Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – A City on the Rebound

On April 2, 2018April 2, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Pennsylvania7 Comments

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is one of those down-to-earth cities where the people work hard, play hard, and always have a kind word to say. They take pride in their sports teams and their city, even during times when the economy wasn’t as strong. Fortunately, things are on the rise at the moment and jobs are plentiful and the city is experiencing a revival. As one of our cab drivers told us, depending upon what you do, you can come to Pittsburgh now and probably find not one job, but three. As friendly and welcoming as the people were that we met, we are definitely happy to see things improving for them.

One thing that you notice immediately when you visit Pittsburgh is that it is an unpretentious city. Most buildings are unassuming and have the feel of the turn of the century, with the exception of one glass skyscraper which is shaped like a castle and looks very out of place compared to the rest of the city. The streets are very walkable and there are a variety of wonderful restaurants, especially in the Strip, which is on Penn Street in downtown Pittsburgh.

With the three rivers converging in Pittsburgh, the Ohio, Monongahela, and Allegheny Rivers, yellow bridges can be found at almost every turn. It is certainly worth walking to Point State Park and taking a stroll along the river for a relaxing afternoon and enjoying the views of the iconic baseball stadium that sits across from it. With rolling hills all around the city, going up to Mount Washington will provide you with wonderful views of the downtown area as well as the park. Another sight not to be missed is the famous Heinz building with its ketchup bottle proudly pouring the condiment for all of the city to see.

We only had a short time to spend in Pittsburgh, but we expect to be back again to enjoy even more of the city’s hospitality. It was definitely warm and welcoming with a very casual and relaxed feeling. The city is a melting pot of a variety of central European cultures from Polish, German, Italian, and more, which makes it a very unique cultural city as well as culinary city to visit.

Philly Cheesesteak

On February 7, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Pennsylvania, Recipes15 Comments

We used to live outside of Philadelphia many years ago and one of our favorite meals were Philly Cheesesteaks. We have tried to get them occasionally here in Colorado and with few exceptions, nothing matches the real thing. Every time we are back in Pennsylvania, we make sure to get an Italian Hoagie and a Philly Cheesesteak, which is what we did a couple of years ago. There are a couple of important things to making a good Philly and that is getting a good, soft, hoagie roll and the other is slicing the meat very thin. We aren’t going to get into a debate as to the best place to get a Philly in Philadelphia, but in our opinion getting one from one of the many food carts downtown is better than most of the famous restaurants. Some people believe that a Philly should be served with cheese sauce instead of real cheese, but we think that provolone cheese is the authentic way to serve a cheesesteak. The only alteration that we made to the traditional cheesesteak was to add mushrooms, which you will find as an option on the food carts, and it just adds a little extra flavor. This recipe serves up to four people and is really delicious.

Cheesesteak in Collegeville, Pennsylvania (Just Outside of Philadelphia)

INGREDIENTS

1 lb Top Round Beef – sliced extremely thin
1 Medium Green Pepper – sliced
1 Medium Yellow Onion – sliced
5 to 6 Medium Button Mushrooms – destemmed and sliced
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1/4 lb Provolone Cheese – sliced
4 Hoagie Rolls
Salt and Pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Prepare the vegetables being sure to slice each of them in equal thicknesses. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the green peppers. After the peppers have sautéed for about 2 to 3 minutes and then add the onions. After about another 5 minutes, add the mushrooms and continue to sauté until they begin to caramelize slightly (don’t over cook them). Remove the vegetables from the pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drain on a paper towel. Turn an oven onto broil at 500 degrees. Salt and pepper the beef and then add the meat to the same pan that you cooked the vegetables and cook until it is just starting to brown (again, don’t over cook the beef). Add the vegetables back to the pan and cook for about 3 minutes, just to combine them and reheat the vegetables. Open the hoagie rolls, being sure not to completely separate the halves, and place them on a baking sheet. Add 1/4 of the meat and vegetable mixture to each of the rolls and place cheese over the meat mixture. Broil for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Transfer to a plate and serve with mayonnaise. You can add lettuce and tomato if you would like, but that isn’t necessarily traditional.

