Two-in-one holiday classics!

Memorial Day is Monday, so I thought I should find some new picnic salad or hot dog recipes for the occasion. Luckily, The New Hotdog Cookbook (Mettja C. Roate, copyright 1968, reprinted 1983) had plenty of hot dog salad recipes, so I didn't have to choose one or the other! Today you get both.

If you like a traditional macaroni salad at a picnic, try Hot Dog and Macaroni Salad #2.

In addition to the macaroni and mayo, you get chunks of American cheese, celery, pimiento, green pepper, and, of course, the hot dogs. (I picked salad #2 because it featured American cheese, and #1 had cucumbers, onions, and hard boiled eggs instead.)

If you're like my Grandma W. and enjoy a vat of bean salad, here's the hot dog version:

If you prefer potato salad, there's this option:

I don't think French dressing mixed with sour cream is a traditional dressing, but I don't do potato salad, so I could be wrong. My favorite part of the recipe is the note that "If you cut [the hot dogs] while they are hot they will curl backwards, making a more decorative dish." So definitely cut them hot if you want a fancy, decorative potato salad.

And if the curled hot dogs aren't special enough, you can always add canned beets to make the potato salad pink!

And of course, if your salad selection is simply not complete without something floating in gelatin, I offer Jellied Hot Dog Loaf:

It begins with chopping "six of the hot dogs until they are the consistency of coarse corn meal," proceeds to fold those chopped franks into whipped gelatin along with pickles, olives, grated onions, mustard, and mayo, suspends another half-dozen whole hot dogs throughout the mixture, and ends by serving generous slices "with additional mayonnaise which has been slightly flavored with horseradish."

There you have it: FIVE different hot dog salads for your holiday delectation! I hope you have a chance to make something you'll actually like instead.