This
past weekend my brother and sister-in-law came for a visit. They came up on
Friday late-afternoon and left on Sunday mid morning. They stayed with us in
our new home and spent some time with their nephews. Little Steven definitely
has a new bff in his uncle Devin.
On
Saturday we dropped the kids off with my mother-in-law for the day so that we
could spend the day in Chicago eating hot dogs and enjoying the Cubs game. The
hot dogs were fun and unique and the Cubs game was hot!
So
why was it the day of the dog? Well… we decided that we wanted to eat hot dogs
for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Saturday. Think this sounds kind of gross? Surprisingly
having various hot dogs throughout the day was delicious and fun.
We
started out with breakfast hot dogs at home. My hubby made breakfast sausage
and placed it in a bun only to cover it in cheesy scrambled eggs. If you wanted
to you could cover it in ketchup, salsa, or hot sauce. This was a big hit with
everyone!
For
lunch we headed over to Hot Doug’s
- The
Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium of Chicago Illinois. The line to
get food wrapped around the building and we spend the better part of an hour
waiting in line for some dogs that did not disappoint. Doug himself took our order and was extremly nice.
I had the Beef and Lamb Gyros Sausage with Artichoke Tzatziki, Kalamata Olives and
Feta Cheese which melted in my mouth. It was simply delicious. They did not
skimp on the toppings, so each and every bite was a treat to the senses. My
hubby had the Portabella Mushroom and Swiss Cheese Pork Sausage with Anchovy
Mayonnaise, Shiitake Mushrooms sautéed in Duck Fat and Crispy Fried Onions and
he loved it. I had a bite of this dog and thought that the mushroom and cheese
combo was outstanding but the anchovy mayonnaise was a little too overpowering.
We also split a good old fashioned Chicago style hot dog and ate every last
bite. Yum!
We then spent the afternoon at Wrigley Field watching
the Cubs play baseball. It was hot, the sun was scalding, and we were sweaty… By
the end of the game we were ready to try Franks ‘n Dawgs – five star dining on
a bun.
There was no line at Franks ‘n Dawgs and their menu was a
foodies dream come true. As a huge salmon fan I was excited to sink my teeth into the Slammin’ Salmon {Citrus
cured salmon, herb cream cheese, bagel crisps, fried capers, salmon roe &
dill}. While I was not a fan of this particular Haute Dawg, I did get to sample the Tur-Doggin
{Turkey & date sausage, crispy duck confit, herb garlic aioli,
pickled onion relish & pickled carrots} and the Pork of July {Pork loin & caramelized onions sausage,
house smoked pulled pork, cherry bourbon BBQ sauce & our house slaw} both of
which I was extremely pleased with. I even got to munch on some of the scrumptious
truffle mac ‘n’ cheese, a smooth and rich take on a comfort food staple. The
bread they use for their dawgs is ridiculously yummy… I would go for the bread
alone.
The day of the dog was a success. We all tried
some new hot dogs and had a blast critiquing each place we went. All of the
food was interesting, if not delicious. I was surprised by flavor combinations and
I was inspired to get a little craftier in my own kitchen.
