• Recipes
• Second course
• Steaks
• Philadelphia cheese steak ice cream

"That's possibly the worst idea I've ever heard," she said.
<br />
<br />Michelle didn't use these words lightly. She didn't say this when I'd suggested we visit a theme park staffed by 108 dwarfs, or hand-feed live chickens to hungry tigers, or train to become Chinese taxidermists.
<br />
<br />But Michelle has her limits, too.
<br />
<br />She draws a line at Philadelphia Cheesesteak Ice Cream.
<br />
<br />We were about to watch Rambocky X, that legendary double-feature of Rocky VI and Rambo IV. ("A sexagenarian fighter leaves retirement for one last bout, and who knows how it'll end! Well tonight, in back-to-ripped-back awesomeness, it ends TWICE!!!") There was homemade rice ice cream, avocado ice cream and even darling scoops of mango sorbet, but those only represented Thailand and Burma: the countries of Rambo IV. They left nothing for poor Rocky VI. Not the way Philly Cheesesteak Ice Cream would.
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<br />"Why don't you just make Rocky Road?" Michelle demanded.
<br />
<br />"Wha? That's not Philly. We need something Rocky would actually eat!"
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<br />This was uncharted territory. Like Rambocky, I was an explorer. I was a fighter. It was going to be awesome.
<br />
<br />(Cue training montage.)
<br />Slicin' tenderloin (Won't be long now!)
<br />Cookin' in Karo (Getting strong now!)
<br />Meltin' dairy (Gonna fly now!)
<br />Mincin' sweet meat (Flying high now!)
<br />
<br />"This is going to be a disaster," Michelle warned before she went to bed. Okay, she didn't actually say those words, but I could feel them. Had she voiced her thought, she would have added, "A disaster of historic proportions."
<br />
<br />I nodded, furiously mixing and stirring. There was no way this was going wrong. It was too important.
<br />
<br />And it went right. Oh how right it went.
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<br />Nuggets of sharp cheddar cheese mixed with crunches of sweet beef, all settled in a gorgeous Philly-style ice cream base. I took a bite, and gasped. "Spectacular," I announced, even though Michelle had long since fallen asleep. I took another bite. "AMAZING!" She still didn't wake up. Oh, well.
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<br />Granted, it was weird. But it was also something like the greatest weird taste sensation of all time. It was Americana. It was Sweet Jeez! It was Philadelphia!!!
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<br />It was glorious.
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<br />Except for a cheesesteak itself, I don't think there could be anything better than this.
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<br />(Note: uses Jeni Britton Bauer's amazing Philly-style ice cream base.)

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