Laurel Spahn writes: Our 17-yr-old once hit 9 hot-dog stands in 5 days in NYC when he was 9. He loves hot dogs. At marching-band-camp this past August, he had been a vegetarian for about a month. It was hot-dog-lunch day. We wondered what he would do. He went for the PB&J option. We peeled, shaped, and boiled carrots just like you said and ate them in solidarity with him on Labor Day. We thought they were pretty good, and better than the so-called not dogs they sell in grocery stores. Yuck. Thank you for this recipe. It's a keeper.