Hot Dogs

The people who think you shouldn't eat animals were trying to tell anyone who would listen outside Memorial Stadium last night that a wiener made of soybean is a fabulous thing.Here, in a city with a once-grand history of slaughterhouses and a neighborhood still proud to call itself Pigtown, they arrived two hours before game time to bring down those who are high on the hog, to lay siege to that venerable culinary institution -- the ballpark frank. "Tastes just like a real hot dog!" was the mantra of Jenny Woods, an employee with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, as she stood on the parking lot across from the stadium near a sign that asked,"Guess what's in a hot dog?"

When I heard that kosher hot dogs - long a part of Baltimore's professional baseball scene - had arrived at RFK Stadium in Washington, I drove over to our nation's capital for a ballpark lunch. I bit into an Abeles and Heymann all-beef dog, $4.50, at the stand called Kosher Sports near Section 220. It was flavorful, a little dry and not quite as warm as the all-beef dog I would subsequently eat during a suppertime visit to Camden Yards' kosher stand, on the lower level of the left field concourse.

Inside the Doughy Dog truck, workers are preparing more than hot dogs, breakfast sandwiches and mini-doughnuts. They're preparing themselves for more stable lives, working toward increased self-sufficiency one chubby hot dog at a time. This is food with a social mission: The big red Doughy Dog truck is a business venture of the Arundel House of Hope, a 17-year-old nonprofit organization in Glen Burnie that helps homeless people. The organization's clients get paid job experience and growing self-confidence.

IS CAL RIPKEN leading a charmed life or what? Ripken has spent the better part of his professional life telling kids to drink their milk and eat a certain popular local brand of hot dog, which was considered something of a mixed message because of an ingredient in processed meat that was believed to have negative long-term health effects. So what happens on the 10th anniversary of the day the Iron Man tied Lou Gehrig's supposedly unbreakable consecutive-games record? The National Institutes of Health released preliminary results of a study on Monday that suggests that sodium nitrite - the much-maligned preservative contained in hot dogs, bacon and other cured meats - just might be an important tool in the treatment of heart attacks and several serious diseases.

Alfie Cadden of Baltimore is seeking a recipe for Coney Island Sauce for hot dogs and hamburgers. "I've tried to beg, borrow, steal or bribe everyone for this recipe, but no luck. There is a secret ingredient that gives it flavor." The response that tester Laura Reiley chose was from Rosemary Baum of Westminster, who wrote: "I don't know if this is the recipe that Alfie Cadden is looking for, but it is the one that I have had for quite a while which was printed in the Hanover Merchandiser a few years ago."

Many of us plan picnics for family and friends to celebrate the Fourth of July. Susan Baker, the founding director of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health's Injury Prevention Center, offers some tips to women and their families to help ensure a safe, happy July 4 -- a time when the risk of injury increases.What's the most serious hazard on the Fourth of July?Most deaths on this holiday weekend involve motor vehicle crashes and drowning, but firecrackers, bottle rockets and sparklers caused more than 11,000 hospitalized injuries in 1991.

PARENTS QUICKLY LEARN that young children can choke to death from lots of seemingly harmless objects, from balloons to small toys to large pieces of food. It's part of a long list of warnings about dangers to wee ones of commonplace items.Toy manufacturers regularly label many wares as suitable only for children above age 3, precisely because of the choking danger.New mandatory labeling requirements went into effect last year, enforced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, along with tougher standards for toys for use by younger children.

Davon Harris was remembered yesterday as a playful 4-year-old who adored the little girl who lived across the street and "wanted everything" for his birthday, which was just a week away.The talkative child born with asthma died Thursday night after eating a hot dog smothered in hot sauce at his West Baltimore home. His father, Troy Harris, 28, tried to resuscitate him, but the boy died about 20 minutes after arriving at Johns Hopkins Hospital.Authorities said they are awaiting autopsy results -- not expected until next week -- to determine whether Davon choked or suffered an allergic reaction to the sauce.

My daddy took my brother, Benjamin, and me to see "Snow White" at the Annapolis Dinner Theater the other day, and we really liked it a lot.When we got there, my brother, who's 4, told the lady, "Your reviewers are here," which was sort of embarrassing.I was really excited when "Prince Charming" took us to our table. I really liked him; he looked so much like a prince.And Shannon came to my table to bring me a drink and she was "Snow White." She really looked like Snow White. She had a red ribbon and red cheeks.

When the doors open at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, fans can count on being captivated by the sheer beauty of steel girders and .500 baseball.When the emotion wears off, they may also notice their hot dogs are moister.This may not be important to the legions of roasted-peanut munchers. But it's thrilling news for the many fans who consider chomping a hot dog to be a highlight of any evening at the ballpark.As hot-dog eaters know, the product you buy at the ballpark may be very expensive, but it's rarely very juicy.