Canada's Top Dog grannie is about to get behind the wheel again.

Charlotte Jack, 73, won $25,000 in the Maple Leaf Foods Top Dog contest for the country's best hot dog recipe.

The Winnipeg grandmother said she plans to buy a car with the loot after picking up the top prize with her granddaughter Jamie last month in Toronto.

"Twenty-five thousand dollars for a hot dog. Who knew?"

Jack said she unleashed a recipe she's been using for decades courtesy of her mother-in-law: splitting a hot dog, adding mustard and potato, and baking the wiener with added cheese.

She credits the potatoes for helping to make her dog different. "I think that's part of the reason why I won. And another reason why I won is because the wiener is the focal point of the recipe, whereas with 99 out of 100 other recipes, it's the bun.

"I sent the recipe in in May and didn't hear anything and I thought, 'Oh, I guess I didn't win.' And then on the 8th of August I got a call."

Jack says she'll be splitting the prize with her family.

"We've had a rough couple of years," she said, noting that she lost her husband in June.

"I'm going to buy a car," said Jack. "Just a cheap car. I haven't driven for four years. I went on a trip the beginning of August and rented a car for the first time and realized how much I love driving. So I'm getting a car."

She's also planning to go on a cruise this fall with her daughter Heather. "That's something I always wanted to do with my husband and we never had the opportunity," she said.

"He would say, 'Go for it.' I think he's up there. I think he was up there pulling strings. With his mother sitting there saying, 'Go, Charlotte!'"