mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog which sometimes posts about reasons for finding the food. Today is one of those posts; Cathy is writing.
Starting in June, the last Saturday of the month is when Phoenix Decorating Company has road testing of floats for the upcoming Tournament of Roses Rose Parade, which will be held on January 1, 2024. There are other companies which construct floats as well as six self-constructed floats in the Parade.
Shriners Hospitals for Children will sponsor this float, "Believe In Tomorrow", keeping with the Theme of the 2024 Parade, "Celebrating A World Of Music, The Universal Language". Floats are colored in to help with decorating.
"A Lovely Day for Hope", presented by the City of Hope hospital system was tested for mechanics and maneuverability with 'weight' on board.
The 2024 entry from Trader Joe's is titled "a-one, a-two, a one-two-three-broccoli" and includes Trader Joe (collapsed at the back of the float, now but will be raised for the Parade) conducting a trio of broccoli and various vegetables playing musical instruments. The beaters in the yogurt cup at the front will produce bubbles along the parade route. Another beautiful float.
A new entrant in the Parade for 2024 is from Coding for Veterans. Unsure about the title. The center looks like it will have a screen. The outlines of aircraft are a H-60 and F-35. 
This entry is from Western Asset. It is backing into the barn. You can see the Driver of the float (who proceeds down Colorado Boulevard by looking down and following the Rose Colored Line on the street) to the right in the photo and the Spotter (who looks out the front, communicates with the Driver via a headset) to the left. You can see rectangular vented 'windows' at the fronts of the 'completed' floats, where the Spotters are seated.
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It was just before 8 a.m. and The Mister and I headed South then East, looking for breakfast. We saw a sign visible from the street for a 99 Cent Only Store with a tiny (maybe three foot by two foot) sign on top of it "Tam's Noodle House". There were cars in the parking lot. We stopped.
Walking inside, we were directed to the last open table. Tam's opens at 8 a.m.
The breakfast menu was handed to us. 
At the top of the menu, beverages are included! (Iced beverages are an additional $1.50). The tea was good and strong and kept refilled constantly.
From the menu, "C"- vermicelli with Satay Beef plus scrambled egg & bun with butter (the price was $12.99, not the $13.99 as on the menu). Great broth with tender, flavorful beef and non-mushy noodles. The scrambled eggs were soft and fresh made (I did add some chili crisp to them after a few bites) and the steamed, soft bread was just enough.
"F"- beef stew with steamed noodle too plus scallop congee ($13.99). I saw the noodles being rolled in the kitchen when I went to the back toward the restroom. Fresh, soft, a thin layer…really nice. That beef stew was excellent, tender and such flavor. The scallop congee was really a great version. The scallops were dry/shredded and interspersed throughout each bite.
This was almost too much food (we did have some leftover and it reheated well for a light snack). We want to try more of the breakfast offerings, but also the fact that the regular menu has more choices, is reasonably priced and the restaurant is open late, makes this a possible place to stop for dinner after we decorate floats in December.
Tam's Noodle House II 19035 Colima Road Rowland Heights 91748 (626) 820-9977 Open daily 8 a.m.-10 p.m.
There was a sign posted saying that the place wasn't doing takeout orders on this day. I guess they were anticipating a major lunch rush? By the way, this was a weekday. One thing we noticed, that is usually a positive sign were that most of the customers were older folk, which to us is usually a pretty good sign.
These were not very good. The wrapper was chewy and brittle, there was some "soup" in the XLB but it was very bland. The filling was tough and chewy and also pretty much tasteless.
I tucked in quickly when the bowl arrived and was quite pleased with this! The soup, while still on the lighter side of things, had a nice amount of white pepper, there was a decent amount of beefiness, and the MSG level was a lot lower than I recalled. I could have used more xue cai which adds a nice, pleasant sour-acidity to things and textural contrast, but this was fine.
Of course we're talking about good pork XLB. This was basically, meh…. The wrappers were too thick, there wasn't enough "soup" in the dumplings, and the pork filling was tough.
It was good. I liked the wrapper, which was tender, with a bit of heft, and a nice al dente pull to it. The filling was also nicely seasoned, more of a course chop with large pieces of tender, briny-sweet shrimp. There were perhaps a bit too much Chinese chives in this, but overall no complaints. I did not care for the dipping sauce that came with the jiaozi, it had sweet tones I didn't care for. I just ended up using the black vinegar provided on the table.
Here's another fairly quick name change! The place just opened in January. Based on my 
The Laundry" hangs over a bowl with a smoky-mildly spicy chili oil, with a large dollop of garlic paste in the middle. We quickly noticed that fat was dripping off the slices of pork belly enhancing the concoction.
This was an interesting Liang Cai (cold dishes) trio; the Duck Tongue in a chili oil was interesting. Usually, when we've had duck tongue, there's a hard inedible piece of bone in the center making eating it somewhat ponderous. The center of the tongue in this dish was cartilaginous, reminding us of 
This was not bad, the dumplings were on the smaller side, but it came with 14 in my order. The skins were a bit on the more chewy-doughy side, decent. The filling was pretty finely minced, light and tender, very moist, though the flavor was quite mild. The black vinegar came in handy in upping the flavor.
So, how did the dumplings handle the drive back home? Well, even though the wrappers looked a bit "stiff", these were more tender then those on my previous visit. A good amount of chives provided an almost garlicky "zip" to the dumplings. Even though I really couldn't make out shrimp in the finely chopped filling, I could taste them. Again, the fillings were fairly light, and this went rather well with the 6 year aged Zhenjiang Black Vinegar we keep at home.
Neat and clean interior seating. There is also outside seating and a small menu, which is nice. Many items can be ordered vegetarian. Our waiter said that most everything here is made from scratch.
We both wanted the cucumber salad ($6) on this rather warm day. It was *excellent*- cool, refreshing, with just enough salt and sesame oil to compliment the smashed cucumbers.
The Ma Po Tofu with pork and rice ($12.50) (you can also order vegetarian for $2 less) was a shareable portion. The sauce had the brightness of Sichuan peppercorns and the silky tofu was plentiful while the bits of pork complimented the flavors and added texture. A very balanced dish. 
Under "Signature" dishes on the menu were Chilli Wontons (12) ($10.50). We had to try these. Not much chili on top, but there is a great house made chili crisp on the table which enhanced the porky goodness of these large, two-bite wontons in a stretchy, thin wrap. The broth at the bottom of the bowl was wonderful with a rich porkiness and subtle chili heat.