A Note on New York Hot Dogs:
“Early hot dog vendors used wooden push carts, making open-flame cooking dangerous.
They kept frankfurters warm and juicy by storing them in vats of hot, seasoned liquid.
Although modern carts are made of stainless steel, the practice of storing hot dogs this way continues. So does the name, "dirty water dog"
The city's beloved street cart hot dog is made of an all-beef frank with onion sauce, sauerkraut, and brown mustard”… ~from text on a sign at MOFAD’s (Museum of Food & Drink’s) 2026 “STREET FOOD CITY” Exhibit
WHAT IS ONION SAUCE?:
Onion sauce is made from onions cooked down with tomato paste, sugar, spices, vinegar, and water.
Is onion sauce still offered as a topping for hot dogs sold on NYC streets these days? Or just ketchup, mustard and relish as options?
🚨 📰 newsflash ⚡️FINALLY!: GLUTEN FREE FOLKS CAN HAVE A FRANKFURTER ON THE FLY TOO!
No more pity parties when we gluten-challenged consumers get famished on the fly — and wanna partake in classic NYC food traditions too!…Fortunately, Frankie’s Dogs On The Go in Grand Central has a g-free bun! 🙌🏾🙌🏾…
Check out and enjoy this mini vid I made for National Hot Dog Day once upon a time and have a Happy one !
******************* NOW FOR PART 2 OF FHIS POST *******************
Celebrated annually on the second Tuesday of July, Cow Appreciation Day actually fell on Tuesday, July 14, 2026 this year (yesterday) … BUT yesterday had enough going on with it being Bastille Day AND National Mac & Cheese day! … i had to move the cow pasture over to today — alongside hot dogs 🌭 !ronic ( & a bit of a diss!) i know since NYC hot dogs and the majority of the frankfurters in the rest of America too it turns out — are made of either 100% beef or Beef/Pork Blends … with Poultry & Mixed-Meat Blends (Chicken/Turkey) comprising the smallest percentage (17%)…
Nonetheless let’s let these bovine beauties have their day in the sun (pun intended) TODAY on July 16th too….:
Bovine beauties chillin and grubbin in upstate NY near Rensselaerville…
pic of i snapped of the SunnySide Farms sign from cousin Keon’s car in 2024 … the cows and the ice cream parlor and small shop are long gone 😥
I sometimes jokingly say I grew up in a cow-town of sorts in South Jersey (Mt. Holly NJ). A place that straddles that sometimes thin line between suburbia and rural farmland. While there were indeed modern, air-conditioned grocery stores and such, there were also several family farms dotted along the long stretches of wooded roads… It was always a special treat each summer to visit nearby Sunnyside Farms for freshly made icecream and where my grandparents would also buy our fresh milk and butter for that week there instead of the regular market.
so like is this one throwin’ shade? ‘cause she wishes she had some shade? 🤔…
The pics of all the beautiful bovines featured in this TFG blogpost were taken during my more grown-up years: the group shot on top is from upstate NY from about a decade ago when Iived in Molly O’Neill’s attic way up in Rensselaerville, NY along with a dozen 20-something year olds as we were all partaking in an intensive LongHouse Food Media Laboratory Internship Program (which is a whole ‘nother story for a whole ‘nother blogpost quite frankly)…
Anyway, the solo shot of the sista gurl cow (if you look closely —she appears to be throwing me some serious side-eye ‘shade’) in that next photo was taken circa 2021 in beautiful SUNNY Santa Barbara Ca. I think she’s throwing ME shade ‘cause SHE coulda used some actual shade (or sunglasses or sumthin since the sun was SO bright — and HOT — that late September day in Central Cali). Either way, this short & semi-sweet post is a shout out to her and all the cows everywhere who provide us Americans with so, SO much and yet are taken for granted more so than being thought of with any inklings of gratitude on any given day. Especially for other food ‘holidays’ like the above mentioned Mac & CHEESE, duh… Which is why I didn’t want to miss their day entirely. And i’m happy that each of these semi-bucolic cow scenes I captured on my iphone shows these gals (& at least one guy — can you spot him in the group pic?) living what appeared to be pretty good lives — on both coasts!…
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IN CLOSING, KEEP IN MIND: 🇺🇸July 4th🎆 only marked the start, the official & formalized spark….
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