Unexpected Nostalgia

On July 21, 2015July 15, 2019 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Pennsylvania, Valley Forge Park1 Comment

We just returned from Pennsylvania where we were attending the wedding of our son to his wonderful fiancée. Obviously the point of the trip was to spend time with family and attend the ceremony and reception, but we planned a few extra days so that we could relax as well. Since the wedding was taking place near Valley Forge National Historical Park, we felt it was only fitting that we should take a day and revisit the park. Shortly after we were married, we had moved to Exton Pennsylvania and on our first wedding anniversary we had gone horse back riding in the park, so naturally since we’re celebrating our 25th anniversary this year, it came as a nice surprise to be able to revisit a location that held dear memories in our hearts. If it wasn’t enough that we had the opportunity to recapture memories of our first year of marriage while enjoying our son’s wedding, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that the town of Phoenixville, where the wedding was being held, was celebrating Blobfest while we were in town. It was truly a unique experience and something that we didn’t know anything about until we arrived in town. There was one thing, however, that we were definitely planning on and that was getting a cheesesteak and a hoagie, two things that we either can’t get, or at least can’t get the same, in Colorado as they are in Pennsylvania.

It is hard to express how wonderfully romantic it was to walk through Valley Forge National Park, hand in hand, and reminisce about the early years of our marriage. Although we only lived in Exton for two years before work moved us halfway across the country to Colorado, it has always held a dear place in our hearts. Even seeing the sign for Chester County brought back memories as that is where our youngest daughter was born. The fact that the park doesn’t charge an entrance fee should certainly help entice anyone who is visiting the area to make the park a stop on their trip, but the historical significance alone should make it a must to visit. We highly recommend that if you travel inside the United States frequently or have any national parks near where you live, that you buy an annual pass for the national parks, it pays for itself within a couple of visits. Lucky for us, the weather for July in Pennsylvania couldn’t have been more beautiful, the humidity had decided to give us a break and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. We chose to walk the loop through all of the sites of the park rather than drive so that we could enjoy the historical markers, monuments, and buildings as well as take advantage of being outside in a truly gorgeous park with rolling hills and lush trees. After enjoying a wonderful day in the park, we went into Phoenixville for a couple of glasses of beer and wine as well as an appetizer and a burger at the Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant. Whenever we travel, we always like to find places that serve local beers, perhaps because we come from the home of a thousand craft beers, and Iron Hill definitely fit the bill, their Vienna Red Lager was the perfect pairing to our spicy burger.

While we were in Phoenixville, we learned about Blobfest, an annual celebration that occurs every July to commemorate the filming of original version of the horror movie classic, “The Blob“. The festival lasts three days and the headline event is the reenactment of the scene in the movie where the blob attacks patrons of the Colonial Theatre, located in downtown Phoenixville, and festival goers participate in the “run out”. We would return to see the festivities the following day, but not until we had found a place to get an authentic hoagie and cheesesteak. Although some people think that they are the same, there is a difference between subs, grinders, and hoagies. Specifically, hoagies are made in a deli where the meat is sliced as the sandwiches are made and the bread is baked fresh daily. The bread is traditionally softer than that of a sub, but there is something about getting everything fresh that makes all of the difference. We were fortunate to find a wonderful deli, with a line that wrapped around the store, called the Collegeville Italian Bakery and Deli that made us the perfect cheesesteak and Italian hoagie.

Stomachs full, it was back to Phoenixville to enjoy the walking dead, costume and store front decorating contests, and a variety of street vendors selling horror memorabilia and more. The streets were lined with vintage cars from the 1950’s and there was even a fire truck that we believe was used in the original filming of “The Blob”. Although we didn’t know anything about the festival before we arrived, anyone who is in the area in early July should make an attempt to enjoy the festival, especially if you are into horror movies as we are. It was truly a treat. With that said, we were off to the main event of the weekend, the wedding. The bride and groom were glowing and the ceremony and reception were absolutely perfect. It was the perfect ending to a long weekend that was full of new memories, old memories, and pleasant surprises.