It's National Hot Dog Day!

You can celebrate with a ballpark dog (The enormity above is what they serve at Texas Rangers games), a chili dog, or one topped with kraut, but, for my money, ain't nothing better than a good old-fashioned Chicago dog.  Here's how to construct yours.

The Chicago Hot Dog
This makes one...multiply to your heart's content.

Brush the outside of a hot dog bun with a bit of melted unsalted butter. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake split sides down at 350°about 5 minutes until warm.

Warm a hot dog (all-beef please) in boiling water for 5 minutes and place in your bun.

Place a dill pickle spear on one side of the hot dog and two tomato wedges on the other.

Zig-zag with yellow mustard and top with a dollop of sweet pickle relish.

Sprinkle a little chopped onion on top.

Final touch? Two, actually. A sport pepper. (A peperoncino makes a good substitute. And then a generous sprinkling of celery salt. (NO. You may not omit the celery salt.)