A while back, I was going through my repro edition of Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Boys and Girls to find a recipe and stumbled on the following:

Which is basically a baked macaroni with sliced hot dog arranged all over the top before baking. Since I happened to be making baked macaroni and cheese that night (different recipe though), and we happened to have a single leftover hot dog, I decided to give it a try:

My photo's not as pretty as theirs, between the lack of wicker and kitschy pot-holders, and the glaring flourescent tube over my stove. In person it looked pretty much like the original. And as far as taste goes -- I was actually surprised to find that it was pretty good. I kind of thought we'd be picking those polka dots off. Still, I have my doubts that I'll be going out of my way to make it again. But you never know...it is polka dots, after all!