Oklahoma's finest

I have returned from my long roadtrip through the Sooner State, brought about by a pair of hospitalized great-grandmothers (both now doing well). So I will fill you in.

After my high-level security talks with Rabbi Jake and Bruce, I stopped by the house of the former Sister Bella to check on her progress. Just as I feared, it seems a "booster exorcism" is in order for our Chihuahua sister. But no blood was drawn, so we will label this a successful house-call. The next morning, we visited one of the great-grandmothers in the hospital and then drove up the turnpike to Tulsa to see the other. And it was there that I sampled a rare treat:

To those unfortunate souls who have never tasted a Coney I-Lander coney, a pilgrimage is in order. This fast-food Mecca is a Tulsa institution. Its undersized hot dogs boast an oversized flavor exceeding even that of enriched rawhide. Founded in 1926 in downtown Tulsa, the eatery has expanded somewhat over the years, with a handful of locations throughout the Tulsa area. Yet, tragically, its flavorful wieners have eluded the palates of many. While substandard fast-food chains such as McDonald's and Subway have proliferated across the globe, the religious experience of eating a cheese coney with no onions remains confined to northeastern Oklahoma.

Over the weekend, I paid my first visit in well over a year to this purveyor of heaven in a bun. It was just as I remembered: the soft, steamed bun; the perfectly melted cheese; the tiny yet intensely flavorful (and hopefully halaal) weenie. And that chili. Oh, the chili. It is like nothing else on Earth. Allah Himself just have lovingly ladled it onto the bun. If you ever find yourself within a hundred miles of Tulsa, do your taste buds a favor and take a coney detour.