Thursday, February 25, 2010

Wonder and Awe: Flying Franks










The picture shows Flying Franks. In the Mennonite Community Cookbook, they are featured in a recipe called Frankfurter Quails. I wasn't really connecting with the bird reference so I renamed them something that seemed more fitting. At any rate, in the picture that is cheese and bacon you see stuffed in and wrapped around those bun length franks. After a stint under the broiler, I stuffed them, redemptively, into a whole wheat bun. Could this be anything but fun?

I was drawn to these because I do remember my mom making them on occasion and I remember getting very excited when she did. There was something about hot dogs for supper that made me feel lighter. Casseroles are serious, a pot roast is downright grave... but hot dogs? There must be a party brewin'. At least to my young mind it was that way.

I have been nostalgic lately about the youthful sense of wonder. I realize I miss one of the really great things about parenting young children and that is the privilege of reliving the fun of simple things with them: stepping in pudddles, seeing a butterfly emerge from a cocoon, licking ice cream cones, eating hot dogs around a campfire. I have tried to keep my sense of wonder and I am thrilled that my last name is Awe now. It was an easy name to claim. I believe wonder and awe keep us grateful, hopeful, and easier to be around.

As I eat my flying frank, I wonder at the marvel of fun and joy and adventure.
Here is how you make them... I did it in twelves, pick any number that suits your fancy or your family.

12 bun length franks
12 slices of bacon
12 slices of sharp cheddar cheese
buns

Cut a slit down the length of the frankfurters. Stuff the cheese slice inside them. Wrap them with the bacon (I precooked the bacon for 1 minute first) and then secure the bacon with toothpicks. Broil them for 5-6 minutes. Insert into whole wheat buns and marvel at the fun.
This recipe adapted from Frankfurter Quails in the Mennonite Community Cookbook.

Wishing you a child's sense of wonder and awe,
Ellen

2 comments:

  1. This is wonderful, and inspiring. Perhaps I will pull out my own grandmother's cookbook and see where it takes me. Keep up the great work, Ellen!

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  2. I remember those delectable treats - it did feel a bit like a party, or an inside picnic. Thanks for the words of wisdom, too.

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