Bakery – Page 18

2015 Rose Parade float road test #3-(another) food road trip.

August 22, 2014 Cathy Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix, Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food. So many events lead us to food. Today's post is about one of those days. Cathy is writing; Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are reading.

Saturday, we woke up around 3:30 and let the dogs out, made coffee, threw some laundry and dishes into their respective cleaning machines and by 4:50, The Mister and I were headed North in the cool darkness of the early morning. (Other 2015 road test posts here and here.

Our first stop was Cream Pan, six minutes after it had opened. We picked up a ham and cheese croissant, orange chocolate pastry and a loaf of walnut bread, all still slightly warm, from the filled shelving displays.

Cream Pan Japonaise Bakery 602 El Camino Real Tustin, CA 92780 (714) 665-8239

Back on the freeway soon enough; arrived in Pasadena and the Phoenix Decorating Company barn, just before 7 a.m..

A few 2015 Tournament of Roses parade floats were lined up on Raymond Street, ready for mechanical and maneuverability testing.

The American Armenian Rose Float Association, from Pasadena, is sponsoring this very large, beautiful float this year. It's the first time an Armenian float will participate in the parade, 100 years after an Armenian (M.S. Pashgian) was chosen as Grand Marshal for the 1915 Tournament of Roses Parade. The various details of this 'Cradle of Civilization' titled float symbolize the 'Inspiring Stories' of the American Armenian community. (Theme of the 2015 parade is 'Inspiring Stories').Here's the 'Observer' seated in the City of Hope 2015 float. He doesn't control anything, but speaks to the driver (seated more toward the center) telling him how and when to turn, steer and if the speed needs to be increased or decreased. Here's a full length view of the City of Hope 2015 Rose Parade float- it will have various beakers and flasks, a DNA strand, and 'wishes' printed on the tags, all attached to hot air balloons. Seeing the bare outline now is as interesting as seeing the finished product. (The driver sits next to the red fuel tanks).The Shriners Hospitals for Children float, "A Million Stories of Hope and Healing", was also tested that morning. The Shriner Bear rocks from left to right and is just so cute! See the small rectangle cutout at the base of the green bookmark? That's for the Observer on this float.

When we were finished with the testing, we walked to cross the Metro tracks and this time stopped to check out the public art decorating the Fillmore Metro Station.The spire (top and bottom details in the above photos) is part of the entire work at the station and titled Geologica 42. (Link to a very detailed description)(Link to a less detailed description). There is symbolism in all of it, from the baseball (at the very top), weather vane, anemometer, Bell X1 rocket ( which first broke the sound barrier, designed at CalTech and tested at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory; locals), the number 42 (Jackie Robinson was a Pasadena Resident) …

…as well as the five bronze steamer trunks which are seats at the Gold Line stop (Harry Houdini was born in Pasadena). We walked over the tracks, to Arroyo Parkway and one block North, to Lucky Boy, for a quick breakfast.

This 24/7, drive in, walk up, American breakfast, burger and burrito joint has been here for decades and prepares quality, hearty food for a good price (without tip jars on the counter). Above, the bacon and egg platter ($6.80): 3 eggs, hash browns toast and…bacon(!) and my usual, an egg sandwich on rye ($3.35) with the included fixings of lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. Served with the fresh made tomatillo based salsa, this was a great meal. Lucky Boy 640 S. Arroyo Parkway Pasadena 91105 (616) 793-0120 Website
We drove five miles East, to the parking lot of Pasadena High School on Sierra Madre Boulevard and stopped at the Pasadena Certified Farmers Market, which was already buzzing.

