Make any party buffet a success! Hot dogs and hamburgers are super-easy to make, but easy doesn’t mean boring when you have a fridge stocked with condiments and a desire to make dinner special. Creating a hot dog and hamburger bar makes parties and dinner fun for kids and adults.

Will you be eating indoors or out? In the concrete-floored basement or white-carpeted living room? Can you set up a table for your hot dog and hamburger bar or will you use the kitchen counter? Answer these questions, and your hot dog and hamburger bar will fit your space and help you determine if you’ll need to be extra-watchful about drips and stains.

• If your guests — like most — are more worried about having fun than keeping everything neat and tidy, put a tarp or shower curtain down under the table. That will keep you from having to mop or clean the carpet after the final whistle.
• Thinking of having your hot dog and hamburger bar in the kitchen? Make sure your kids won’t have to walk down stairs with their hot dog and hamburger creations. If your entertainment room is in the basement, it might be best to set the hot dog stand up down there temporarily. Stairs can cause a messy disaster if someone trips and drops their food.
• If there are kids playing and the hot dog and hamburger bar is set up in a different room from where the adults are, make sure someone checks on them regularly — or you may have a food fight on your hands!

A hot dog and hamburger bar can be as imaginative as you are. Kids often enjoy things that might not be considered everyday toppings, and you can use this to your advantage when setting up your hot dog and hamburger bar.

• Mayonnaise
• Mustard
• Ketchup
• Sweet or pickle relish
• Barbecue sauce
• Hot sauce
• Sprinkles
• Frosting
• Ranch or other type of salad dressing
• Sour cream
• Macaroni and cheese
• Pickles
• Olives
• Onions
• Potato chips (crushed or whole)
• Peanut butter
• Bananas
• Chili
• Bacon bits
• Cheese (You can get really creative with cheese! Cut out shapes with a cookie cutter or even freehand to create fun shapes for burgers.)

While some of those might sound gross to you, check and see how your kids feel about them. Not sure if they’ll eat it? Try taking a poll or stock your hot dog bar with only a small amount to start, so there will be less waste if they don’t love it.

Even ketchup and mustard can be interesting if you serve them in a different way. Taking the ketchup and mustard out of the bottle and serving them in a bowl with a spoon can make it feel special and new.

Kid Containers:

• Do your little girls have a plastic tea set? Serve bananas or sprinkles from those cute little tea cups.
• Toy dumptrucks can be a great bun-holder! Just make sure you clean the nooks and crannies of the dumptruck well before putting food on there. You could also cover the back of the truck with plastic wrap to make sure it’s clean.
• The kids' picnic set probably has serving dishes as well as some fake fruit or veggies that can be used on the table as decoration.
• Little ones love to serve themselves. Give them a squirt bottle with ketchup and mustard and they'll be thrilled. Make sure to supervise so you don't have a squirt fight on your hands before they even get a chance to sit down and eat.

Adult Containers:

• Have fancy dishes? Serve some of the “adult” toppings (like hot sauce) in them so the table looks pretty but little hands won’t be tempted to grab and break nice things.
• Put condiments in 2- or even 3-cup measuring cups. Cut out and decorate a piece of paper with a team logo or your team colors — then wrap it around the measuring cup and use tape to keep it in place.
• Have some extra shot glasses? Use them as individual serving sizes. This way when someone chooses condiments they don't have to put them on the hot dog at the table. They can take the shot glasses they want and dress up the hot dog after they sit down.
• Margarita glasses, martini glasses or other fun-shaped glasses can be used for olives, onions or anything else that will fill them halfway or more. (If they aren’t filled halfway, there is a greater chance of them tipping over and breaking.)

Here are some more tips on how to make your hot dog and hamburger bar even more fun:

• Create fun hot dog curls. While your water is on to boil, cut a hot dog lengthwise (straight down the long way) then put the halves of the hot dogs flat-side down and slice them lengthwise again. You'll have four long, thin pieces of hot dog. Place these in boiling water and watch them puff and curl up. They're easy for little hands to hold and dip into ketchup without a lot of mess.
• Try using condiments in the customized colors. Ketchup and mustard are a simple solutions for red and yellow. But what if you want purple and white? Add a little red and blue food color to mayonnaise and you have the perfect match.
• Don’t use mayo? Mix food coloring with sour cream, ranch dip or blue cheese dressing.