~ Homemade Bread and Butter Pickle Hot Dog Relish~

How 'bout them Yankees?  Even though my sandlot days of being the only girl (and a lefty batter) in a neighborhood of boys are a far and distant memory, I still chuckle that, when they were choosing sides way-back-when, I was always one of the first.  I couldn't throw or catch for crap, but it never seemed to matter.  I typically hit the ball head on, strong, and long, and, I ran fast.

I am typically not an avid watcher of America's favorite past-time (because college football is my gig this time each year), but, plenty of my family members are, and, it's pretty hard to ignore the chatter around the dinner table.  A lot of great baseball in general is being played this year.  While I'm by no means in a position to comment on any stats or any team, I can tell you: a hot dog with homemade B&B pickle relish atop it is a bona fide over-the-fence game-winning home run.    

So, in the event you're sitting on your grandmother's vintage bread and pickle recipe, and you want to make the pickles, but you wonder what you will do with all of them -- hot dog relish is the ticket to your tailgate.  It's not even a recipe.  Simply chop up those crunchy sweet and sour pickles, and, voila:  the best sweet pickle relish known to man- or woman-kind.  Take it from me, a gal who believes she was a hot dog in a past life.  Skip the store-bought stuff.  Hot diggity dog.

Full of mustard seed, onion & aromatic allspice & cloves:

Bread & butter pickles make the best quick-pickle relish ever:  

Homemade Bread and Butter Pickle Hot Dog Relish:  If it never occurred to you -- it's a yummy use for homemade or store-bought bread and butter pickles.  The Hebrew National all-beef hot dogs pictured in the above photos are served on potato rolls and topped with Texas-Style Chili Sauce, Gulden's brown mustard, diced-red onion & drained, diced bread & butter pickles.

Special Equipment List:  cutting board; chef's knife

Cook's Note:  Quick-pickling in small batches, instead of traditional water-bath canning a great way to make short work of making bread and butter pickles.  You can have the brine made and the cucumbers sliced and in the jars in less than an hour.  Once refrigerated, they're ready to eat, and, they will stay crunchy in your refrigerator for 7-10 days.  Click here to get my recipe for ~ Quick & Easy Bread & Butter Refrigerator Pickles.  Never miss the chance to enjoy a great hot dog. ~ Melanie Preschutti.

"We are all in this food world together."  ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2017)