We try to only shop at Certified Farmers Markets and this one is particularly interesting, being in such a central location to attract local farmers. Pasadena Certified Farmers Market 2900 North Sierra Madre Boulevard, Pasadena Website

Back on the road, headed East to the 15, I wanted some coffee and yet another snack (or three) and we stopped at the Chino Hills location of 85C (a location is being built in San Diego on Clairmont Mesa at Genesee, but seems to be taking forever). This typical (grab a tray, line with paper, grab tongs and serve yourself, take to the cashier who individually bags each item for you) Taiwanese bakery chain is named because 85 degrees Centigrade is the perfect temperature for brewing coffee. There are two sets of cash registers, one dedicated to beverages (but you can order beverages from the other register also). Our snacks, a mini apple pie (puff pastry crust) ($2), Cheese bread (filled with a sweet ricotta cream cheese blend)($1.50) and a Calamari stick (which was round, filled with cheese and topped with garlic)($1).

Sea salt beverages are available here. Above an iced sea salt coffee ($3)and an iced sea salt (mountain green) tea ($2.75). There was no sugar added and each tasted wonderful, with the brewed beverage topped with a dollop of chilled steamed milk with sea salt crystals on the bottom, slightly blended in (swirling the container helps). The flavor meshing is amazing. 85C Bakery Cafe 12959 Peyton Drive Chino Hills 91709 website

We were home by noon. Hoping you have an interesting weekend!

Sunday Sandwiches: V Bakery

June 15, 2014 mmm-yoso Bakery, Sandwiches

*** V Bakery has closed

I was driving on Comvoy the day after returning from our trip. For some reason I glanced on over to the strip mall that houses Izakaya Sakura, Tsuruhashi, and Koubou and noticed that Viet Bakery and Pho had loss a couple of letters and was now just V Bakery. I wondered if this was just another iteration of the legacy shop which changed and morphed and in the end just couldn't gain any traction.

I saw "sandwiches" on the grand opening sign….and based on the history immediately thought Banh Mi.

I could not have been more wrong. I returned during the work week for lunch….the name of this shop is V French Bakery & Cafe.

Ah yes, another bakery in Kearney Mesa…. with the ubiquitous selection of macaroons and such. I did like the spartan set-up and the folks running the place were very friendly.

So I decided to stick around and get a panini……a Turkey and Avocado Panini ($7.95).

The bread was pressed and toasted well; crisp and light. The turkey seemed like tpyical processed stuff and the cheese really didn't have enough milkiness or umph, to really make a difference. I would have appreciated a bit more avocado, the slices I did run into added a nice creaminess to the sandwich.

I really enjoyed the acid from the tomatoes and especially the sun dried tomato dressing used for the sandwich. The price seemed a bit on the high side, but the addition of a free drink brought it back into balance.

I returned a few days later and decided to try the Meat Lover's Panini ($8.95), which in retrospect is a dubious choice on my part. Add to the fact that the bacon that was supposed to be on the sandwich was "not ready", this ham-turkey combination, even with the addition of the tomato and onion missed the mark for me. It probably would have been better with bacon.

I totally like the approach of going simple with these type of sandwiches. Last year, during our stay in Malta, the Missus and I ran into a little shop that did just salads and pressed flat bread sandwiches called "Piadina". All the piadina were just three ingredients; but all those items were of decent quality and went well together; like prosciutto – grana padano cheese – arugula…… It looked like this:

And at 4 Euroes ($5.40), was a bargain as well as being both satisfying and delicious…..

That's kind of what I'm looking for…..

Though I'm guessing the folks here are really pushing the bakery angle from the looks of the "sample" wedding cakes and such. Seeing that I don't have much of a sweet tooth, I'll let other folks tell me how the bakery items are.

The folks here are very friendly, just nice folks overall. I hope they find their niche and do well.

V French Bakery & Cafe
3904 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Mon – Fri 1000am – 2pm
5pm – 9pm
Sat – Sun 7am – 9pm

2015 Rose Parade Rose Parade float road test #1-and a food road trip

June 8, 2014 Cathy Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Orange County, Road Trip, Stuff, Thai Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog with posts centering around food, sometimes sharing the process which the acqusition of said food occurred. Kirk is busy, Ed(from Yuma) is busy and Cathy is writing.

