Hot Dog Thanksgiving

I'm not much of a "TV guy." If I'm in front of the tube, you can bet that I'm either watching a game, highlights of a game, or playing a game. I will occasionally enjoy some History Channel or an episode of Seinfeld, but certainly not the Food Channel.

Earlier this week, the beautiful Mrs. Mayfield and I had our lives changed forever.  We were laying in bed watching television.  Julie had tuned to a show called "Man Vs. Food."  I had heard about it, but I don't think I've ever seen it. The show was touring the East Coast.  There were some delicious pizzas of course, burgers and hot dogs.  Hot dogs.  I'm typically not a hot dog guy.  I like steaks and burgers mostly.  I find these two types of cow to be the most grillable.

I grill a lot. I mean a lot.  Last summer, I grilled every Sunday dinner except for three (I only missed those three days because of being out of town.) Despite the subject of smothered burgers and toasted buns, I wasn't paying much attention. I was mostly fantasizing about the pretty lady lying next to me, and planning my pick up line. Then I heard him mention bacon.  Bacon is God's gift to us humans.  Everything is better with bacon. Iwould eat bacon on dog food.  I would eat a bacon and hair sandwich. Suddenly, my focus shifted from my wife's short shorts to the sizzling swine on the screen. My eyes bulged and my mouth dropped open. The chef was adding bacon to a hot dog topped with barbecued pulled pork, cheddar cheese and an extra dab of barbecue sauce for good measure.  It was love at first sight, and the Lord answered my prayers.

(Yes, it's as good as it looks!)

Today, we were blessed the warmest day of the year 2010.  My wife saw it coming, and planned for me to fire up the grill.  She planned a hot dog bar complete with chopped onions, shredded cheese, cheddar cheese, sprouts, slaw, relish, salsa, guacamole, chili, sour cream, and of course ketchup and mustard.  She had researched some hot dog recipes online, and made sure that we had every ingredient for any conconction a person's heart could desire on a bun. Did I mention that I grilled the bacon?  The sound of bacon sizzling on the grill made me feel like I was hearing for the first time.  It was lovely.

(Faith's Macaroni Dog)

But not nearly as beautiful as the sight of two dogs smothered in pulled pork, grilled bacon and cheddar cheese. There was party in my mouth that could hardly be contained. I was truly enjoying the enjoyment. I found myself eating long after the feeling of fullness.  It was reminiscent of a Thanksgiving feast.  The need to sample some of everything left me euphorically stuffed.

(Onions+avocado+sprouts+salsa= The California)

As Duke gets ready to host North Carolina, I find that the previous four hot dogs are making room for more guests at the party.