Yep, a deep fried Twinkie! What is this world coming to? Stephen was thrilled to try one (for free!) at lunch last Friday. Next time we might give the deep fried Oreos a try.

So what does a deep fried Twinkie have to do with “The Hot Dog Craze?” First of all, who else has noticed this summer’s hot dog fad? We first saw specialty hot dogs being advertised by Sonic. They’re offering the New York Dog, the Chicago Dog, and now the Baja Dog. Then I spotted an article in the May edition of Reader’s Digest that featured (among others) the Sonoran Dog made in nearby Tucson, AZ. My suspicions that a hot dog craze was on the rise were confirmed on our flight home from Indiana. The in-flight magazine (yes, I read those magazines and love doing the crossword puzzles because I’m weird like that) also had an article about cities’ signature hot dogs, and I saw the Tucson Sonoran Dog mentioned again. We’re just going to have to taste that Sonoran Dog for ourselves one of these days!

Last Friday Stephen came home early from work and was ravenously hungry. With hot dogs on the brain, we decided to pop by Ivy League Dogs (a local Goodyear restaurant) for lunch. They have you grab a menu card, write your name at the top, and check off the items you’d like for your meal. You choose your hot dog, bun, toppings, sides, and dessert. Since we’re new to building specialty hot dogs we were really hoping for some suggestions. (What exactly IS a Chicago Dog? NY Dog? etc.) You’d think I’d know after those two magazine articles on the subject! I guess we’ll have to brush up on our dogs before our next visit. I opted for spicy brown mustard, shredded cheese, and a pickle for my hot dog. However, when it came, I wasn’t brave enough to actually put the pickle slice on my hot dog. Hence the need for someone to build my dog for me. We split sweet potato fries and finished off the meal with a free (because it was our first visit) deep fried Twinkie. A tasty meal made and served by a friendly staff. Ivy League Dogs is worth a return visit.

And, speaking of hot dogs–tonight will be our first attempt in what may become a quest to create the perfect Moody Dog.