More than a month ago, friend and fellow food blogger, cc, asked (another friend and food blogger) CAB and I to accompany her on a celebratory (beginning of vacation) food crawl 'Up North'. CAB unfortunately had a change in plans and couldn't make it. I discovered on Wednesday before our scheduled crawl that the first Rose Parade float road testing was also going to be held that Saturday morning. Checking out the road testing is something The Mister and I do and share here on the blog ( I also share decorating and other 'behind the scenes' posts about float consruction). I felt guilty, A) Because The Mister wouldn't be able to come with us and 2. For asking for a slight change in 'plans'. Except our plans included and lot of 'maybe here and maybe there' places to visit and eat..so I added one in. Of course it had to be the first thing we did that day, because testing begins at 7 a.m.. In Pasadena.

At the end of this epic day (I was at cc's home at 5 a.m. on the dot and got back to my home at 6:35 p.m.), I was exhausted, had driven 314 miles and had 327 photos on my camera (many were the same subject from different angles) and so this post is mostly photos. Details in future posts.

First the 2015 Rose Parade. The floats tested this day were all sponsored by service (volunteer) organizations. The theme of the Tournament of Roses parade is "Inspiring Stories". The Grand Marshal will be Louis Zamperini, WWII POW, Olympian and the subject of soon to be released movie, Unbroken. Each float is the interpretation of the theme by each participating organization.

Rotary International (the color coded float, depicting a wishing well and candles). Lions Club International (in it's rebar and partial coccoon stage)(can you see a wave of water and surfboards?).

Odd Fellows and Rebakahs, their float is depicting the Unknown Soldier Tomb.
Kiwanis International (being parked back into the Phoenix Decorating Company barn)(the doorway is the maximum height and width a float can be, or collapse down to, to be able to pass under street and signal lights along the parade route).
Lutheran Hour Ministries. This float is titled "The Bible, God's Story".

This will be the Donate Life float. It's in the basic stage of construction and testing. Those detailed butterflies are just so beautiful. You can see the float driver in this photo.

Now, to the food portion of this post. In order: what we ate and did. One photo from each place.

Yep. We did a LOT in a few hours. It was fun, educational, tasty and only slightly exhausting. The details will be revealed in future posts. Feel free to guess or ask questions. Hope you are having a good week!

Where we ate: First photo (Cream Pan) 2nd photo (Jones Coffee) third photo (Euro Pane) 4th photo (Galco's) 5th photo (Mae Ting's) Next photo (LAX-C) Next few photos: Velveteria, Chinatown, Queen's Bakery, Brodard, 85C, The Snowflake Factory, and finally The above photo, a Jesuit.

Rose Donuts (near USD) {Breakfast and the elusive blueberry fritter}

May 31, 2014 Cathy Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping by to read the mmm-yoso!!! named food blog. Kirk is adjusting to his current time zone, Ed (from Yuma) is adjusting to his current job status and Cathy is adjusting to whatever new crisis occurs in her path, while writing a short post.

Last December, I made a casual mention about an item I can only buy here. You can see it in the last two photos of this post. Somehow, I was never back in this neighborhood for almost half a year. Located on the SouthEast corner of Linda Vista Road at Napa Street, just down the hill from the University of San Diego and just up the street from a San Diego Police Station, this location of Rose Donuts has been here and open since February 2006. By that, I mean open 24/7, closed rarely, for family emergencies.

There are more than donuts sold here. That's an ice cream freezer to the far right. You can see signage for Thai iced tea and Vietnamese iced coffee. Then there's all the stuff right in front of you.

The selection of donuts is not huge, but always a bit interesting. The brisk business here assures always fresh. What also makes this donut shop interesting is the menu of made to order Breakfast Sandwiches-which you can purchase during any of the 24 hours of the day. You might notice the small print at the bottom of the above menu. A "combo" comes with your choice of six donut holes or one regular donut and a small coffee or cold beverage. What a perfect dining establishment.

