Roasting Dogs

Hot dogs, that is. Obviously!

Less obvious -- and you may find this surprising -- is that until a few weeks ago, I had never roasted a hot dog on a stick. How did this come about? Well, how I went 39 years without doing it, I'm not sure. I have great experience with s'mores around a campfire, but I guess I limited my expertise to sweet desserts.

This Labor Day weekend, however, Alison and I decided to spend three or four days at the Aiken camp in North Hero. Unfortunately, our hot and dry summer came to an abrupt halt a few days before the weekend; one of the Atlantic off-shore hurricanes sent off-and-on rain and crazy wind our direction for the whole weekend, confining our activities mostly to reading, Scrabble, and other indoor pursuits.

One night for dinner, however, we ran into trouble. It was so windy we couldn't keep the gas grill lit. Fortunately, we had decided to have a fire in the fireplace. And I think the accompanying photos (along with demonstrating exactly how bald I have become here in my old age!) tell the rest of the story. Jalepeno chicken sausages roasted over hot coals, a whole wheat bun, sauteed onions, and spicy mustard... and I had myself a great meal! S'mores for dessert and a few beers to wash it down... and I was ushering out the last of summer in style.