They say America’s favorite pastime is baseball and we can certainly see why. After all, they serve hot dogs there. Everybody (other than vegans who might also consider a vegan hot dog for that matter) loves hotdogs.

It’s the family fun food for adults and children alike. During the summer it is the most eaten food. Pan fried, boiled and, of course, barbequed, there are many ways to eat them and many more ways to dress them. Ketchup, mustard, relish, onions, salt, pepper and even bacon — with hotdogs the possibilities are endless, making them the perfect food for any and all summer cookouts.

This month, the hot dog is honored the whole month long across the U.S. during hot dog month.

A Hot Dog History

Everyone’s favorite mystery meat has an origin story and no it’s not from a dog’s tail. In reality, the name was thought up by a comic artist in 1901. After finding it difficult to spell ‘dachshund Sausage,’ he called them hot dogs instead, and the name stuck. 

The Family Favorite

The hot dog is loved by many, but many are not sure exactly what’s in a hot dog. In the past, it was scraped together meat tube and while that is still true to some degree, the family favorite is much healthier now.

There are many versions of the hot dog now with turkey, chicken, and kosher versions being the favorites. They are being made with leaner meats and by law are only allowed to contain 3% of what is called non-meat, which serves as fillers like milk or soy in for nutrition purposes.

The hot dogs are the most popular summer food and a favorite at almost every barbeque but the favorite time to have a dog besides at your local baseball game is over the Fourth of July holiday.

The ‘National Hot Dog and Sausage Council’ has done research that suggests that 155 million will be eaten during that holiday period alone.

They also found that, over the course of the summer, seven billion hot dogs will be devoured by Americans all across the country. That is a lot of hot dogs, so when planning your big summer BBQ event extravaganza, be sure to bring lots and lots to enjoy as it appears that eating hot dogs may be America’s true favorite pastime. As such, July has been designated as hot dog month.

When decorating for the event, be sure to brighten up the place with some fresh-cut flowers to add to the party décor and check out Allen’s Flowers and Plants for some of the best summer flower arrangements available in San Diego.