This day, we purchased only one Combo (shared a coffee) and chose the cake donut covered in orange frosting. Not just orange colored, but orange flavored-with bits of orange peel in the frosting. I like that neither the donut nor the icing is too sweet. The fritter? It's apple with blueberries (look close) ($1.05; smaller than a regular apple fritter ($1.55)). No other bakery makes this wonderful item, which, since eating this, has re-developed my craving for it and all frittered items.

Above is the "Sunrise" ($3.65, combo, $5.10). The croissant is made here, soft, flaky, fresh, warm and, as you can see, filled with simply fried egg and two types of cheese (white and yellow).

Above, is the "Early" sandwich ($3.65, combo $5.10). Served on a choice of white, wheat or sourdough toast with good, crisp bacon and, as you can see, two cheeses.

A great place for fresh items, a meal or a snack, any time you have a craving.

Rose Donuts 5201 Linda Vista Road San Diego, CA 92110 (619)294-8856

New Places, New Snacks (Donut Panic, Old Street Food and Paris Baguette)

May 23, 2014 Cathy Bakery, Korean Restaurants, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog written by three friends: Kirk, who is not on this continent, Ed(from Yuma), who is not in this state and Cathy, who is right here right now.

A couple of new places and a few new menu items have entered my life within the past couple of weeks and I thought I'd share, before writing a complete post…you know, in case you might want to try something new over this three day weekend.

The signage isn't up yet. The name really is "Donut Panic" and it's a small shop in the mall anchored by Souplantation on Mission Gorge at Vandever (near the 'other' Kaiser) run by a daughter and her father. The 'regular' daily donuts are always fresh and good, BUT on Saturday and Sunday around 9 a.m. and on Wednesday after 6 p.m.— Vegan Donuts come out of the kitchen. You read that right- no eggs or dairy go into these-the magic ingredient is potato- and each is topped with wonderful, imaginative, fancy flavors and sold at reasonable prices ($1.50 each). Above is a cross section of one with orange almond icing. The texture is light, crispy. The photo of four (clockwise, from bottom left) has the flavors of earl grey tea, vanilla (yes, I know it's pink), chocolate espresso almond and the maple "bacon". (The 'bacon' is unsweetened coconut dipped in soy sauce and flavored with liquid smoke has the right texture and flavor). There are other fancy flavors offered: saffron cardamom, green tea and quite a few others. There are also some filled offerings ($2 each).

I found out about this place from good friend and fellow blogger, cc (there's a link to her first post at the bottom of that link). On Friday, there are fresh vegan cupcakes..a post will be up soon.

Donut Panic 6171 Mission Gorge Road San Diego, CA 92120 (619) 280-1894

The only English on the sign (that isn't a menu item) is "Old Street Food", so I'm assuming that's the name, since I don't read Korean. Located in the center of Zion Supermarket, by the Fruits and Vegetables. Open on Monday, when Gala Chicken, the other shop in that center area is closed, we had to stop, look and order.

You order, then the once fried items are taken to the back stove and fried again.

This solid packed box with squid legs, octopus, purple sweet potato and pumpkin was $6 and still fresh and crispy when we got home. We could have eaten at the counter here, but were full…because

We saw this when we walked into the Zion complex and had to stop.

There are five flavors, three sizes.

Here's a photo of a small ($3.75) green tea shaved ice (excellent flavor of green tea) topped with sweet beans, mochi, sweetened condensed milk and some peanut powder. We saw a large bowl being brought out to a couple and it was HUGE!

Paris Baguette (inside Zion Marketplace) 7655 Clairmont Mesa Blvd. San Diego 92111 (858)650-0404 website

I hope everyone is having a nice and safe three day weekend. Have a good Memorial Day weekend.

