The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

Here are a couple of recipes to make your summer picnics even better. The first puts a hot dog into a whole other world of delicious!

All you need is a charcoal grill, your favorite hot dog or sausage, strips of your favorite cheese and two slices of bacon per an average size hotdog.

First split the hot dog open and stuff a strip of cheese inside. Then take your two slices of bacon and wrap them tightly around the hot dog so that when the cheese melts it does not run out. Toothpicks work well for the job of holding the bacon on the dog but they tend to burn so be careful and get them all out before serving them. Another method is to keep the wrapped dogs in the refrigerator for thirty minutes so the bacon can attach itself to the hotdog.

Cook the dogs over a mild flame about five minutes a side until the bacon is suitably charred. Then get your favorite hot dog bun, get it buttered and put your favorite hot dog mustard on it and be prepared to eat a hot dog from heaven!

To go on a picnic in the summer, maybe the best salads to take with you are not those made from a mayonnaise base. I make a spaghetti salad that is very good and keeps forever! What you will need is

A pound of spaghetti, broken into pieces, cooked, drained and cooled off.

A pound of good pepperoni sliced in half or in fourths if the pieces are large.

A bunch on onions diced to about half inch slices

A green pepper or red or yellow diced

A cup of sliced salad olives

A bottle of Italian dressing

Salt and pepper

Sugar to taste

Johnny’s Salad Elegance

Mix everything together and anything else that sounds good like maybe some good Italian cheese. Put enough sugar in so that the taste is a tad sweet and enough Johnny’s in to give the mess a distinctive taste.

After all that is mixed up. Add the cooled spaghetti and mix all very well. Refrigerate several hours or overnight so that everything sort of mingles together.

It is fun to serve some Johnny’s at the table to sprinkle over individual portions.

Note: if a little spice is needed, add a couple of diced hot peppers to the salad. Remember with hot peppers, a little goes a long way.

Bon Appétit!