Welcome to food blog mmm-yoso!!! where Kirk, Ed(from Yuma) and Cathy (for the most part) write food centric posts, sometimes interspersed with activities surrounding the acquisition of the food. Cathy is writing today.
The ritual of celebrating a New Year can be exhausting and The Mister and I slept through it, but were wide awake before 8 a.m. on January 1 to watch the 126th Tournament of Roses Rose Parade and all three Bowl games on television.
The next morning, we were in Pasadena (with 100,000 other people) enjoying the Post Parade Showcase of Floats, where we could walk along the two miles of roads and see up close details of all the 40+ floats which participated in the parade this year. Each float was designed to reflect the theme of the Parade, Inspiring Stories.
This is a snippet of all we saw. Information overload, provided by the 'white suits', official representatives of the Tournament of Roses, who stood around each of their respective floats, answering questions about symbolism of the particular float as well as decorating materials used, made this two mile plus walk most interesting.
Links to 2015 Rose Parade float road tests and decorating: 2015 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade float road tests: #1 Test #2 Test #3 Test #4 Test #5 Test #6 Road Test 7 Decorating floats
So, our food this day… 
Obligatory stop at the wonderful, open at 6 a.m., Cream Pan Japanese bakery resulted in a purchase of a loaf of sesame bread, container of still warm chicken karaage, cheese cracker flat and a fresh blueberry (on top of a layer of creamy pudding encased in a buttery, flaky crust) pastry.
Cream Pan 602 El Camino Real Tustin 92780
Arriving in Pasadena, we knew our next stop, because we were going to park in this neighborhood and walk to the North entrance of the Post Parade Showcase…House of Cookies
Still owned and run by a very nice older Armenian couple, this small bakery makes cookies, cakes and other snacks, selling at very reasonable prices. The items on the counter are different daily and we chose two of the cheese puffs ($1.65-total).
House of Cookies 2451 East Washington Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91104 (626)794-4280
Inside the Showcase of Floats, there are several food and snack areas.
We stopped at the Pie N Burger truck for a $3 slice of (still warm) boysenberry pie. It was at this point my phone told me I could not take any more photographs. I deleted every App while eating the delicious pie.
Not wanting to brave the tourist filled areas of Pasadena, The Mister and I discussed places we had seen while driving on side roads previously and began the drive home East on Huntington, the original Route 66. 
Previously, this small restaurant in the midst of an industrial area in Azusa, had us curious. We thought today would be good for a light meal. 
Small, with a seating capacity of 39, Corky's Place has been here for decades and run by family, who are respectfully memorialized. 
Prices are extremely fair and the short orders of phoned in breakfasts and grilled sandwiches were constantly being filled. However, we decided to order from the 'Mexican' side of the menu.
The Mister ordered the two green enchiladas plate($6)-cheese filled. The sauce was excellent and the enchiladas were very cheesy, with a good stringy Oaxacan.
We were given some good salsa with some average chips while waiting.
Then there was this…a shrimp and avocado tostada ($5). There's a tostada shell with a layer of (very good) beans, lettuce, cheese, some fresh made guacamole and many, many tiny shrimp. Warm, not sauteed and the kind of shrimp you need to eat three at a time to get the flavor. The rest was filling and we made a note to come back and order from the American side of the menu.
Corky's Place 1050 Foothills Blvd. Azusa, CA 91702 (626)969-7861
I hope your year will be filled with daily adventures and inspirations.
How many floats were there Cathy? Geez, just seeing the ones you took photos of makes me hungry!
There were only 41 floats in this parade, Kirk, but many had multiple parts (Trader Joes had a leader (the wheelbarrow), then the main float pulled a watermelon which pulled a vine with a baby/sprouted melon). Not all floats compete for prizes, even though each is meticulously decorated. The display area is over two miles to walk, including the parking lot where the Saturday Farmers Market is held, which displayed eight of the animated floats.
Awesome adventure! Nice seeing the floats again. 🙂
The floats look amazing! It was nice to see the evolution of the floats through out the year, such as the one with the butterflies and books as well as Noah’s ark.
The Tournament is getting ready for 2016, Soo. The next President (Ira “Mike” Matthiessen) will be installed on January 15, when he will announce the theme of that Parade, with this clue given by the Tournament: “The 2016 Rose Parade has grown out of a unique partnership between the United States National Park Service and the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association.”
I’m so glad you got to see the floats in person, cc. There were 60 butterflies, signifying the possible total number of donations that can be made from one person-the sixth pictograph from the end in the photo on this post is of “Jappy”, the lady from my Starbucks, who died less than a year ago of meningitis-her husband is a kidney recipient and she was able to donate. The Lutheran Hour Ministries float is usually very literal with the theme of the parade…