Porto: Avenida dos Aliados, Imperial McDonalds, and Confeitaria do Bolhao

April 12, 2014 mmm-yoso Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts, Porto, Portugal, Portuguese Food, Travel

We'd had a pretty busy first day in Porto and I really slept soundly. As is typical for us, we awoke pretty early in the morning to stretch our legs and do some exploring. We'd found that mornings are almost always the best times to see things……you'll be in less of a rush and, especially in Portugal the streets are quiet and empty.

We headed up to the area that seems to be the heart of Porto; the Avenida dos Aliados, the "Avenue of the Allies". The street commemorates the marriage of King John (Joao)I and Philippa of Lancaster, creating an alliance between Portugal and England.

The avenue and promenade is lined with some nice examples of Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings. A statue of King Pedro IV on a horse stands at the lower end of the street and City Hall the top.

I'm sure everything here has a story. It's a nice place to stroll on a cool morning, all the grand buildings around. I wondered about the statue to the right. I could find very little, at least in English on "The Naked Girl – Youth" by Henrique Moreira, sculpted in 1929.

This is also the location of McDonald's….yep, McDonald's. What's the big deal? Well, they call this location, "Imperial McDonald's" and it's supposedly the most ornate and beautiful McDonald's in the world. In case you're wondering….it's not Imperial by declaration. I was told that this was the former site of Imperial Cafe, which became derilict and run down. McDonald's took over the space in 1995.

Man, talk about fancy-schmancy…..I'd feel down right uncomfortable getting my McNuggets on here!

Still, this was just a McDonald's, so we headed back up to the area near Rua Catarina and the large Mercado do Bolhão. Before heading in, we decided on getting breakfast at Confeitaria do Bolhao right across the street.

A large case of pastries, both sweet and savory, a large area to have you espresso and a pastry, this was very "tipico" of what we encountered everywhere in Portugal.

We were mainly after some espresso, but also had a few other items, which were decent, but rather non-descript. The prices were very good….if I recall, two espressos and pastries for like 5 Euros.

We also picked up a Broa de Avintes for later on…..

Confeitaria do Bolhao
Rua Formosa 339
Porto, Portugal

A cup of espresso, carbs in our belly….we were ready for the world, or at least a visit to the Mercado do Bolhão.

Thanks for reading!

Pangea Bakery Café-revisit (more than just a bakery!)

February 6, 2014 Cathy Bakery, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!

Pangea has closed

mmm-yoso!!! is the name of the blog. It's about food. Writers here are usually Kirk, Ed(from Yuma) and Cathy. Today, it's Cathy's post.

I started writing this post in November. Then things happened and even though The Mister and I have been to Pangea Bakery Cafe regularly, there have been some 'technical difficulties' regarding phones, cameras, computers, hinges and various other mechanical things and the final photos are recent. You'll have to take my word for it that there have been visits in the interim.

The weekend before Thanksgiving. Here we were. And what is that man doing on the front patio? With a grill next to him no less!

Notice the poster under the cash register…grilled items.

Notice signage in the store…

This was the menu in November. It has changed, but let me show you what we enjoyed that day.

The nice Young Man cooking held open the foil for moment as I snapped a photo. You'll see what this was…skewerS-that's a clue.

There were other items available- that's a Chinese sausage.

Condiments used for the various grilled items.

Yes! Grilled whole squid: the same as was being served at the First San Diego Night Market until it sold out within the first few hours…

This was HUGE (it cost $8) and tender, brushed lightly with a sweet teriyaki-like sauce before and while grilling. We took a good portion home and used it for dinner.

Of course we also bought some baked goods…

Here it was, leftover squid with the ham and cheese bread and squash. Ah, the balanced diet of the Holiday Season…

Here are some bakery items we've purchased- that's a ham and cheese baked in a bread and a cream filled almond pastry.

Here's the most recent menu…ever evolving and probably more refined(although on some of these chilly days, I'd like to have some soup).

