Local restaurant El Guero Canelo (Guero is pronounced: weh doe) has been getting a lot of attention lately – due to the increasingly popular Sonoron hot dog.  Take a look at when it gets visited by Travel Channel’s Man v. Food in this video.

By the way when you watch that video, I love the shot of “The Old Pueblo, Tucson, AZ.”  It looks like we are just a collection of about fifty structures in the the middle of the desert.  Can anybody identify what they got a picture of?

Sonoran hot dog stands are often found here in Tucson, Phoenix, Nogales, Douglas, and Sierra Vista.  Residents of these cities don’t have to drive far to find a cart or restaurant serving up these dogs.  In Douglas, many city parks are regularly lined with hot dog trucks.  Here in Tucson, we could quite easily have over 250 hot dog stands serving Sonoran hot dogs.   These stands are also popping up outside of Arizona, from New York to San Francisco.  In comparison, they make chili dogs seem bland and boring.

These little babies are thought to date back to at least the 1960′s, but didn’t become more mainstream until the 1980′s.

The basic make-up of a Sonoran hot dog is a bacon-wrapped hot dog shoved into a soft Mexican roll topped with pinto beans, chopped tomatoes, onions, jalapeno sauce, cheese, mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard.  They usually come with a roasted chili on the side – sometimes even with roasted green onions.

There are many variations and these hot dogs continue to evolve.  It is rumored some Tucson vendors have even started topping theirs with crumbled potato chips.  In Mexico, the variations become more elaborate with the option of chorizo, sour cream or crema, avocados, pineapples and more.

Some stands here in town use regular hot dog buns.  However, many feel the roll is important for the true taste experience.  Usually it’s a Mexican bolillo roll (pronounced: bo lee yo roll), that is sometimes steamed to make it extra soft and fluffy or it’s toasted.  The roll is so soft and fluffy, sometimes they seem to go down like cotton candy.

Of course you don’t have to go to a hot dog stand, these dogs are really easy to make.  I once served them to a large crowd for my son’s birthday party at a park ramada.  We just grilled the bacon-wrapped dogs and had pre-chopped and prepared toppings ready to go.  It was cheap and easy.

Sonoran hot dog recipe

• Get a beef hot dog and wrap it like a mummy with bacon.  Mesquite bacon is good.
• Fry it on a griddle until the bacon gets crisp.  Some people like to fry the bacon a little first and then wrap it around the hot dog and then fry them both in the bacon grease.
• Take a hot dog bun or bolillo roll that has been slit to make a pocket in the middle.  If you want you can toast them a little or, in the case of the bolillo roll, steam it for a minute to make it soft.  Work with what you have on hand or what you feel like.
• Put mayo, mustard and ketchup on the bun and insert the bacon-wrapped dog.  If you want to squirt the mayo on top, like they do at the stands, mix it with a little lemon juice or water to thin it out.  Put it into a squeeze bottle or sandwich bag with a corner cut off and squeeze it on top when you are done, along with the mustard and ketchup.
• Add warm pinto beans, cheese (shredded Mexican cotijo cheese, cheddar, whatever), chopped tomatoes, chopped onions, sliced or blended jalapenos or some type of jalapeno/green chili salsa.
• “Just stick whatever you want on there, and whatever amount, to make it taste good.”  (You hear this talking to many Mexican cooks)

Roast a chili pepper to go on the side and have some cold coke ready (even better if in a glass bottle) for the complete experience.

If you don’t feel like cooking, take a trip to a Sonoran hot dog stand.  Yesterday my sister and I had lunch at El Guero Canelo on the southside on 12th avenue.  It was her first time there.  She had been fearful of trying them for some reason. One bite and she was hooked.  She was also amazed by the price.  She got a Sonoran hot dog, chips, salsa, bottled water, grilled onions and jalapenos, and a buffet of salsa and veggie condiments for around 4 bucks.  I got a Sonoran dog, a large quesadilla, a diet coke, a bottled water, onions, jalapenos, and the salsa/veggies for about 8 bucks.  The hot dogs were on special yesterday for under 2 bucks each.

Here are some pics.  Ordering can be confusing, but after you get the hang of it, it’s a piece of cake:

Sonoran hog dog from El Guero Canelo on 12th Avenue

Roasted green onions, chilis and other condiments

Ordering can be confusing. You order at one of these windows and get your drinks.....

You pick up cooked food items at this window - except for the hot dogs. I love the sign "Do not forget your hot dogs. We are not responsible anymore." haha

You get your hot dogs from the hot dog cart.

You stroll out to the condiment bar and get your veggies and salsas. The roasted onions and peppers are to the far right and covered. In the meantime listen for the order number to be called in both English and Spanish.

From what I’ve been told, this restaurant started as a simple hot dog stand and was added onto.  You are kind of sitting outside, kind of not.  You’ll have to go to know what I’m talking about.  I told my sister it wasn’t hard for me to imagine the place on the beach in Rocky Point.  I closed my eyes and imagined hearing the surf.  Then I gulped down my dog.

Did you grow up hearing Mexican dichos or sayings/proverbs?

Dicho in Spanish:

Ande yo caliente y riase la gente

Dicho in English:

As long as I am warm, let people laugh

I thought this was a good one for this morning (43 degrees at 10:46 a.m.).  I am totally prepared to live the entire year in shorts, flip-flops, and T-shirts.  I used to be successful at that until I got older and could feel the cold seeping into my aging bones.  Now cold weather throws me into a state of confusion, clothing-wise.

