Left to right: Joyce Brein, Carol Cieslik and Carol Solow enjoy lunch Chicago style.
The world famous Chicago Hot Dog
Return To Me movie poster
Bernadette Fideli
November traditionally is a foodie’s mecca. Gorgeous and colorful images of over-laden tables, brimming with elegant culinary delights, fill the pages of major publications. Food channels and grocery stores feature lavish displays of gourmet meals. Amid this background the Robson Red Hat Ranchers celebrated the month of November with a hot dog, and not just any hot dog. It was a Chicago Dog! Kris Tarczon, Carol Cieslik, Lynn Kosmak and Darla Holland treated their fellow sisters to a hometown feast, Chicago style. The afternoon began with genuine Chicago hot dogs from the Vienna Beef Company located in Chicago. These all-beef frankfurters were bought in Chicago and personally carried to Texas by Carol during a visit back home. The dog is topped with yellow mustard, chopped white onions, sweet pickle relish, dill pickle spear, tomato, pickled peppers and a dash of celery salt. No ketchup allowed. Chicago dogs are steamed or water-simmered. Vienna Beef frankfurters are the most common brand served, and they first sold at the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Potato salad, prepared by Kris from an old family recipe, accompanied the Chicago Dogs.
Just how famous is the Chicago Dog? The Chicago area boasts more hot dog restaurants than McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King restaurants combined.
Kolache and Dolly Parton Bars, along with Texas Sheet Cake, completed the luncheon fare. Kolache (plural) are Czech pastries that hold a dollop of fruit rimmed by a puffy dough pillow. Lynn made two versions: one with fruit and one with cheese. No one uses a recipe. They are made from a formula handed down from generation to generation in Czech families. Chicago is known as a city of neighborhoods, each with a distinctive ethnic flair reflected in stores and restaurants. Darla made the outrageously delicious Dolly Parton bars, better known as seven-layer bars. Perhaps a gastronomic salute to the many ethnic groups located in and around Chicago.
Well fed and deliciously satisfied, the ladies settled down to watch a movie filmed exclusively in Chicago. Return To Me was made in 1999 and released in 2000. It is a romantic comedy-drama with beautiful scenes of Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood. Periodically, Kris would point out certain landmarks. Geography and travel the Red Hat way made for a delightful afternoon of bonding and sisterhood.