Bacon Cheese Dogs

With Independence Day Barbecues just a week away, I thought it was high time to pull this one out of the submission archives and get it up on the blog. Want to take your barbecue to the next level? Check this one out:

The Original Pin

http://www.savoryreviews.com/2009/08/18/cheese-stuffed-bacon-wrapped-hot-dogs/

That's a hot dog, with swiss cheese in the center, and thick sliced bacon wrapped around it. Ooh-de-lolly! The only way that could be more American was if you stuffed American cheese in the middle, but I personally love Swiss, so I'd leave it as is.

Jennifer said, "This weekend while camping, my mother was soooo excited to try 'this recipe from Pinterest.' My mother isn't always one for following the directions (or even reading them all the way), so we didn't have any instructions or photos to follow, just her memory of the pin. We first tried grilling them, but the drippings from the bacon caused the grill to flame up. So then we moved to a griddle. The end result wasn't pretty!"

The Pinstrosity

"Once I returned home from the camping trip, I looked up Mom's original pin and found a *few* minor details we failed to follow:"

• The original pinner cut a pocket for the cheese. Mom sliced the hot dog from end to end, so the cheese oozed out.
• Mom used approximately 3 times the amount of cheese as the original pinner. Maybe even 4...
• Our bacon did not entirely cover the hot dog, leaving gaps for the cheese to ooze out. We used 2 pieces, but needed at least 3 to cover our Costco dogs.
• We didn't have toothpicks to secure the ends of the bacon. We did find some skewers and used those once we realized the bacon was flopping all over the grill and not sticking to the hot dog.

"Despite our less than stellar results, the hot dogs were absolutely delicious. Next time we will actually follow (ahem, READ) the directions (or in this case LOOK at and follow the step-by-step photos)."

When we were kids my mom would cut a slit in the hot dogs, insert a small stick of cheddar cheese (or whatever cheese was on hand), and broil it until it was crispy and the cheese was gooey. That was a favorite treat. Adding bacon to the mix just sounds amazing. It's like the grown up version of a favorite childhood snack! I'm definitely giving this one a go!