Cheese Steak Connoisseurs, part 7

Bet you thought you'd seen the last of these!!! Well, I surprised even myself the other day when I discovered a little neighborhood steak joint while running errands. I convinced Jonathan to go connoisseur-ing with me tonight as kind of a gag but also for fun.

Location: Straight From Philly SteakOut, Las Vegas, NV

The place had all sorts of random Philly memorabilia that would have been lost on just about anyone not from Philly. They had Phillies, Flyers, and Eagles posters and jersies, Rocky Balboa stuff, pictures of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, the Constitution and Ben Franklin, etc. Loved the ambiance!! It felt just like "home"-- like we could have been sitting right in our own Chubby's down on Henry Avenue.

Here's proof you can get a "real" cheese steak when not in the city of Brotherly Love! Apparently the owner is from Philly as well as the 2 workers we spoke to-- so they even gave us free drinks for being from Philly ourselves.

Cons: The meat was overcooked and dried out (it was the pre-frozen block kind). They didn't have whiz-- hello! just cheddar and provolone.

Pros: The bread was authentic!! I called it when I said to Jon, "I think this is Amoroso's (those of you from Philly know this bakery)," so we asked, and they DO have it shipped in specially!! Good for them. It isn't a steak without the right bread. The onions were really good.

After the first bite I admittedly did say, "This tastes like Philly!" It was weird and kind of homesick-making at the same time. Was it the best cheese steak I ever had?? Definitely not. Is it a poor man's substitute for the real deal?? Yup. But I guess it will have to do!!

A Mormon Halloween

**SIDENOTE: I think I had a breakthrough. I figured out why instead of basking in this glorious record heat (it was 86 degrees today) I'm cursing it. I am so used to fall, and colder, crisper weather by this time that it feels like I'm in this insane time warp where no time has passed. How can it POSSIBLY be November if it feels like 90 degrees outside and I'm still in shorts and flip flops?!? My mind can't comprehend it!! I feel stuck in July-- particularly when I'm wanting this year to go by fast for Jon's sake, and it's like no time has passed since the day we got here because the weather has remained. the. exact. same. Picture the movie "Groundhog's Day." There's been no indication that Yes! we've made it through 4 months! Yes! The changing of seasons has indeed occurred! Yes! Christmas is around the corner! I just don't believe it....**

Anyway, we had a fun Halloween weekend, of which I've already posted a part (see post previous). But wait! There's more!

On Friday afternoon (Jon had the day off due to "Nevada Day"-- I *heart* made-up government holidays!!) we checked out Valley of Fire which is AMAZING, but unfortunately I forgot my camera. I could just kill myself! Moving on... That still wasn't enough mountaineering for Jon, so he elected to hike a different trail at Mt. Charleston on Saturday. I wasn't about to get left behind all day again so I proposed the wives meet the hikers (Jon and Paisley's dad) up there for a fall picnic when they got done. Some fall picnic!! Within a 45 min. driving distance apparently you can traverse 3 seasons. I told you this place is a time warp. We went from sunny 75 degree Las Vegas to snowy, FREEZING, 40 degree windy mountain top. Not such a fun picnic...


Brrrrr!! They started at 6 a.m. and got snowed on, hailed on, and then rained on. Awesome. All while it was nice and sunny here in the valley. I love Mt. Doom, er, I mean Mt. Charleston!

Sunday I was the Scrooge of the neighborhood and wouldn't let my kids go trick or treating, so we carved pumpkins instead. They didn't seem to miss out, and Lucy LOVED answering the door for trick or treaters!! Is that a double standard?


We also watched one of our favorite Halloween movies, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and gorged on Halloween candy. Par-tay!!

The finished product. This was mine. A very simple ghost face. Good right?

Jon did the Belle silhouette for Lucy. It was crazy-detailed with the strands of hair and everything, and I just happened to bust our only little pumpkin saw while I was rounding the corner on my ghost, so he was seriously knife-impaired. The picture doesn't do it justice.

Half-naked children (Lucy minus her shirt and Zachy minus his pants) waiting for trick-or-treaters. (Almost all of which were skanky pre-teen girls, so I'm rethinking my purchase of good chocolate, and buying Jolly Ranchers next year instead.)

Doing a happy sugar-induced jig! Please take note of the heavy chocolate drool all down his front. That's my boy!!