We have been having a meat fondue every New Years (or eve) for the last 40 years. It's so good no one ever wants to go out! We cut up beef tenderloin and fondue it in oil -- and yes, it's dangerous. Every meal starts with Dad's safety lecture... We also do breaded mushrooms in the same oil -- so good! We've tried various fondue pots, but what works best is actually a Fry Daddy, a little deep fat fryer. They're preset to maintain the right temperature, so we never have a problem with the oil cooling down too far. True, it's not very elegant, and there's that electrical cord hanging down. But the meat's just so darned good that nobody cares about the pot! Especially with bearnaise sauce as Yogacat mentioned. The bearnaise is the whole family's favorite, though I do seven different sauces for luck. I also love a cheese fondue with sourdough french bread. But 'rich' is right! Definitely, add wine or kirsch if it gets too thick, and again, proper temperature control is key. Probably won't do that this year 'cause there are just too many calories... Gotta save 'em for the beef and mushrooms. (Then again, with the recipe above, if I only use one pound of cheese, I couldn't gain more than a pound, right?) For chocolate fondue, add a bit of creme de menthe or peppermint schnapps to a dark chocolate base. To die for!

We love classic Detroit Coney Island hot dogs (and chili fries). We now live in CT, and every time we're back in SE MI we make at least one stop for Coney dogs!! Pkguy posted this on a coney thread a while back. I made this up recently, and it's a little extra work, my husband said it was it was worth it! Here's PK's note from the orginal thread: Ok I haven't been doing much cooking lately but it is summer and I was talking to the next door neighbors about the long gone drive-in restaurant that used to be in this neighborhood (now a video and Little Caesars). Anyways, they used to have the greatest foot longs with a super coney sauce. I googled some recipes online, starting with one for the old A&W sauce and it was close but not quite the same. I had to make some adjustments and finally I got it pretty close. I ran one next door to the neighbor this evening and had him do a taste test and he was amazed, said it tasted just like the foot longs from the drive in used to taste. So here's the recipe .. BTW I cooked it in the pressure cooker about 10 mins under pressure and you HAVE TO steam the hot dog buns!!!!!! PkguyÂs Coney Sauce Brown a pound of hamburger then into the pc add 1 6oz can of Hunts tomato paste 3/4 cup water 1/4 cup white vinegar 1 TBSP sugar 1.5 TBPS frenchs yellow mustard 1 TBSP minced DRY Onion flakes,, no not real onion LOL 1 tsp salt 1 tsp ground black pepper 1 tsp chili powder 1 tsp (heaping) ground Cumin 1.5 tsp celery seed 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce Pressure cook about 10 minutes After cooking whizz it with a stick blender or in a regular blender to a smoother consistency then STIR IN 4 TBSP green relish Sauce is supposed to be hot when you put it on the dog. (to be classic, according to my DH, serve with chopped onino and mustard)

I couldn't think of a favorite, until BLTs were mentioned. Oh, how I look forward to the time when we have "REAL" tomatoes. Around here it isn't until August -- then it's time for BLTs. I guess ice cream would also rank high on my extensive list!

Nancyinnc, my grandmother used to grind big pieces of bologna, the ones cut from a roll, and grind it, then mix it with pickles and mayo for sandwich spread. The bread or crackers were run through after the bologna to "clean" the meat grinder! Cassandra, we used to have a hot dog chain here called "Weiner King". (grin) Yeah, really. I liked their "special", which had chili, cheese, onions, mustard, coleslaw, bun was buttered and grilled and the dog was 1/4 pound. We also had a "Dog and Suds", which was a root beer stand, and now Burger King sells hot dogs here too. A&W here is still a drive in where they bring the tray to your car and set it on the window, and they have the best chili dogs, although the place across the street which used to be a Dairy Queen and now is independent, gives them a run for their money. The Sam's Club here serves Nathan's Famous and Elery and I stopped in Ohio on a trip just to have a dog at Tony Packo's because he was a fan of "Klinger" on "MASH". We also have a lot of small independent hot dog places, from "Coney" dogs to Greek style chili dogs. Annie