Mary Giuliani’s Infamous Pigs in a Blanket

Pigs in a blanket? Really? I know that’s what you’re thinking. Do we really need a recipe for pigs in a blanket? Do we even want one?

Caterer Mary Giuliani thinks you do. And I have to admit, I kind of agree with her. I won’t lie–I was a little dubious when I found these among the knishes and fishes and egg creams and cakes in Eating Delancey, Aaron Rezny and Jordan Schaps’ love letter to Jewish food. But the more I thought about pigs in a blanket, the more nostalgic (and hungry) I got. Eating Delancey may have been a way for the authors and their subjects (many of them famous) to channel the foods of their childhoods. But it turns out that at least this recipe channeled mine.

When I was a kid, my parents’ dinner parties were cause for celebration among the underage set in our house. I don’t think I can even remember what my mother made for most of those dinners, but I do remember the appetizers. And there were always, always hot dogs. Pigs in a blanket, of course, but also a fondue pot filled with cocktail dogs swimming in a mustardy sauce. My siblings and I  always managed to sneak a taste or two (or six). Yay us.

Then I got old enough to actually go to dinner parties, and of course my palate changed, and I put away childish things–like pigs in a blanket.

But when I read that Mary Giuliani calls these her ‘happy food’ and swears that party guests always chase after the tray of pigs in a blanket, well, my mouth started watering. And I got a little (more) excited for the holiday party season. Because there will be pigs. And they’ll be in blankets. Joy to the world.

–Fran