Hot Dogs and Macaroni Salad

This is a good recipe to make when you need to feed a crowd. I made this for the 4th and thought I would pass it on. Maybe you can use it for Labor Day!


For the macaroni salad, boil the pasta of your choice. I went the traditional route and used elbows. Add diced red onion and celery.

Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon.


Add about 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and 1/3 cup of sour cream. The amount depends on how much pasta you've made.


Add some salt, pepper, granulated garlic, chopped fresh parsley and celery salt. Add about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dijon mustard.


Mix it all together.


Sprinkle the top with celery salt and refrigerate.


This was the first time I made these so I followed the directions exactly. Next time there are a few things I would change. Buy some regular hot dog buns.


Spread them with mayonnaise.


Then spread them with whole grain mustard.


You can make trays and trays of these if you have a large crowd.


The recipe called for store bought chili. This was the first time I ever bought store bought chili and it is the last time I ever will. Even though I added some additional spices to it, it was pretty awful. Next time I would just make my own in advance.


The recipe also called for putting the relish on the bottom of the bun before adding the hot dogs. Next time I would either drain the relish first or add it to the top. I used dill relish and sweet relish and it made my buns soggy. Ewwww....soggy buns!


Jam the hot dogs together like this in a pan.


Spread on chili and sprinkle with diced onions.


Top them with shredded cheddar and cover the pan with tin foil. Bake them in a 250 degree oven for 45 minutes.


These disappear pretty fast so make sure to make enough.


Simple picnic/party food. This would be good for tailgating too. Football, Fall, cool weather....a girl can dream can't she? I don't know about the rest of you but this endless freakin' 98 degree weather with 90% humidity is not my idea of fun.


Kids love these.


Thank you for all the good wishes for Teddy. Taking her to the big teaching hospital was making me nervous and I have scheduled her for an appointment at our local veterinary hospital early tomorrow. Hopefully she will have the surgery done close to home. I'll keep you posted!