HOLIDAY EATS IN SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN

I'm usually anti-travel, anti-holiday nonsense anytime in December, so when my boyfriend suggested I travel to Michigan to participate in the annual Fagan Family Christmas Celebration, I tried to come up with excuses.

It’s not that I don’t like his family, I really do, but I usually stay in San Francisco for the holidays, volunteering, baking cookies, enjoying a quiet city, and relatives by phone only.

When my excuses ran out and he bought the ticket for me, there was some consolation in knowing that I would be enjoying the infamous Michigan chili dog, also known as a Coney Island, and a variety of confusingly territorial names in other parts of the state and country. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_hot_dog

Now, my endorsement of this horribly-bad-for-you delicacy may confuse anyone who knows about my usually staunch adherence to an organic, grass-fed, free-range, preservative-free diet, but BEHOLD!
It's childlike Christmas joy on my face when greeted with the heaping plate of chili cheese fries, a usual accompaniment in the whole heartstopping experience.

Yeah, the chili sauce may look a little bit like diarrhea, but the taste is anything butt.
Ahem.
There are all types of rules and regulations applying to chili dog consumption when in Michigan, none of which I truly understand or care about, but the boyfriend likes his with ketchup. Look at that glorious plate of slop!

I prefer mine with the chili sauce slop, mustard and onions. Some oddballs even eat them a little bit naked with no onions at all! Cute, but can you even imagine?!

So it turns out the Fagan Family Christmas went all right, we made it back to San Francisco in one piece and I’ll be ringing in a New Year with the memories of those dogs in my heart and in my stomach. Burrrp.

Oh! A special shoutout to Hellenic Coney Island (aka Nick's) at Twelve Mile and Evergreen, if you happen to be in the area. Go Pistons!