The Thai peanut and lime chicken plate ($3.99 that day, regular $6.99 – and worth it at that price) is quite large. Fresh veggies stir fried with some of the rice, the bright flavors along with some crisped rice and cucumber and pickled onion… and the sauce had a nice kick…could taste coconut milk in the sauce-it was almost a curry…lemongrass more than lime flavors and a touch of heat that would creep up on you. This was very good.

We also shared the appetizer popcorn chicken ($3.99) which is served with the pretty cup of sriracha/teriyaki topped with black sesame seeds. Fresh, crispy and moist good size chicken pieces.

You can see this bowl was quite large and lined with baby lettuce, which could have absorbed any grease…but there wasn't any and so a mini salad was enjoyed at the end of this meal.

We've also enjoyed some day old pastries (half off; there's a small red mark on the packaging) and good cup of coffee for easy breakfasts here. That's the raisin walnut bread and a cherry filling in a soft Danish pastry.

It's going to be Valentine's Day soon!

Drop in and see what the menu will be on your visit…

Pangea Bakery Cafe 4689 Convoy Street, Suite 100 San Diego 92111 (858)560-0688 website

2014 Tournament of Roses Parade float decorating (and meals in Pasadena)

December 26, 2013 Cathy Bakery, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! the food blog is written by a few people who do more than just eat. We (Kirk, Ed(from Yuma), Cathy and others) have professions, jobs, hobbies and various interests. The end purpose of each post is to share some sort of food and/or eating experience. Today's post, written by Cathy, is a compilation of food and interest…

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas Day! The year has really flown by and in less than a week- it's 2014. The year will begin in Southern California, as it has begun for the previous 124 years, with the Tournament of Roses parade and football game.

If you follow the blog, you know I've been sharings 2014 Rose Parade float road tests with you all year and finally the time arrived for decorating the floats. The Mister and I volunteer with the Petal Pushers, who assist in decorating floats which are parked in the Rose Palace Barn belonging to Phoenix Decorating Company and sign up for the days we want to volunteer months in advance.

The Saturdays before Christmas Day in December are "Detail Days" (and used to be called 'dry decorating days'). "Detail Days" are for cutting, shredding and gluing. Lots of gluing. It's when The Mister and I volunteer and perform repetitive, tedious, necessary tasks for eight hours. Needless to say starting today, "Decorating Days" begin- from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m.(or later) every day until the floats are finished and ready to be judged on the morning of December 31. Decorating days are when fresh vegetables, fruits and flowers are being placed. Many of the flowers (iris and roses) need to be cut then placed into water filled vials (which are all filled as one of the many tasks) then onto the floats. Thousands of fresh flowers are being delivered on the day after Christmas as well as on the 27th, 28th and 29th. This Banner Float will be the first float you see in the 2014 parade, announcing the theme. The floats are 'colored in' both as a guide and in case some sort of disaster befalls the float and flowers or dry materials wash off; you'll still see color.Here are some views inside the Rose Palace. There are eleven floats being decorated. Another perspective. You can see the scaffolding is set up for the gluing that was to be performed this day.

Some of the many dry materials being prepared for gluing. The statice are delivered in three main colors (pink, light blue and dark purple) and only the flower petals are cut off and used. The bags filled in the third photo are the results of about ten of the five gallon buckets being cut, or seven hours of cutting performed by ten people.

Yellow straw flowers are in abundance here, petals are cut off, then pulverized in Blendtec Blenders (a Christmas gift this year, by the way) and the resultant powder as well as centers are glued onto the floats for both color and texture. The shredded ends(palm fiber) from palm bark are also peeled off and ground up in the whirring blenders.

The seed chart shows all of the dry materials which are used (and excess stored) during Detail Days.

Here's the City of Glendale float (with Meatball the Bear), which I first showed you during the August road test (last two photos on the post) and in it's coccoon stage during the September road test (the eighth photo).

