Pass the Skewer and Dangle the Dog: A Lesson in Fire Pit Fun and Fencing Wisdom
Jerry and Ramona invited me over to enjoy their fire pit this summer. They like to roast marshmallows for s’mores, but since I don’t eat sugar, I suggested we roast hotdogs instead. Ramona was thrilled.
I cooked up some fabulous “hotdog chili” (as we call it in the South), made coleslaw, bought my favorite hotdogs and buns, and headed over for an evening of outdoor roasting. Their friend Bill came too. The guys got a nice fire blazing, and Ramona and I joined them with a tray of dogs to roast.
Ramona ran back into the kitchen to grab the skewers. When she reappeared, I burst out laughing.
The Skewer Dilemma
“Ramona, those are your skewers?” I exclaimed, staring at the tiny 10-inch metal skewers. “Is this what you normally use?”
“We’ve never roasted hotdogs,” she replied.
“What? I thought you’d been roasting all summer!”
“Only marshmallows,” she sighed.
“How will we keep from burning our hands with such short skewers without handles? Oh, my word,” I declared.
Jerry and Bill were laughing, but Ramona didn’t quite get the dilemma. Jerry tried to explain, but it didn’t sink in at first.
Creative Solutions
Always wanting to make the best of a situation, I speared a hotdog and tried to hold it over the hot coals. I couldn’t get it close enough to cook. Jerry excused himself to find an alternative.
Meanwhile, I looked over and saw Bill dangling his hotdog vertically over the coals. I followed suit. Ramona returned, and now she began laughing.
Jerry, a fine woodworker, rejoined us with narrow pieces of wood about 20 inches long. His idea was to thread the wood through the eye of the skewer to lengthen it. Bill and Jerry managed to do it, but every time I tried, the skewer with the hotdog rotated upside down. I was laughing so hard I could barely function. Ultimately, I dangled my hotdog vertically and got a bit of a char on it.
We decided to head indoors to eat.
Chili Slaw Dogs and Nekkid Dogs
“Ramona, are you having a chili slaw dawg or a nekkid dawg?” I asked with a smirk.
“What in the world are you talking about?” she inquired.
In the little town of Lincolnton, North Carolina, there’s a famous café on the square across from the Lincoln County Courthouse called City Lunch. They serve good ole country cookin’, including hotdogs. I’ve been told they sometimes sell upwards of 10,000 hotdogs in a day when supplying a fair or rally. When you order your hotdog, it comes with mustard, onions, chili, and slaw. If you want none of that, you order a naked (nekkid) dog.
It’s a family tradition to order these chili slaw dogs whenever I’m in town. They only take cash, and they don’t have an ATM. A reputable source told me that the late owner, Lynette Greer, took the cash home each night. By her death, she had a million dollars in cash in “safe” keeping. Urban legend? I don’t know.
I hope she had a tall security fence, a burglar system, and a fireproof safe for all her money! Though she dressed simply and didn’t wear makeup, she was a smart, savvy woman and always had a smile for you. She made a fortune selling her hotdogs—the diner still serves up an average of 700 a day, and they fry chicken the old-fashioned way in a cast iron skillet every Thursday.
What Do You Need to Protect?
What do you need to protect from the outside world? Hopefully, you aren’t keeping a million dollars of cash in your house! However, I hope you have a million dollars if that’s your dream.
Fences will keep your children and your dogs in and keep the deer and foxes out.
Call Terry today! T2C – She’s waiting to hear from you!
All my best regards,
Debbie Page
CEO, Louis E. Page Inc. – Woman-owned business and family-owned since 1893..
