Saturday, March 10, 2007

A Frog and Some Dogs

So how much yarn would you say goes into a halfway completed Jaywalker sock? Probably about this much.



Probably? More like definitely. Unfortunately the Jaywalker got thrown into the frog pond today. Here is a picture of it before the swim in all it's pink and stripey lovely Trekking glory



Sigh.... Now I understand what Sachi meant when she commented "Just remember that they don't stretch. At all." Up until this point it seemed like the sock would be fine. It slid over my foot just fine. Not really tight, but still not all loosey goosey like that first attempt. But today I knit the heel flap, which was seeming a little shallow. I was prepared to make it longer than in the pattern and decided to try the sock on to see how it would go. And it turns out it wouldn't go- over my ankle at all that is. Now I understand the part about the stretching. The leg fit over my foot just fine, and it probably would also fit around my leg just fine. What I really need is some stretch and leeway to get it over my heel. So I've already re-cast it. I'm keeping it on the size 1's because I think it shows the stitches better than the 2's. I'm just going up to the 84 stitch size. But if this doesn't work, then I'm afraid I don't know where we're going with this. They might turn out to be socks for someone else. We'll have to see.

So since the sock frogging incident left me a little, well... dejected. To cheer me up the husband was sweet and decided to take me out for a hot dog.



Last month the cover of New Jersey Monthly Magazine featured their article on cheap eats. Great places to eat for less than $15 bucks. Some of the places in there look fabulous, and this weekend we decided to try our first one Amazing Hot Dog in Verona, New Jersey. Which also got an excellent "4 grease stains" rating on the Holly Eats website Tracy shared with me awhile ago. A great site to look and and drool over. Let me tell you the hot dogs... well, they were absolutely amazing, just the fix for a frogged sock.



You can get a "Classic" hot dog which is a wonderful 1/4 pound start. But most of the dogs on their menu start with their "Amazing" dog which you may or may not be able to tell from the pictures, is one of the 1/4 pound dogs, wrapped in bacon and deep fried. That's right- I didn't say steamed, I didn't say blanched, no these babies are DEEP FRIED!!! (Disclaimer-Don't worry, I promise I don't eat like this every day, I have a lot of yarn in my stash and if I die too early it won't get knit after all.) My favorite that we had? The one called "My Schmero!" in the lower left hand corner, an Amazing Dog served on a bun spread with cream cheese and sprinkled with scallions. Maybe it sounds weird but it was so good!!!! (And you know I'm beginning to now consider how cream cheese really can complement a variety of foods...) Vinny had to have the one pictured at the top called "The Jersey Breakfast Dog." That one is served with a fried egg and cheese. Yeah. Also on there is the "Smokey Joe" served with barbecue sauce and baked beans of course. And then one traditional Amazing Dog with mustard and sauerkraut. MMM... Fries on the side, and oh the little fried things in the middle? Those are Egg Roll dogs- mini hot dogs wrapped in egg roll wrappers served with duck sauce. Delish!!!

The owner tried to talk us into trying their "Amazing Hot Dog Superhero Challenge." Eat 6 specialty dogs and get your name on their plaque. Apparently only one person has done it so far and it only took them 45 minutes. We knew, we could just tell by the pictures there was just no way. We were more than fine with what we had ordered. We got our dogs sat down to eat and other than just saying "MMM" a lot we were pretty quiet. After a few gluttinous minutes in Vinny was halfway through his first dog. He looked up and half spoke/half sighed "It's really good.... Really... But there's no way I could ever eat 6 of these f**king things..." And trust me, 6 normal hot dogs for Vinny, not such a challenge. But these Amazing Dogs? Well, you can only taking in so much Amazing in one sitting... Highly recommended.

8 comments:

Tracy said...

Oh Jana when I opened your page I literally gasped when I saw the sock slaughter. I am soooo sorry, I was just about to post on fiber flix too. Ah, those hot dogs do look like they could cheer a girl up though. Now I'm totally drooling :)

sunneshine said...

I am so sorry about your sock - heartbreaking!! Your jaywalk experience is exactly why I am so leary of socks... must give them another chance ;-)

The dogs however look great!! Not sure about deep fried hotdogs, but with your review, I would have to give them a try! I love that you eat like we do - sometimes really nice and sometimes a little divey, but the food is always great!

BEESTLYproducts said...

poor sock :-) we went to Moe's for dinner tonight and i always giggle at the pictures from the burrito eating contest.

lobstah said...

Aw, bummer about the socks. The hot dogs look really good (and I'm a vegetarian, ha ha).

Sachi said...

I'm so sorry you had to frog. :-(

Anonymous said...

Your poor Jaywalkers. Once you get the pattern just so, they will really fly though and it did look really good.

Those dogs have me drooling and cursing the crappy weiners in my freezer. I think I may try to find some great sausages and try that cream cheese and scallion one, that does sound interesting.

Sayward said...

I'm so distracted by the hotdog photos and sudden onset of hunger that the knitting carnage is becoming a distant memory.

I haven't tried the Jaywalkers yet. So sorry you had to frog them. I've been there, many times over...

Jodi said...

Oh no... blasted Jaywalkers. They were looking so great, too!