The City of Los Angeles float (which will need a *lot* of the purple statice for the LA Lakers portion of the float)

Here's some detail of flower pots being covered with braided dry materials, called Pac-Pac.

Only three people are allowed on a scaffold at a time (this is the Western Life Assurance float). Scaffolding is moved and lowered a bit each week.

The Shriners Hospital for Children float, is a superhero bear bounching off a giant heart with detail on the back of the cape.

This is the back side of the heart that the bear is bouncing from-covered meticulously with cut red straw flower petals…

The Lions Club International had many volunteers show up from Lions Clubs all over Southern California.

Farmers Insurance is one of the last floats built and road tested and wasn't quite ready for decorating on the day we were here. It's theme of "Thank a Million Teachers" is based on a three year program the insurance company has been promoting.

The Centenniel of the City of Beverly Hills is a magnificent float.

Of course we had breaks before and after this day of gluing and cutting. Above is outside the Rose Palace decorating barn when we all took a lunch break. {See that large doorway? That's the maximum height and width a float needs to contract, so it can fit under the street and signal lights along the parade route.} The Pizza Hut a block away provides a personal pizza and beverage for $3.50 (you order when you sign in to work) and donates $1 from each order to the Petal Pushers. The Mister and I had brought our own lunch…

We had stopped at Mr. Goods Donuts on Colorado Boulevard before our long day.

The shelves were full, but we only (of course) bought the wonderful ham and cheese filled croissants sold here, to be part of our lunch.

Mr. Goods Donuts 1840 East Colorado Boulevard Pasadena 91107

After a long day, we left and parked around the corner from this old design McDonald's on Colorado Boulevard, next to Pasadena City College.

Walking past it, and the Comics Factory (really, it's on Colorado Boulevard and the Parade route-look closely at all the Rose Parade signs on every light post), we were back at Zankou Chicken (where we ate after decorating last year), which we figured would be a 'healthy' meal with enough leftover for the next day…

And it was. Enough for another meal, sides and snacks for two more days actually.

Zankou Chicken 1296 East Colorado Boulevard Pasadena 91106 (626)405-1502 website

Since we did not have to be ready to start until 9 a.m., we didn't leave home at our usual 5 a.m., so got to Cream Pan far past our 'usual' time of about 6:15. There were a few more people inside, however the shelves had more choices, including this $2 cup of karaage…which was nice to eat in the car as a supplemental breakfast item. Of course, the usual suspects, ham and cheese croissant and catsup covered pastry wrapped hot dog were also consumed that day.

Cream Pan 602 El Camino Real Tustin, CA 92780 (714)665-8239

I hope everyone is having a good day after Christmas!

Unusual sweet treats.

December 20, 2013 Cathy Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. We (Kirk, Ed (from Yuma), Cathy and a few others) try to share some sort of food centric post almost daily…no reason, other than we do indeed all eat and like to write about it. Cathy is sharing today.

It's close to Christmas and people are probably using up vacation days and perhaps doing last minute shopping. Thought I'd share some sweet surprises found around town recently. Maybe you've seen something out of the ordinary in your shopping travels, too.

The Mister and I tend to stop in to K Sandwiches once a week, either for a sandwich (breakfast, lunch, dinner) or something from the steam tray, or a grab and go croissant, loaf of bread and tasty beverage. A few weeks ago, while waiting in line to pay, I noticed this handwritten sign on the counter.

You know I had to.

Crépes, made in the waffle maker, thin and rolled so they cool to a nice, light crispiness. 50¢ each. The green one is pandan flavor (a light, floral, kind of nutty-like pistachio pudding is light, sweet and nutty in flavor) and the other is original flavor (pretty much tasted like it was made with coconut milk). Both with black sesame. A nice treat and a box full would be a nice gift.

K Sandwiches 7604 Linda Vista Road at Mesa College Drive San Diego 92111 (858)278-8961

Trader Joe's is carrying these frozen treats. I saw them being put into the freezer the Monday after Thanksgiving. $3.99 for a box of four. Pronounced "queen yamman". This pastry originated in Brittany, France; a popular Breton dessert.

