I'm sorry.... a few will be OK.

While the wife's away, I get to eat food that otherwise I would not eat.

One of the ways I lost my weight was to stop eating all fast food.

I now try and eat healthy stuff, but as Julia Child said everything in moderation is ok........

I think she was saying that when she was putting in about a pound of butter into some recipe.

The Sonoma County Fair started this week and one of the items I have always enjoyed has been the Hot Dog on Stick.

Being in Mexico I haven't been able to fetch one of those puppies in a few years, so this was a perfect opportunity to check out the fair and to grab a dog or two.

The first thing I wondered is how much were they going to cost. The last time I had been at the fair, they were $1.75 and $2.00 dollars.

You paid a premium of a quarter if you bought one on the main walkway. If you went to one of the other walkways you would have the same item but a tad less.

Anyway, I read that senior day was Tuesday so that would save me 10 dollars, so with the parking and a few bites, I could get away for less than 20 bucks.

The cord dogs are now $ 5 dollars and 4 dollars respectively.
So in less than 10 years the prices have doubled.

I had one of the dogs, and about half way through I peeled off the corn coating and just ate the hot dog. The coating was actually thicker than the size of the meat.....
I guess that's one way to keep the profit margin up.

I came home disappointed and decided to make my own.

Here is an easy recipe and they taste good. I wish that Mexico would have decent sausages, but their idea of good hot dogs is pretty sad.

So here you go,

Stuff you will need.

• 1 cup Flour
• 2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp bacon drippings
  
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 lbs hot dogs ( buy the best you can get, usually I get either Nathans or Hebrew National
  
• 1/2 cup corn starch
• wooden sticks ( you can use chop sticks, or thick bbq wooden skewers
  

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a deep fryer to 365 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour , cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in melted bacon drippings. Make a well in the center, and pour in the egg, buttermilk and baking soda,mix until everything is smooth and well blended. ( kind of like making pasta)
   
3. To make things much easier pour the batter into a tall drinking glass. This will make it easier to dip the hot dogs.
4. Pat the room temperature hot dogs dry. Insert wooden sticks into the ends. Roll in cornstarch, tap off excess (helps the batter stick to the hot dog). Dip the hot dogs in the batter one at a time, shaking off the excess. Deep fry a few at a time in the hot oil until they as are brown as you like them (2-3 minutes) Drain on paper towel & serve. You can hold these in a 200 degree oven until you finish the whole batch.

If you have any batter left over, cut up some zucchini or carrots, so you will at least feel someone healthy eating fried food......