Hot Dogs

While summer grilling season is ending, you still can find good hot dogs, although you might have to walk a little farther than your backyard to eat them. Here are some places to try: 1 W. Chestnut Hill Lane, Reisterstown The Dawg House Grill 1 W. Chestnut Hill Lane, Reisterstown 410-833-5178 Hours - - 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday The Dawg House, which opened this year, names its hot dogs after real dogs. Fret not, pet lovers -- they're 100 percent beef.

On Sunday, April 14, Mt. Nebo United Methodist Church in Delta, Pa., sponsored a Blessing of the Bikes in the church's parking lot immediately following the service that day. Pastor Dennis McCleary blessed 18 motorcycles that afternoon. The blessing was given for the biker and their safety throughout the upcoming motorcycle season. This all took place around noon with about 21 bikers in attendance. Afterward, hot dogs, chips, cookies and drinks were served right there in the parking lot. There was plenty of good conversation and fellowship taking place that day. Bikers were thanks for attending, and invited back to any and every Sunday service, beginning at 10:45 a.m.

LOS ANGELES -- Children who eat more than 12 hot dogs per month have nine times the normal risk of developing childhood leukemia, a University of Southern California epidemiologist reports in a cancer research journal.Two other reports in the same issue of Cancer Causes and Control also suggest that children born to mothers who eat at least one hot dog per week during pregnancy have double the normal risk of developing brain tumors, as do children whose fathers ate hot dogs before conception.

It's super nice outside with mild temperatures, low humidity, and trees and blooms bursting to life. It's tempting to take Fido along for a ride. But it can be surprisingly dangerous to leave your pet in the car, and few of us realize how quickly temperatures inside can reach life-threatening levels. According to the Partnership for Animal Welfare (PAW), a car parked in the shade on a 78-degree day can reach 90 degrees inside. Parked in the sun, the interior of that car will soar to 160 degrees!

Starting Friday, Stuggy's delivers. Operating under the name Willow Presents Stuggy's Delivers, the Fells Point hot dog shop will deliver to addresses in Fells Point and Harbor East, from 6 p.m. until 3 a.m. The service will not only deliver Stuggy's specialty hot dogs but a selection of house-smoked wings, chorizo burgers and pizza, too. There's a $20 order minimum and a flat $5 delivery fee.   It gets better. Stuggy's can also bring you a bottle of Bulleit rye or Kettle One vodka, or a bottle of Malbec or a six-pack of National Bohemian beer.

Hot dogs aren't just a food; they're a ritual.Babe Ruth once ate 12 hot dogs between games of a double header. The rest of us eat them sitting in bleachers, standing on street corners and sprawled on picnic blankets.Americans eat 16 billion hot dogs a year -- about 66 per person -- according to a Gallup Poll commissioned by the National Livestock and Meat Board last year. Men eat three times more hot dogs than women, and Easterners and Midwesterners eat more than other Americans, possibly because they live in areas settled by folks from countries with sausage-making traditions.

Harry Sirinakis has declared himself the top dog in Carroll County.So confident in his hot dogs is the third-generation chef and owner of Harry's Main Street that he called for a hot dog competition a few weeks ago. No one dared to take on the man who can broil 1,000 dogs an hour as passers-by stop to watch."

The statement on the official Web site of the International Federation of Competitive Eating is dramatic, if slightly tongue-in-cheek. "There is a century-old prophecy within the competitive eating community, dismissed by most, that foretells the rise of the `One Eater,' a woman who will electrify America's gurgitators and lead them to international victory once again," it reads. Century-old or not, that prophecy seems to have come true in the form of 36-year-old, 105-pound, Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas.

It's probably not prudent to make a habit of them, but hot dogs are one of life's irresistible guilty pleasures. If you're in a hot-dog mood (and in Dundalk) you ought to give Weenie World a try. Yes, Weenie World. There are a couple of other cousins to the hot dog on the menu (Italian sausages and Polish kielbasa), but this place is all about the humble frankfurter. The small restaurant sits next to a car dealership on a busy stretch of Merritt Boulevard, a quick hop off the Beltway.

FREDERICK -- In the gastronomical galaxy of trendy eateries in downtown Frederick, one astral body has shone steadily for 80 years -- the White Star.In a small North Market Street storefront in the Castle Building, the hot dogs that have made the White Star a legend are cooked on a grill near the front window, with the secret recipe that brings back devoted eaters.Larry Bowman of Waverly, Tenn., left Frederick seven years ago, but whenever he comes back to town, a stop at the White Star for hot dogs is a must, he said.