These frozen treats are similar to the Trader Joe's frozen croissants (you have to proof overnight/6 hours and then bake). (That's a pumpkin croissant starting to rise in the background.)

The Kouign Amann will bake in its cup into crispy, sugary layers.

Not as many layers as a croissant, but like a croissant dough-with sugar between the layers. The sugar caramelizes and is crispy. I adore this basic, simple French dessert. That I can make it fresh- and one at a time- makes it perfect.

Rose Donuts, all the way at the West end of Linda Vista Road, near USD (NOT the location in the same parking lot as K Sandwich) is open 24 hours. (it's in the same mall as Ryan's). Rose's makes and sells wonderful croissant based sandwiches, grilled burgers, hot/grilled sandwiches, bagels, ice cream, a variety of beverages…and…not just donuts.

Oh, these two items are NOT the same. The larger one is your traditional 'apple fritter', which is, indeed, wonderful, large and filled with apples and cinnamon. The smaller one…in the front of the above photo…

An apple-blueberry fritter. Oh my, yes. A wonderful, surprising, fritter. Unexpected and great.

Rose Donuts 5201 Linda Vista Road San Diego 92110 ( 619) 294-8856

I hope everyone runs across a delightful surprise. Soon.

Dudley’s Deli-yes, THAT Dudley’s-now in Santee

November 25, 2013 Cathy Bakery, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

This location has also closed.

mmm-yoso!!! is a compilation of bloggings centered around food. Kirk, Ed(from Yuma) and Cathy (as well as a few others) share food memories, finds and ideas here. Today, Cathy is writing about a find.

The fabric sign had been hanging on the front and side of this corner building, just behind the Costco Fuel station on Town Center Parkway in Santee for almost six months. "Coming Soon-Dudley's Deli". Then at a rather rapid rate, the signage was installed on the building.

On Wednesday, November 6 at 11 a.m., the store was open for business.

Anyone who has driven North on the 67 on their way to Julian has most likely stopped at Dudley's Bakery in Santa Ysabel. At the very least, you have probably seen Dudley's Bakery items in your local grocery store and perhaps have considered a drive into the Eastern part of San Diego County. The 50 year old San Diego County Institution has expanded.

The Mister and I are happy to see we'd have a local, almost walk to easy option and were some of the first customers. (The receipt shows our purchase transaction occurred at 11:16 a.m.)

The shelves were not quite full, but did have fresh cookie bars, coffee grounds and breads for sale.

The staff was ready for just about any order you could place.

Other than not having soup bowls available that first day, things were going quite well.

The Dietz and Watson Deli meats are on display.

We have been back several times to purchase a loaf or two fresh Dudley's bread, delivered fresh from the bakery 'up the hill'. All loaves are $4.95. I haven't taken photos of the full shelves because it has been crowded every time we've been back. The selection seems to vary, based on the day of the week you are here.

Our first day sandwich was a Corned Beef Reuben ($7.95). You can see this is quite a large sandwich (enough to share), filed with warmed corned beef, kraut, Swiss cheese and a nice Thousand Island dressing all on fresh seeded Rye bread that is panini-pressed/grilled. Really, really good. Nice to share.

The strawberry turkey sandwich is on a toasted/lightly grilled sheepherder bread (a hearty white) and, as you can see, loaded with turkey, (a layer of strawberry preserves is on the bottom), a layer of fresh strawberries, Provolone, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise on the top slice. Again, nice to share. I do plan on trying more menu items and will report back.

This is great place to get your Dudley's bread and sweets as well as a hearty lunch and all without the travel.

Dudley's Deli Bakery 205 Town Center Parkway Santee, CA 92071 (the building right behind the Costco Gas Station vehicle entrance) (619)258-4245 Website