on hand in the Cupcakory Truck with her locally sourced, home baked, organic cupcakes. Little Miss DEVOURED hers.

Rich Walter of the one month old Spoon Truck explained their southern style, slow and low, smoked BBQ menu. They feature authentic smoked meat and BBQ fare.

Big Daddy's Fried Dough was doing a brisk business- these guys are everywhere.

The Mobile Home Truck features home cooked comfort foods on the move. Their big seller today was a bacon wrapped, meatloaf sandwich. They also serve some health food items to satisfy folks who don't appreciate bacon.

Here's Eric Anderson in his Cool Cow Ice Cream Truck. This is your traditional ice cream truck like you'd see in your neighborhood, but he just caters events- no cruising the 'hood with the bell ringing for Cool Cow.

Dave Stein was pulling double duty today. He's part owner of the Go Fish Truck and he's in the band Good Question that was playing at the festival. He said it was his perfect day because he got to do two of the things he loves most- cook and play music.

The Grilled Cheese Nation and Lobsta Love crews were all fired up. Both trucks are owned by Todd Saunders. 

Little Miss got a hot dog from Snappy Dogs.

After talking to Firefly's owner Steve Uliss, I decided to cheat on the Snappy Dogs gals and get a hot dog from Firefly's. They grill a half pound Pearl hot dog over a charcoal grill, split the dog, stuff it with cheddar cheese and smoked, applewood bacon. It is then topped with home made slaw.

Look at that dog!

I CHOWED DOWN!

I needed about six wet naps when I was done, but it was delicious.

All told, it was TWO THUMBS WAY UP for the Framingham Food Truck Festival. I can't wait for next year.

The Framingham Festival was put on by Food Truck Festivals of New England. Check out their facebook page to find more festivals.

Also check out the video of the event on Hot Dog Stories.

A Hot Dog a Day Number 30: That's My Dog in Plainville, MA

On Saturday, July 30- the 30th day of my quest to eat a hot dog a day in honor of National Hot Dog Month, Little Miss and I were tooling down route 495 with the top down on our way to the beach when we decided to pull off at route 1A. We headed south on 1A a couple of miles into Plainville, MA until we came to the South Liquor Store parking lot at 431 South Road. That's the home of That's My Dog- a newcomer on the hot dog scene.

The "OPEN" flag was a flying...

...and the special looked inviting.

Little Miss and I had found the place where I would eat my 30th hot dog!

That's My Dog is run by Mike Hogan. He's a former Union painter in Boston who wanted to have a business of his own. He likes his new avocation, but acknowledges that it's hard work at times. Mike ought to know, he's open 7 days a week from April to November. Sometimes, he takes his show on the road and caters a company event or youth sports tournament. In the winter, he still dabbles in interior painting, but he really wants to be a 4 season hot dog man.

He ordered up the plans to build his own hot dog cart from the folks who write the Hot Dog Biz 101 course and put this little cart together with his brother in law in one weekend. He tows it around with his Chevy S10 pick up truck that doubles as a storage space for his soda coolers.

This cart has all the amenities of any cart you can find- new or used: sinks, storage, a small grill, and 3 steam wells.

The menu is straight forward: hot dogs and Italian sausages. The standard condiments including chili and cheese are available. 

Mike cooks up an all beef Nathan's skinless frank "dirty water" style.

Mike serves them up hot and fast- here's two with ketchup. Don't worry folks, these are for a couple of ten year olds!

Mike caters to "real" dogs too. Our four legged friends get treats too.

Little Miss wanted to get going to the beach, so she ordered up a half mustard, half plain dog and

CHOWED DOWN!

She likes it!!!

I opted for an all around dog with the onions and relish under and brown mustard on top.

Then I CHOWED DOWN!

The dog was piping hot and hit the spot!

HAPPY NATIONAL HOT DOG MONTH!!!

When you're down in Plainville, or if you're traveling down 495 and you want a quick bite, scoot down route 1A south, avoid the franchised crud and stop by That's my Dog. Make sure you tell Mike "the Hotdogman and Little Miss sent me."

View the video of our visit to That's My Dog on Hot Dog Stories.

A Hot Dog a Day Number 24: Naughty Dogs in Fairhaven, MA

On Sunday, July 24-the 24th day of my journey to eat a hot dog a day in honor of National Hot Dog Month, we headed down I-195 to Fairhaven in search of.....

Naughty Dogs! 

Naughty Dogs is a small, "summer shack" looking place located at 114 Huttleston Ave (that's route 6) in Fairhaven, MA. They are open 11AM-9PM, 7 days a week.

The inside is bright, welcoming, cheerful and very clean.

There's seating for about 14 inside and there's a take out window too.

The menu features hot dogs. Like most hot dog joints in this area, they feature a Coney Island sauce for their dogs. They have much more than hot dogs though: burgers, wraps, fried chicken, and ice cream.

Janice, one of the owners, greeted us warmly (though she threatened me bodily harm if I asked too many questions about her Coney sauce recipe).

She introduced us to Garrett and Shannon who were also working today.

The "mascot" was in the house too.

They have a pretty simple philosophy at Naughty Dogs.

Part of the reason their food is good is the full on commercial kitchen. Naughty dogs is rocking lots of prep space, three large fryers and a HUGE flat top grill.

Naughty Dogs serves up a steamed Kayem Old Tyme frank on a standard hot dog roll. There's always one customer who orders dogs with ketchup- the customer who ordered these claimed to have actually met Clint Eastwood (and he lived to tell the tale).

Little Miss and Mrs. Hotdogman were along for the ride today. Little Miss got her standard "half mustard, half plain" dog, I got the Coney Island Dog with onions and shredded cheese, and Mrs. Hotdogman got a Naughty Dog with bacon, tomato and shredded cheese. The shredded cheese made Mrs. HDM's day: lots of places have the "squeeze cheese," which I absolutely LOVE. Mrs. HDM doesn't go for it- she wants shredded cheese. The whole cheese issue rocketed Naughty Dogs to the top of Mrs. HDM's list. Don't worry squeeze cheese lovers- Naughty Dogs has that too.

Little Miss liked her dog.

Mrs. HDM was her usual camera shy self. She liked the fact that the dogs were piping hot and very juicy. Did I mention she liked the shredded cheese?

I , of course, 

CHOWED DOWN!

The Coney sauce was DELISH. Not at all spicy, but very savory and rich. The dog was PIPING HOT- the single most important thing I look for.

The girls give Naughty Dogs

ALL THUMBS UP!

I'd have put two thumbs up, but I didn't want to drop my dog!

When you're in Fairhaven and you want good fast food, skip the nearby Mickey D's, Taco Hell and BK and have a freshly prepared, HOT, hot dog with one of Naughty Dogs' many special toppings.

Tell Janice and the rest of the gang "the Hotdogman sent me!"

View a video of our visit to Naughty Dogs on Hot Dog Stories.