How To Eat A Cheese Steak Sandwich by Oliepants

A road trip from San Francisco to San Diego would be nothing without stopping at one of the most iconic and scenic locations along Highway 1 – Big Sur.  No word would better describe Big Sur other than ‘picturesque’.

And it’s like this all along the way.  Talk about beautiful.  Binks and I got out numerous times to take pictures.

There are a couple of different things we did not know about the Big Sur areas.

1.  Restaurants are few along the coast.  

Luckily we stopped (Binks insisted without Yelp help) at Ripplewood Resort.

A quaint place for a quick lunch.

I ordered the cheese steak sandwich.  There goes any healthy eating out the window.  When on vacation, you can just about guarantee that if a dish comes with fries, I will order it.

Fact: I’m addicted to french fries.

I pretty much got fries with a side of sandwich – just the way I like it.

Binks got the fries also, with a side of ‘kobe’ burger.

Before I tell you my new favorite find, I want to tell you another story.

When I was in college and gaining the Freshman 50, I was obsessed with ranch.  I really would just use it as a condiment for everything – fries, sandwiches, chicken nuggets, veggies.  You name it, I could dunk it in ranch.

Now, I’ve given up those days and changed my routine a bit.

But, some things will never change.  Like this:

There is no better way to eat a cheese steak sandwich than my way.  I’m sure of it.  It requires (1) ranch and (2) Tabasco sauce.  

First, the ranch.  You can’t pick up any old bottle of ranch (you could, but it wouldn’t be exactly the same).  You gotta pick up your favorite ranch – the creamy, drippy, buttermilk ranch.  You just gotta.

Second, the Tabasco.  It has to be the red Tabasco – the Original.

Now, the process.  There are two ways you can do this.  First, you dunk your bite of cheese steak into the ranch, then, you lift it and add Tabasco to the dunked area.  Then, take a bite.

The other way is to mix the ranch and the Tabasco together so you can save your self some time and judging eyes by other patrons or spouses.

Either way, it’s delicious.  I’m drooling as I type.  Judge me.  But, then join me.  You won’t look back.

Now, Ripplewood Resort had no idea I was coming.  I don’t think anything would have been different if they did – but moving on…

The ranch wasn’t runny.  It was thick.  It will do.

The Tabasco was not Tabasco.  It was better.

Meet my new favorite find:

I had no expectations as I was looking forward to Tabasco.  This was OFF THE CHIZZAIN!!  I could clearly taste the freshness.  The garlic and pepper really stood out.  Perfection in a bottle.  And if you know me, you will know that I can go ape shit for hot sauce.

Mind you, I’m not from California and I have never tried this.  For you California residents, is this normal in your neck of the woods?  This hot sauce might be reason enough for me to move there.

Binks was in love too.

He ended up using it on his burger.

I became my college-self.  Dunking bread, beef, fry and every vegetable into the pepper sauce.  Except this time, I could have cared less about the ranch.  Other patrons, namely the one guy sitting to my right, were watching.  I stopped out of embarrassment.  But not without putting one last fry into my mouth.

I looked up the Pepper Plant upon arriving to Texas and I think I’m going to order a few bottles (i.e. Original and Habanero Hot).

Are you a fan of ranch?  What do you use it on?  Is it a guilty pleasure?  Are you willing to try my cheesecake routine?  

Two Years

Binks and I have been married for 2 years.  Our anniversary was a couple of days ago.  The San Fran to San Diego road trip was in celebration for our anniversary.  But, what did we do the day of?

You would think (on a work day), we would go to a nice dinner here in Dallas – a city known for and full of beautiful and lovely restaurants.  But, where did we go on the day of?

To my friend Wendy’s house.  Have you met her?

{Mine}

No, I just don’t crave fast food to where it’s considered my special meals.

{His}

‘Tis a story similar to this.

When we got married, we had an outside caterer – Indian food, of course.  The plan was that the hotel and/or caterer were to save two plates of food for us to enjoy once the wedding was done and we went back to our room.

As expected, no one remembered, and we had nothing to eat.  You would think that one would not think about food on the wedding night after such a fabulous party.  After not eating for 8 hours and lots of drinking until 1 a.m., eating was absolutely the first thing on my mind.

We drove around for some special late night eats but only ran across a Wendy’s.  Hungry can’t be picky.  And really, I’m not a food snob.  I ate Wendy’s at least once a week when I was in college because it was conveniently placed in the student union.

We drove to the drive-thru window.  Me, being the ecstatic new-bride I was, was yelling to the Wendy’s employee, “I just got married and this is our wedding meal!”  It wasn’t my classiest bride moment.  Needless to say the employee just looked at me like I was nuts.  I don’t blame her.  I had on a sari (not a dress) and of course, the obvious – I was screaming.

Binks and I ordered, took the food to our room and ate on our hotel room balcony overlooking the Las Colinas lake.  We had chocolate covered strawberries for dessert – courtesy of the hotel.

It was a beautiful night.

And our anniversary lunch was eaten at work, but was spent talking about our past two years and the three years before that.  Some good.  Some bad.  All worth it.

 Have you been to Wendy’s house?  What are your anniversary or special occasion traditions with your loved one(s)?  

Less is More

Obviously, I love bread.  I bake it and have eaten more than my fair share.  But, nothing – and I mean nothing, makes bread so satisfying as using it for a sandwich.  Did I mention I’m a fan of sandwiches?

My favorite sandwich breads are sourdough, rye, potato (being one of my absolute favorites), and wheat.  When the Atkins fad came, I saw a proliferation of wraps to replace breads.  I tried to jump on the wrap wagon, but I missed the bus.  Something about it doesn’t cut it for me.  I missed the soft and pillowy texture of bread.  Moreover, wraps necessarily are not more healthy than bread.  (Check your labels!)

Then, I noticed these little suckers popping up everywhere:

Seemingly harmless. Surprisingly DELICIOUS.  Surprisingly because I was expecting to hate it.  Delicious because it really is soft and filling (5 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein).

It went perfectly with my PB&J breakfast.

It even withstood the hard-to-spread PB that Binks likes to use.

Lunch was a Boca burger, light on the sides (unlike here) – just spinach, cheese, mustard and some dollops of hot sauce – I’ve been in a mood.

This bread really proves that you do not need a thick piece of bread to make your sandwich satisfying.  Nor do you need a thin wrap to make the sandwich any more healthy.

*Just like the milk, my reviews are my own.  Nature’s Own has no idea who I am.  I’m just happy with the product and wanted to share!

Are you a sandwich fan?  What’s your favorite sandwich?  Are you a bread fiend?  Have you tried sandwich thins?  Do you like it?