new york hot dog #1

i ordered this dog with 'everything' from a cart in central park. In this case, the dog came with ketchup, spicy brown mustard, onions, and some other sort of saucy tomatoey-onion relish.

it was okay.

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hot dog diaries 3 - 'everything' is different

my boyfriend and i are on our way to new york this weekend and a trip to coney island, and of course nathan's famous hot dog stand is on the itinerary.

upon doing some research on the location and menu at nathan's i realized that if i go there and order a 'hot dog with everything' i'm not sure what i'm going to get!

in chicago, i know exactly what a 'hot dog with everything' is.

further, what if i go to philly and order a 'hot dog with everything'? what's 'everything' in l.a.? i can't make heads or tails of what i'm going to get anywhere!!

well, i say a stop to this madness! there's got to be a place where this information is catalogued - and i'm willing to do it.

so, if you read this and you know what's on your city's 'hot dog with everything', please post it in the comments or send me an email at: hotdog [at] andshewas.net

then, tell your friends in other cities to do the same. we can sort this whole mess out together.

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vote early, vote often.

i voted yesterday.

did you know that starting 3 weeks prior to the election you can drop by the county clerk's place at 69 w. washington and do some 'in-person absentee voting'? (you may recognize this building as the county building that had the fire last year) nevertheless, you can visit that building's basement and vote. it is a pleasant experience, you don't have to go through any metal detectors, show id's or sign anything. i'm getting really sick of downtown buildings requiring crap like that.

anyways, with my job, i'm never sure if i'm going to be around on election day, so when i have some spare time, i like to get it out of the way.

more information is at voterinfonet.com

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suburban commando

if you find yourself in tinley park and in need of a gun (and trust me, there are many reasons one might desire a gun in tinley park) stop by the neighborhood k-mart!

quite the selection, and handsomely displayed!

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that's the BIG cat

By the food dish, as usual.

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hotdog diaries volume 2

so, yesterday i gave big herm's on washington and canal a try. i have mixed feelings about big herm's. the condiments were better - a whole pickle spear! but the dog wasn't as 'snappy' as harry's was. and again, no celery salt.

i think i may give harry's a try again and ask for extra tomatoes and pickles.

i'll have to start packing my own celery salt.

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help a girl find a decent hot dog in the loop.

on thursday, i went to harry's hot dogs on the corner of randolph and franklin. all in all, it was dissapointing. while the dog itself was good - it was 'squeaky' when you bit into it - mmmm! - the condiments were severly lacking.

i'm a big fan of the chicago style hot dog (mustard, onions, relish, tomato slices, pickle spear, celery salt, and sport peppers). harry's ingredients were pretty sub-par. a silly little pickle slice was substituted for the pickle spear. what's more, it only took up half the length of the dog. on the other half there was a single tomato slice. now, the important thing about a chicago dog is that all the ingredients are in every bite, no? well, they weren't at harry's. and, celery salt was entirely missing from the equation. blasphemy!

well, someone on chowhound extolled the virtues of harry's grits, so maybe i won't give up on them entirely. maybe it's grits that are their forte, not dogs. (wonder it isn't named harry's grits)

so, i'm off to try big herm's the next time a hot dog craving strikes me at work. i suppose i'll give the report when it happens.

in the meantime, if you happen to read this, and know of a real, worthy, chicago-style hot dog spot within a 5 minute walk from randolph and canal, i'd sure appreciate it if you'd clue me in.