Harold Lauer from Spearfish, S.D., was looking for a recipe for the Coney dog sauce that was served at many A&W drive ins in the 1960s. John Van Meter from Dickeyville sent in a recipe for the sauce that was given to him by his late sister. He said the recipe is attributed to Hank's A&W root beer stand in Wabash, Ind. He sent the recipe to me exactly as it read, but he thought it needed a little tweaking, which I did without much difficulty. I tested his recipe on a day when my house was full of hungry football-watching boys, and it was a resounding success.

What's new at Antrim 1844? Not much, really. If it wasn't your thing then, it still won't be now. But If you enjoyed coming up to Taneytown for your 30th anniversary dinner at the Smokehouse Restaurant, you won't regret the drive up to northwest Carroll County for your 40th. For one thing, the fixed price for six-course meal is $68.50, which is only $8 more than it was in 2002. The dining rooms, set on a lower level of the 1844 mansion, are as you remember them, formally set with pretty china and glassware, but cool and comfortable.

Over the years I have always found the letters to the editor to be at times informative and at times uninformed. It's a credit to The Sun's editors that often they allow both sides of an argument to be heard, and I believe most readers appreciate this effort. Personally I've always limited myself to reading the letters and either nodding my head in agreement or shaking my head in disbelief. However, this morning I found myself rereading two or three times a letter titled "Here's to the venomous secessionists" (Nov.

The sour Skittles are coming out of the woodwork, and I'm finding them increasingly harder to swallow. I am both surprised and amused to learn that all 50 states have turned in pleas (or petitions) to secede from the United States ("Petitions call for secession and dance session," Nov. 15). I'm curious where all this venom and extremism was before the election. Do they realize that if their states were to successfully secede, they forfeit their rights to claim baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet as their mantra?

St. Mary of the Mills' Christmas bazaar is Saturday, Nov. 3, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at 114 St. Mary's Place. Shop at Granny's Attic from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Highlights include Kelley's Jellies and home-baked goods table. Enter a raffle or auction or participate in children's activities. Start off at the Christmas Cafe for a breakfast of pancakes, eggs, sausage and more, and take a break for lunch with chicken wings, salad, nuggets, hot dogs and other foods. For information, call 301-725-3080.

Starting Friday, Stuggy's delivers. Operating under the name Willow Presents Stuggy's Delivers, the Fells Point hot dog shop will deliver to addresses in Fells Point and Harbor East, from 6 p.m. until 3 a.m. The service will not only deliver Stuggy's specialty hot dogs but a selection of house-smoked wings, chorizo burgers and pizza, too. There's a $20 order minimum and a flat $5 delivery fee.   It gets better. Stuggy's can also bring you a bottle of Bulleit rye or Kettle One vodka, or a bottle of Malbec or a six-pack of National Bohemian beer.

Dirty Harry, the movie cop, wasn't wrong very often. A bit nasty and heavy-handed with criminals. But in the end, he was usually right.But in one of my favorite Dirty Harry scenes, he couldn't have been more wrong.It was early in "Sudden Impact." He had just looked at a murder victim. He walked away and appeared to be brooding.A fellow cop, munching a hot dog, asked him if crime was starting to get to him.Dirty Harry said: "No, this stuff isn't getting to me. The shootings, the knifings, the beatings, old ladies being bashed in the head for their Social Security checks, teachers being thrown out of a fourth-floor window because they don't give A's. That doesn't bother me a bit."

Communities and local enforcement officials gathered together around Carroll County on Aug. 7 night to celebrate National Night Out. Whether over pizza, hot dogs or ice cream, everyone enjoyed the evening getting to know their neighbors - and showing a unified front against crime. "I came to the park to walk and found this," said Miroslava Rosa, who was with her grandchildren, Abdielis Torres and Yareilys Santana, at Dutterer's Park in Westminster. "It's nice. " Westminster hosted five National Night Out events around the city.

Sunday, July 22 Reading of the play '8' Dignity Players presents a reading of "8," a play chronicling the historic trial in the constitutional challenge to California's Proposition 8 (which gave same-sex couples the right to marry), at 6 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis, 333 Dubois Road. The play was written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black. Tickets are $10. Information: 410-266-8044, ext. 127 or dignityplayers.org . Family program The Annapolis Maritime Museum's new "Young Families" group will host the first monthly "Sunday Funday" from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at 723 Second St. Programs are designed for children and parents to enjoy a Chesapeake Bay related activity.