Essence of the Nitrate Stick

Pin It

Though hot dogs have been around for quite some time, historians have yet to nail down their true origins. Yet, the stories of where they came from are most certainly interesting, whether you believe they originated from Homer’s brief reference in the Odyssey to the sausage, the ascription given to German butcher, Hohann Georghehner who lived in the late 1600s as being the creator, or even the attribution of their invention as happening at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904—the St. Louis World’s Fair. Wherever the birthplace of these little beauties, I still find that they taste incredibly awesome.

Speaking of franks, did you know that it wasn’t all that long ago that I was visiting a few friends down in Green River? I’d brought along a few gourmet bologna ponies from the land northward and was out placing these on the grill. I watched them hiss as they hit the barbecue with a sizzle. As the package emptied, I found myself gazing at the juice of these footlongs, still saturating my fingertips. Not wanting to wipe them on my cargos, I instead licked my fingers—not having a paper towel handy.

As the sweetened nectar of these durgers tantalized my taste buds, I realized just how delicious this stuff really was. I glanced at the plastic packaging; there was probably a quarter cup of that sweet essence in the bottom of the hot dog container, just waiting to be appreciated.

I thought about it.

Man, if only I'd had a straw.

I thought how this stuff’d make a wonderful popsicle; hot dog juice flavored frozen delights for a hot summer’s day. Why hadn’t anyone thought of this before?

Pure, unadulterated deliciousness.

I thought about drinking the remaining juice right from the package then and there. After all, I was thirsty, too. Well, that’s about the time everyone else started to come outside bringing the rest of the food for dinner.

I rapidly changed my mind and tossed the package in the trash.

Curses.

Maybe one day...


On a side note, of the facts below, all are true save one...if you want to guess which in the comments, feel free to do so. If not, that's okay as well. You can see the answer yourself by highlighting the section that says, "answer" at the bottom to reveal the lie in all of the truth.

1. The most popular condiment for kids with hot dogs is ketchup, while with adults it’s mustard.

2. The world’s biggest hot dog was 1,996 feet in length and was created by the Sara Lee Company for the Olympics in 1996.

3. The most expensive hot dog in the world was made my Joe Calderone and was sold for nearly $70. It featured not only truffle oil, but duck foie gras, and truffle butter as well.

4. By utilizing tongs or a spatula instead of a fork while grilling, your Dodger Dog loses far less moisture while cooking and all of those succulent juices.

5. Hot dogs are briefly featured in every Meg Ryan film—with the exception of one.

6. The hot dog was approved by NASA as a regular food item on space and shuttle flights.

7. On average, Americans consume 818 hot dogs per second in the United States.

8. The first words Mickey Mouse ever uttered in a cartoon were “hot dogs.”

9. Los Angeles residents consume more hot dogs than any other city.

Answer: #5 At least, not that I know of...

Images borrowed shamelessly from here and here.

The Message

Pin It I found the message. I couldn’t believe it because I thought I had accidentally deleted it nearly a year ago.

The message? What was it? Well, to explain that I must take you back first…do you remember that time about 18 months ago when I told you that I was asked out for ‘dinner and a movie?’

Yeah, this is no big deal, and most certainly not an unusual thing for a girl to ask a guy out nowadays…but what if you were being asked out by a dude?

Really?

Well, because of a case of mistaken identity, what I actually had thought was my neighbor and his wife wanting to hang out, it turned out to be a prearranged meeting with the member of the same sex. My thoughts turned immediately to a revelation a friend of mine had made sometime before. She admitted that two of her gay friends at one time or another had said that both my brother and I were some ‘serious eye candy.’ It seemed that I was, yet again, bane to the curse of good looks…

What can I say? People have taste.

Unfortunately, I had also committed to this meeting before I actually knew what was going on. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but knew most certainly that didn’t want to go on this particular little outing.

To remedy the dilemma, I called up two of my good friends, Craig and Shayla. I explained my predicament and both were sympathetic. They agreed to meet me at Chili’s and we would turn this into a group ‘hang out’ session. I can’t tell you how grateful I was for both of these friends saving me from this particular event in my life.

To make a long story short, the guy who’d done the inviting apparently didn’t want to hang out with the three of us and opted to cut out early. Meanwhile Craig, Shayla and I had a great evening together getting dessert, heading out to listen to a friend of Shayla’s perform, checking out the newest in music and video at the local entertainment store, and planning to TP certain individual’s houses.

However, I have to admit that the climax of the whole affair didn’t come until the next day. It came in the form of the message I got from Craig. This is just another reminder of why I have some of the greatest friends that the world can supply…



Now, don't you wish that Craig was your friend, too?

The Visitor

Pin It I was sitting in my kitchen this morning reading up on blogs and such when I heard an odd out-of-place buzzing sound. Startled, I looked quickly around the room.

Out of nowhere swooped a fly.

I don’t know why.

This particular insect hadn’t been here before, and I started to wonder how it came to be in my home on a morning when the snow is falling in troves. I always leave for work in the early morning when it’s nearly dark out and freezing, and I return home again when it’s nearly dark and freezinger. In fact, I couldn’t recall having seen any flies outside for weeks, and yet here was this little guy coming from nowhere.

And why hadn’t I seen him before now?

Was this an early Christmas miracle? I thought. A reminder of something? Perhaps that summer—though seemingly gone—was still there, beneath the piled-up snow? An omen of sorts?

I began to wonder about this little bug as it landed on the ceiling and regarded me with its many-faceted eyes. For a time, I just sat and stared back, my mind spinning with the possibilities of how this little critter had come to join me for breakfast.

Then I sucked it up with the vacuum cleaner.