Earlier this morning I took my son to school.  It was much colder.  I was wearing brown doggers (cheap version of crocs) with white socks.  When I was young I swore I would NEVER wear socks with sandals.  Oh well.  Funny how that happens.

I threw on some jeans that were still in a suitcase from a Vegas trip months ago that had questionable cleanliness (the jeans, not the trip).  I topped that with two short-sleeved shirts never meant to be layered or worn in the winter – one a T-shirt and the other a gauzy summery shirt with beading on the V neckline.

I also wore a “jacket.”  I’m not sure if the “jacket” qualifies as such.  It’s more decorative than functional.  Something only sold in the summer to people who live in hot deserts for about $10.  Plus it still had some dog blood on the white fringe from when a dog claw got clipped too close this weekend and tons of dog hair all over it’s dark navy-blue fuzziness (from hugging the dog all night to make up for the claw).

That was my only choice since I pretty much own two jackets.  The decorative one and one suitable for running a dog sled race in Alaska that I bought 8 years ago when I was freezing my gluteus maximus off in NY City when the decorative one failed to protect me against a NY winter.  Let me tell you, exiting the airport there was quite a shocker for this native Tucsonan!  It’s hard to move my arms and steer the car in my second jacket, and it wasn’t THAT cold yet, so it wasn’t an option.

Because I was thrown for a loop by the cold weather, that meant no time for make-up and hair shoved into a very messy, awkward pony tail.  When I ran into Circle K, I looked down at my shoes and realized they were not only dirty and stained from gardening but they didn’t match either.  The white socks only made the fact that one shoe had circular holes and the other rectangular more obvious.  Oh well, I thought, at least I’m warm.  It could have been worse – I could have worn my black shiny dress shoes with thick white athletic socks.

When I arrived at the school, I saw most of the other parents were totally pulled together with cool-looking jackets, mittens, hats, winter shoes.  Some even had bags that matched their shoes or matching hat, scarf and mitten combos.  Everything looked shiny and new.  No doubt many of them come from far off lands where snow is common this time of year and they have acquired the skills of maintaining winter and summer wardrobes and switching out clothes at the appropriate times.

For me putting winter clothes in storage means folding a couple sweaters and putting them on a high closet shelf.  But then when winter rolls around, they have a layer of very fine dust and moth holes (I have a swamp cooler and a poorly sealed house), and  I don’t even want to touch them.  I probably have sweaters that have sat up there for over 15 years.  So then I have to resort to my summer gear until I get into the swing of things (don’t worry, I usually hit my stride by spring).  Yes, I’ll incorporate plastic bags into my storage routine at the end of the season – just like I said I would do last year.

At the school I thought, oh screw it, let them laugh as I trudged my son to the gate (don’t worry he had a new jacket and matching hat and mittens – purchased last night).  I’m warm and that’s all that matters.  So right now when I sat down and saw this dicho in my dicho files, I thought it was perfect for today.  “I’m warm, go ahead and laugh.”

It brings back memories of my grandma wearing her dark dress sandals with white athletic socks and either a mumu-type dress or a bright polyester outfit with a big lumpy 70′s sweater thrown over it.  When I would laugh at her, she didn’t care and would say, “Ay yay yay, que Betty Jo” which pretty much means “Oh my gosh, that Betty Jo.”

Of course this dicho applies to much more than just the literal meaning and can be used in many situations.  I’m sure you get the drift if you think about it.

Enjoy.  I’m off to hunt down the matching shoe mates, scrub them down and wash my jacket and jeans in time for pick-up.  I may be ghetto and nerdly but at least it can be relatively clean ghetto nerd style. 

See a list of all my dicho posts here.

Do you have dichos to share?  If so, email them to comments@bjaysplace.com.

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About Bjay

The global Freecycle phenomenon was born and raised in Tucson, and it’s founder, Deron Beal, is featured in the current issue of Time Magazine. Check it out here.

Started in 2003, they currently have 4,854 groups with 6,737,000 members across the globe.  Groups can be found from Andorra to Zambia.

If you have been living in a cave and are not aware of what the Freecycle craze is.  Their site (freecycle.org)  says, “The Freecycle Network™ is made up of many individual groups across the globe. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns…When you want to find a new home for something — whether it’s a chair, a fax machine, piano, or an old door — you simply send an e-mail offering it to members of the local Freecycle group. Or, maybe you’re looking to acquire something yourself. Simply respond to a member’s offer, and you just might get it.”

When I first heard of the Freecycle group here in Tucson years ago, I didn’t quite understand it.  To test it out, I posted an offer of 50 empty used CD cases.  Within minutes I was inundated with takers.  A couple years later, my sister was living out in the boonies and would be trapped by monsoon floods.  At that time, you could post “wanted” items (they have since changed the rules).  I posted her problem and quickly was offered an old Pinto that had been converted into a type of swamp vehicle.  We didn’t take it (she moved).

According to the article, the site helps to reuse 700 tons of material a day.  The Freecycle site claims they have kept material out of landfills equal to “five times the height of Mt. Everest in the past year alone, when stacked in garbage trucks!”  That’s no small potatoes.

Are you a Freecycle enthusiast?