Tonight when there was a lull in the pouring rain I grilled up some broccoli marinated in vinaigrette and some fake jalapeño-cheddar hot dogs. Along with Jen’s homemade pasta-coleslaw salad and fried potatoes, it was a most delicious hot summer evening meal.
I ate two of the not-dogs, and I’m pretty stuffed.
On the 4th of July we joined some fellow Steeplechasers at Matt and Dana’s new pad for some delicious eats and a back-to-back viewing of the 2006 and 2007 Nathan’s hot dog eating championships. If you’ve never seen it, it’s an amazing feat to be witnessed: Average-size people (for the most part) pounding two and three hot dogs at a time — and buns — as fast as they can for 12 minutes straight. They do this rocking motion to make them go down faster. It’s pretty disgusting, actually, but hey, everyone’s gotta have a hobby, right?
You can see the video of this year’s showdown on YouTube, of course, where my fellow Californian Joey Chestnut beats 6-time reigning champion Takeru Kobayashi in the final seconds by eating 66 hot dogs to Kobayashi’s 63 — in 12 minutes.
We all enjoyed lots of good laughs. Only in America.
I think I’ll stick to my not-dogs. And maybe I’ll even eat 3 in a row one of these days.
