May 22, 2021

WEEKLY MENU 05.23.21

The Weekly Menu 05.23.21 includes the original harbinger of summer in Erieland: Smith’s Hot Dogs!

How does the Weekly Menu 05.23.21 wrap up? HOT DOG BAR!!! We are super spoiled in Erie. One of the best companies for hot dogs (wieners), deli meat, sausage and awesome ham is based here (and has been around for 4 generations). Smith Provision Company has expanded, and their products can be found in Pittsburgh (they are even served by the Penguins) and into both Ohio and New York. They have wonderful flavor, but they also are impeccable with ingredients, which, as we know, is not always the case with wieners. So we can eat (and serve) them joyfully!

It doesn’t matter how old the boysies get – any time I say wieners, I get a giggle out of them. I love being a boy Mama.

Bert is a grillmaster.

He can cook anything on the grill and make it work, but he totally shines with these hot dogs, There’s just something about a grilled dog, especially if you can get it right off the fire and onto a fluffy bun, that rings summer. Bonus if you have to breathe out of your mouth while chewing the wiener for a while until it cools down. Serve it up with a couple beers and maybe some chips, and you have the best reason ever to get the patio set up.

The big question, of course, is what you serve on it. I like just about everything, but not all at the same time. Yep. That includes ketchup. (Heinz of course). Onions and mustard? Yum. Cheese sauce? OKAY! Relish? For sure. I’ll even pop open a (very small) can of sauerkraut. I’m the only one that eats that, but its a classic that works.

Specialty Dogs are fun too.

We like “Polish Boy Sandwiches” which use either wieners or one of the brats, topped with BBQ sauce, onions, cheese sauce and some crushed up chips. I like sweet salsas on dogs too. Pineapple or mango salsa goes great! Hence the bar – options a plenty, with a variety of buns. (No whole wheat ones, please. That’s just crazy.) Another specialty in Erieland is Greek Sauce. It’s ground beef based with a slightly sweet, slightly spicy tomato sauce. That is a HUGE hit on the Hot Dog Bar. It’s making me hungry even thinking about it!

We don’t eat a lot of hot dogs during the winter, unless it’s a special occasion like the Super Bowl. That’s another reason they’re so welcome. Fingers crossed that Friday comes fast!

The Weekly Menu 05.23.21 has other dinners~

We’re (well, Bert) is grilling simple shish kabobs made from meatballs – both ground beef and sausage. I like to make the veggies separately, because they cook at very different rates. It’s much easier to control when they have their own skewer. Aren’t these Rainbow Veggie Skewers gorgeous?

^{Rainbow Veggie Skewers look good after they’re cooked too.}

Bert is grilling on Monday too – when we go a little off the rails. The chicken is very virtuous (grilled as it will be) but the creamy decadent garlic Alfedo sauce isn’t quite that good for us. Oh well. Everything in moderation, right? We’re having pork chops and Asian chicken to mix it up a little bit as we bide our time until Friday.