We're Back!!!

I am very embarrassed for my long blog absence. I mean, I promised to write even when traveling. Well, I don't have the greatest excuse, but it is true that where we were staying we didn't have an internet connection. That made it tough. Plus, I was really busy chasing a story with Damien and meeting my new nephew (who is super cute, by the way - see photo.) And finally, we didn't really have any culinary excitement on the trip. Damien and I scarfed down way too many Dunkin Donuts (I like jelly, he likes chocolate-glazed) and there were pizza and TGI Friday's potato skins involved. And to top it all off, I got an email from my building asking that we pay $314.58 for the smokin' steaks incident! A bit excessive, no? All this to say, it was not the best food week.

There were a couple of bright spots though. When we visited Worcester, Damien's mom made us a wonderful chicken dish that I'll have to ask her about. And one night my mom made our family favorite Hot Dogs Delicious. It was just the kind of comfort food we needed. My brother and his wife hadn't slept because of their newborn, Damien and I had been betrayed by a source, it was raining like crazy thanks to Hurricane Dani and we had spent a good part of the day watching Ted Kennedy's funeral. This recipe was something simple and delicious (hence the name) that we used to eat as kids. Plus, as we've covered before, I love hot dogs. Throw in a couple of cold beers, and we were all feeling a lot better.

Hot Dogs Delicious
1 large onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (or to taste)
4 hot dogs
4 hot dog buns

Cut the onion into small slices. In a large saute pan, heat up the olive oil over medium high heat. And the onions and saute until soft and caramelized. Add ketchup, smothering the onions and stirring to keep it from burning. Sprinkle the Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce over the onions and ketchup. Cook until nice and bubbly. Add the hot dogs and cook until dogs are heated through (about 8 minutes).

Toast hot dog buns under the broiler. Serve the hot dogs with some of the onions in the toasted buns.

We always seem to pair this with baked beans. It's a very red meal, but it's really tasty too. One other note - if you are sparking up the grill, you might want to grill the dogs before adding to the sauce.

I'm going to the supermarket tomorrow, so we should be back with something a little bit more exciting. And I will do my best to never let the ball drop this badly again.