Red Velvet Wisdom

For about a month and half, Gavin has been stalking a guy in Little Rock who calls himself Hot Dog Mike.  We saw him on the local news, and being a huge hot dog lover, Gavin knew he needed to find him.   He travels with a cart around Little Rock, setting up in various parking lots around the city, serving his unique hot dog creations.  Without fail it seemed that we would get his location on Facebook, only too discover we had woken up too late to catch him.  (www.facebook.com/hotdogmike)  But we soldiered on, and this morning, Gavin woke me up to tell me that at 11:00, we were going to finally catch Hot Dog Mike today.

Now admittedly, I am not necessarily a big die hard hot dog fan.  But I figured if nothing else it would be a good chance to get out and have my first ever hot dog from a cart.  What Gavin forgot to tell me was that this appearance of Hot Dog Mike coincided with a bike sale.  As in those really expensive bicycles that really serious cyclists ride.  We arrived a little early, and were forced to mill about awkwardly amongst the hard core bikers until the cart was ready to sell.  These bikers were all tall and lean and clearly serious about the sport of biking.  It was painfully obvious that Gavin and I were there for the food, and food alone.  Neither one of us has touched a bike since grade school, and neither possesses that long, trim, maybe I’m a vegan body type.  Finally when it looked like they were ready to start selling, we went over and jumped in line.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was really a cool little cart with being run by a guy who is a dead ringer for Elvis Costello (don’t worry I don’t think I am insulting him, from his Facebook he clearly realizes this is the case).  Mike and his co-worker were fast and friendly, chopping fresh veggies and steaming dogs and buns.

taken with my phone, but you get the idea.

The I was even more excited to discover that Hot Dog Mike has a really interesting variety of hot dogs.  It’s not just a hot dog with a little bit of mustard or whatever.  It’s all really good high quality beef hot dog, with any number of delicious things on top.  I snapped a pic of his list of dogs today with my phone.  I got the CapitalDog and Gavin the WooPigDog.  Get a look at the menu there to see all the toppings he puts on there.  Cream cheese isn’t something I would have ever thought of as a hot dog topping, but it’s an inspired choice for sure.  It perfectly compliments the sweetness of the relish and the heat of the peppers.   Gavin finished his hot dog before we even made it back to the truck, so that pretty much sums up how much he loved his dog.   Overall, it was delicious experience, and I highly recommend that you like Hot Dog Mike on Facebook and stalk him until you get grab one of his delicious dogs.

I have been trying like crazy to eat better since I have a wedding dress to squeeze into soon.  However, about once a week I feel the need eat something that is comforting and delicious.  This is one of those things!  It’s not going to win me a spot in Bon Appetit magazine’s new batch of writers, but it’s yummy and you probably already have all of this stuff in your pantry!  I made this a few years ago but lost the recipe, so here it is as best I can remember, with a few of my own personal additions.  Don’t worry I tried this version out tonight and it was really good.

For this casserole, you will need:

• 1-24 oz box of shells and cheese
• 2-14 or 15 oz cans of chili with beans (whichever is on the shelf)
• 1-8.5 oz box of cornbread mix (I like Jiffy but that if that’s too sweet just use a less sweet version)
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• chili powder
• hot sauce (if desired)

Prepare the shells and cheese according to the package instructions.  Pour into the prepared shells and cheese the cans of chili and the chopped onion.  Add about a teaspoon of chili powder and as many dashes of hot sauce as you like.  Mix well and transfer into a 13×9 inch baking dish.  Prepare the cornbread mix as instructed (you may need to add a little extra milk if it seems to dry and not very spreadable).  Pour and spread the cornbread mix over the shells mixture.  Place in the oven and back for 25-30 minutes on 375 until the cornbread is firm and golden.

Serve hot, and enjoy!