Hot Day, Hot Dog! - The Hot Dog House - Monroe, Michigan (CLOSED!!)

Today has been the hottest day of the year in Michigan. 92 and humid. Of course the air conditioner in our 1 year old truck decides to quit working. My wife drives to Monroe, Michigan to take our truck to the dealer. Along the way, she passes a new place called The Hot Dog House. She wants us to to try it out on the return trip.
Hot Dogs....It seems you can get them everywhere these days. Gas stations, cafe's, festivals, fairs and even rummage sales sell them. Everybody thinks they can do a hot dog. It is rare though, to find a place that can do a hot dog the right way. The Hot Dog House located at 2020 S Custer (M50) in Monroe Michigan is not only a place that does everything right, they make it fun and interesting. From the toasted bun, to the Koegel dog itself, everything is right and tasty.
When you walk in, the big selection of dogs are located on the wall to the side of the counter.There is plenty of time to read the selections away from the counter. You can choose from dogs such as the Big Mack dog; which has 3 cheese grown up macaroni and cheese; the Duke that is covered with baked beans sauteed onions and bacon bits; a Guard Dog with sauerkraut, shredded Swiss cheese and thousand island dressing, a Bulldog which is modeled after a Chicago style hot dog with mustard, sweet relish, chopped onion , pickle spear and they even added the celery salt! There are many more dogs to choose from and they even have a kids dog selection. We ordered 4 different dogs, and loved them all. We especially liked the Duke and Guard Dog. They also offer fresh hand-cut fries, onion rings and deep fried mushrooms. Dunking dips are also available. These also come in many varieties such as Ranch, Parmesan Peppercorn, Honey Mustard, Spicy Mayo, and Honey Mustard.
We ordered the dogs to go, and were happily surprised that each container was labeled very clearly with a printed label. Try getting that kind of service and hot dog from the gas station!
The Hot Dog House is open from 10:30 A.M. - 7:30P.M. Monday - Saturday. They take phone orders for Business Lunch Delivery from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM Monday - Friday. Phone them at 734-457-BARK (2275).

Charmed By the Charm City - Broadway Diner,Baltimore, Md.

It shouldn't be a surprise to anybody that follows this blog, that we are big Food Network fans.
After hanging around Pittsburgh for an afternoon, we went to our motel room and decided what to do next. Being a little crazy, we decided to
travel to Baltimore Md. to visit some other restaurants. Once again we decided to check out places we viewed on Diners, Drive Inns, and Dives. I don't know what it is, but Guy seems to pick out the places that we seem to like. While we were there , we thought we would check out the place Ace of Cakes is filmed at Charm City Cakes. We first made a stop at the Broadway Diner. Located at 6501 Eastern Ave,in Baltimore, the place looks like a huge diner car. As we entered, staring us in the face, was a huge desert case featuring cakes, pies, and many other sweet, delicious things too numerous to mention. I was glaring into the case when our hostess came to seat us. In my opinion, this happened way too fast. I could have looked at the case another 10 minutes or so, but I guess they get tired of wiping the drool off the thing.
Rebbel asked the waiter what was the best thing on the menu. His answer was everything is good. Then he told us that Guy had the goulash when he was there. I had to try it, and Rebbel decided to have the classic diner fare and went with meatloaf. The goulash was fantastic. I have never had goulash with roast beef. I am used to hamburger. The roast beef was extremely tender. The sauce had just a hint of tomato flavor. Rebbel's meatloaf was good too. I really think the waiter was right about the menu. We took desert to go, and enjoyed it back at the motel room. I had chocolate cake and Rebbel had a key lime cheesecake. Not the whole thing, just a slice. Both were good, although Rebbel liked the cheesecake better. More chocolate cke for me! We found Charm City Cakes. For some reason, they had
the windows shaded, the doors locked, and the security cameras focused. Must have heard we were coming! I was really impressed by Baltimore. It looked like an interesting city. You might say, we were charmed by the Charm City. You can read check out the Broadway Diner online by clicking on the title. Charm City Cakes is located at 2936 Remington Ave, Baltimore, Md. They are open by appointment only. You can find them at http://www.charmcitycakes.com/