The quintessential example of my question is the famous issue of hotdogs coming ten to a pack and hot dog buns coming in packs of eight. Just keep buying them and it will all work out eventually.
Today I made pigs in a blanket. For our non-US friends, that means something different than what it does for you. See https://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/mini-crescent-dogs/e8abc84e-8a0e-42d6-ae7e-23b677a161ac . I used Hillshire Farms Li’l Smokies and Pillsbury croissant in a tube. As expected, I have a goodly amount of little sausages leftover. Had I used two tubes of croissant I’d have a lot of dough left over. Bah!
It is not my intent to have a rant over mismatches. What the heck do I do with a dozen and a half little sausages? In the next week.
What other semi-off-the shelf leaves extra and what do you do with the extra?
Breakfast pizza for those leftover links. Fried dough with leftover Pillsbury of any kind.
My ‘extra’ is the add ins I won’t use but can’t bring myself to throw out.
The flavor packet that comes with pkg’d ramen.
The dry taco seasoning and packet of salsa that comes with taco kits
The s&p packets that come with so many munchies
The duck sauce packets…
The lone fortune cookie
The plastic chopsticks
STRAWS!
They go in a catch all box…until I can find a good home. Last box went to the landscaper.
I find that the new 12 oz size package of HF lil smokies( as opposed to old 14 oz where I always had a bunch left) works out just about right to a tube of crescent rolls. But I cut the triangles crosswise into maybe 5 pieces. I notice the PB recipe calls for cutting the triangles into 3 strips lengthwise. That seems like an awful lot of dough per sausage.
But to answer your Q. Throw them in with some black eyed peas or lentils. Or add to sautéed onions and peppers with corn off the cob and a few seasonings of your choice.
“Just keep buying them and it will work out eventually.”
Well, for a not-really-a-hot dog household, that math isn’t in the cards.
The truly irksome mismatch was the seven hot dog package that evoked more than one person calling an assumed merchandising manager a gonif and worse (adjective condiments applied). No big deal though – just turn extra buns into bread component of meatball or meatloaf mix, even salad croutons. To its eventual credit for the “it will work out” viewpoint, the reviled hot dog brand seems to have switched to six-to-a package, making wiener/bun one-for-one equilibrium 24 instead of 56.
Hey, Husband eats one brand of hot dog (Hebrew Nat) and I eat Nathans. He buys extra long buns, I buy wide seeded bread and fold one slice over to make a “bun”. Two kind of mustard, two catsups, two kinds of pickle. Mayo unites us. Somehow, after a couple of weeks, heading back to the market, we are back at square one. And by then I’m out of jalapenos, which for me, make the dog.
Not only his and her catsups, but mine is loaded. Jalapeno catsup, French’s mustard, mayo, lettuce, sliced red onion, cilantro, jalapeno, dill pickles.
This is such a great “salad on a bun” that I have occasionally confounded our hotdog man by ordering mine without the dog!e
eta, our hot dog man at a weekly market is so familiar with our orders that he calls out, “One extra spicy for madam, and one not spicy for the wimp!” Then cackles over his humor as he goes back to his grill.
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
17
Bratwursts in bread rolls are always on sale at the Christmas market in our nearby city. Condiments provided - ketchup and a slightly sweetish mustard (which reminds me of American mustard, rather than British or German mustard). I always go with mustard as it best helps to counteract the bland flavour of the sausage (bland compared with a British sausage)
Positing that there are no right or wrong answers, the winner is in.
Credit to couple of the boys. @bbqboy suggested grape jelly. We don’t stock that, and if I bought it I’d be right back with extra ingredients. @Rooster Dan raised taco seasoning as an extra (N.B. Dan - I cook and can with chop sticks, so they aren’t extra grin). We don’t buy taco seasoning preferring to make our own. Still these posts got me thinking.
So I made up (literally: I made it up) a little sauce with honey, mustard, cumin, cayenne, paprika, and pepper. Sausage over low heat and added the sauce while I made scrambled eggs with onion, pepper, and cilantro. Came out nicely. Good enough that croissant dough and Lil’ Smokies are in our grocery shopping cart for the next round of curbside.
With all due respect to @pilgrim, no one over the age of eight can justify ketchup (however you choose to spell it) on hot dogs. When we get past CV-19 if you are near Annapolis you can visit and I will make you hot dogs and serve you ketchup with jalapenos. I reserve the right to tease you mercilessly.
Another upvote for Dan as I too have a collection of soy sauce, duck sauce, s&p, and assorted other odds and ends I can’t stand to throw away. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1Zsk0ggLt4 The plastic pains me but once I have them I can’t just throw them away.
I have renounced Little Smokies in favor of regular hot-dog size Smokies like Oscar-Meyer makes. For parties I cut them into thirds and heat them with barbecue sauce. BTW I trim off the round ends and eat those while cutting the rest. My friends seem to like them better and they’re easier to fish out of the crockpot. There are 8 smokies in a package, yielding 24 pieces, so just in case I wanted to make pigs in a blanket I would have just the right amount for 24 triangles out of one Pillsbury can.
