(Veggie) Dog Days

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: A fantastic array of veggie dogs, buns, more toppings than we knew what to do with, homemade cumin-lime fries, and a huge, beautiful salad. No one makes veggie dogs like Colleen, who goes all out on condiments. Sliced red onions, green olives, ketchup, two kinds of mustard, Vegenaise, sauerkraut, Frankie's barbecue sauce, and chopped white onions were available to top our dogs. With fresh corn, sliced peppers, and fresh tomatoes in the salad, we certainly got our fair share of vegetables—including the Ronald Reagan kind.

The Goods: We had no shortage of goods today! It's Friday, it's gorgeously sunny, and we were joined for lunch by Bob and Sal of Book Publishing Company, who are in town for World Veg Festival Weekend. Don't forget to come by the VN booth at the festival this weekend and say hello!

Underdog(s)!

The Chef: Underdog

The Menu: A perfect picnic triptych of savory goodies. Veggie dogs—of the Polish, Smoked Apple Sage, Italian, and Mexican Chipotle varieties—smothered in relish, onions, ketchup, sauerkraut, and two kinds of mustard were served alongside tater tots and potato salad.

The Goods: We dined al fresco today, as we went on a little lunchtime adventure. To get the full details, make sure to check out our editorial assistant Sara's first Press Pass entry ever! In the meantime, go make yourself a nice big veggie dog and go nuts with condiments—it'll be just like you had lunch with us! If you happen to be in the SF Bay Area, come see Elizabeth on the Politics of Food panel at the BlogHer Food '09 conference tomorrow!

Hot (Not) Dogs

The Chef: Lisa

The Menu: A lightning-fast preparation of veggie dogs, toasted buns, and plenty of fixin's. Lisa busted out a lovely mustard-garlic aioli, then we topped our dogs with two flavors of Gold Mine Sauerkraut, and helped ourselves to various pickled goodies, including giardiniera, cured olives, and dilly beans from McSweet Pickled Gourmet. A light spinach salad tossed in a vinaigrette completed the plate, and we're pretty sure that there was enough vinegar in the meal to preserve us all for years to come.

The Goods: We spent the majority of this morning hashing out the 2009 editorial calendar, which can be quite the involved process. There are now so many good ideas on the table, and it will be exciting to get started putting together a whole year's worth of new, fantastic issues. All this planning, however, didn't leave much time for lunch prep, so we were happy to have some nearly ready-to-go options.