The Hotdog Centipede, Nutty Puppies, and Other Frankly Interesting Recipes

Since grilling season unofficially starts this weekend, I decided to make today hot dog day (or "Frankfurter Day," as the book prefers)! As an avowed condiment hater, I maintain that the only correct way to eat a hot dog is to slit it down the middle and stuff in a strip of cheese so it can melt a little and enhance the beautiful smoky flavor.... I know I'm in the minority on this view, though, so let's see what Better Homes & Gardens Barbecue Book (1967) recommends.

I love this one just because it looks so funny:

I'd call it "The Hotdog Centipede," but the more staid Better Homes-approved name is "Cheese-Frankfurter Loaf."

And if I could leave out the chili-sauce based spread, this would actually meet my idea of good dogs since they are covered in nice, melty cheese! (Process American cheese of course, but still... Cheese!)

This recipe has the extra fun of being a craft project: cutting the French loaf to specifications, adding the frank halves at "jaunty" angles, and skewering it all together before wrapping in foil to grill.





















I love this next recipe because it's a craft project too:

Hot dogs on a clothes hanger! Or, as the book prefers to call them, "Puppet Franks":

I love the way the name captures the craft-project feel, and I love imagining the process of walking through a party carrying clothes hangers laden with strings of sausages, proffering scissors to guests and inviting them to cut off as many wieners as they want. If I felt nice, I'd warn them to take the string out before eating, but I'd probably just let them assume the franks were held together by a casing and watch as they tried to deal with a mouthful of string.

(Someone truly evil would save the hanger and hang someone else's shirt on it later, thereby coating the interior in barbecue sauce and ruining the morning.)




















I found the hot dog equivalent of a turducken, too (although there is unfortunately no picture):

Hot dogs stuffed with ham spread and then wrapped in bacon! Three types of meat in one little roll.

Even though I am a peanut butter enthusiast, I'm not sold on this recipe:

If chunky peanut butter and relish with your frank isn't enough, make your nutty pup with a "Frank Wrap-up":

Yes, adding bacon was apparently popular in 1967 too. Somehow, I'm suddenly feeling a bit surprised that a "Nutty Puppy Wrap-up" isn't on the seasonal menu at Denny's....