Los Angeles County – Page 12

2014 Rose Parade Float Road Testing-Baja Ranch Supermarket-Pasadena Farmers Market (Road Trip)

October 27, 2013 Cathy Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping and reading mmm-yoso!!!, a food-centric blog. There are numerous ways to find and acquire ready made food and ingredients for meals at home. Today Cathy will share a couple of those ways along with sharing a bit of a quick Road Trip from San Diego. Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are relaxing today.

The Mister and I woke up late yesterday morning. It was 4:45 a.m. and the dogs had to be fed and let out, we dressed quickly and were out the door at 5:07 a.m.. There was a low fog overhanging the freeway the entire drive. We got to the Red Hill exit from the 5 (in Tustin) around 6:25 a.m. and stopped at the Starbucks for coffee then drove up the street to Cream Pan and picked up three hot, fresh pastries. The cinnamon pecan roll ($3), which is filled with crispy, whole pecans; a raspberry bottomed cheescake in a paper cup ($2) and a ham and cheese croissant ($2.50)…light breakfast to eat in the car. The freeway entrance is just around the corner.

In about 45 minutes, we were in Pasadena, parked, crossed the Metro tracks and the Rose Parade float Road Test was already underway. The eHarmony.com float (the first dot com float ever in a Rose Parade) was going to be tested with people on board. (During the parade, Natalie Cole will be on the float, singing along the parade route).What will end up being the last float in the parade was also being tested- it looks like a football…and it looks like two GIANT screens will be inserted into those frames…we don't know, but speculate may be playing highlights of either prior Rose Bowl Games (2014 will be the 100th anniversary of the Rose Bowl Football game) or of prior parades (2014 will be the 125th Tournament of Roses parade). We'll have to wait and see… This VERY large float will be one of the first you will see in the parade- it is by Honda, the sponsor. we suspect it will look somewhat futuristic, because

it will be preceeded by these five smaller (powed by Honda motocycles and one driver, no 'viewer' inside) floats, depicting various "Dreams Come True"-the parade theme-along time… The famous WWII poster (and some sort of circular float behind it).

A sort of Model T vehicle.

A construct of the Spirit of St. Louis. There's also a small diorama depicting Man landing on the moon.

Other floats tested were in their basic stages… The City of Beverly Hills will be celebrating 100 years as a City and will have a float in the 2014 Rose Parade.

The RFD-TV float looks like a large barn-like dance floor will be on the front of the float, with smaller buildings behind. I'm interested in seeing how this ultimately will appear. The front piece, made with heavy steel beams (instead of rebar) is unique.

We left the road testing area, and had no plans for breakfast, drove up to Orange Grove Boulevard and stopped at Baja Ranch Market, which I only mentioned slightly in another float road test post last November. We wanted to grab another quick bite. When you first walk into this medium sized Mexican/Latin American Market, you are in the Bakery area.

It is right around the corner, next to an extensive steam tray area.

We picked up 1/2 lb of those fresh chicharron from the end tray.

and also asked for one of each flavor of the empanadas- the ham and cheese and the ground beef (which is made with corse ground hamburger, hard boiled egg, olives and raisins; a very traditional and wonderful flavor combination), sometimes called 'picadillo'.

We also picked up a few other items, went to the car and started driving East while munching on an empanada.

Baja Ranch Supermarket 475 Orange Grove Blvd, Pasadena 91101 website

Parking on a side street, we had a short walk to the Saturday Pasadena Farmer's Market on Sierra Madre Boulevard (see Pasadena High to the right? The set up of booths is in the parking lot of the school.) This is the street where the Rose Parade floats line up at the end of the parade route.

I have become enamoured with young, small, tender jicama ever since I bought it here. It is so good, a bit sweet and easily a craving without needing to be mixed with other foods or topped with Tajin.

The autumn vegetables and fruits are in abundance. This Farmers market is central to so many farms and really is the nicest one I've encountered other than the one I went to when I was young..

I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend!

Andy’s Coffee Shop & 2014 Rose Parade road test & Pasadena Farmers Market (Road Trip)

September 22, 2013 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping to read mmm-yoso!!! Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) are busy busy busy right now, so Cathy is writing a post for today.

Yes, another road test for some floats that will participate in the 2014 Tournament of Roses parade was conducted on Saturday and The Mister and I woke early so we could be there at 7 a.m. Since this is a food blog, the first part of this post is about our breakfast that morning.

Andy's Coffee Shop is located on Colorado Boulevard; it's easy to miss (parking is in back and we are always looking for cars on the street to see if a place is open).

Inside, it's a step back to the 1950's. In fact, a few episodes of Mad Men were filmed here.

There are photographs signed by famous stars of the past. The large photos are of crowds camped in front of the storefront to watch the Rose Parade.

The Mister ordered French Toast ($5). It's made with fresh bread, unlike when we make it at home with days old bread. So very good- crunchy on the exterior and creamy soft on the interior.

I ordered a bacon and egg sandwich on rye toast ($7.25). Really really good and served with crispy hash browns.

This was a very good meal and we enjoyed sitting at the "U" shaped lunch counter in the center of the room, seeing the hustle and bustle of the workers: the booths and tables were taken.

Andy's Coffee Shop 1234 Colorado Boulevard Pasadena, CA 91106 (626)793-0825 Mon-Sat 7-3, Sun 7-2

Before our breakfast on this overcast morning, we were on Raymond Street

The colorful float with them "So Near and Yet Safari" is very animated with the gazelles racing, giraffes bowing their necks and elephant ears flapping as well as water flowing from the top of the 'rock' formation. Behind that float, you can see the "Banner" float- which will introduce the 2014 parade with it's theme of "Dreams Come True".

Here is the City of Glendale float, covered in its cocoon. Last month, it was only out of rebar and a lot of the design wasn't very clear.

The CIty of Los Angeles float was also in it's rebar form last month. Now that it's covered and partly painted, the details are emerging.

Above, you can see the City of Los Angeles float in its collapsed state (so it can fit into the Phoenix Decorating barn as well as under street and signal lights along the parade route) and you can also see the head of the Chinese dragon, which is painted with its colors and ready to be decorated. All items covering the float must be natural, alive or had been alive and in case glue fails or items are washed off by rain, you'll still see color when watching the floats in person or on television. I think it's nice that the dragon will be on the 'other' side of the float- away from the television cameras-people sitting on that side of the street sometimes don't get to see a lot of the float details.

After our breakfast, we stopped at our usual Saturday morning Pasadena trek- the Farmers Market, held in the parking lot of Pasadena High on Sierra Madre Boulevard.

You can see the cloud covered Sierra Madres in the distance…very overcast. That's the booth where we always buy a loaf of seed filled, corn meal bottomed rye bread for $4.75. It's so good.

This market is my favorite out here; it's busy and the vendors are knowledgeable and the variety is amazing.

We drive North on the 5 and home on the 15…where we passed a convoy of about ten Marine LAVs (Light Armored Vehicles; they float)…another Saturday of fun. Hope you are having a good weekend!

House of Cookies, Pasadena Farmers Market and 2014 Rose Parade float testing

July 14, 2013 Cathy Bakery, Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!!-a blog about food and the events leading to acquiring said food. Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are busy acquiring and Cathy is posting today.

Hi. I'm writing this post about our day in backwards order…we stopped at House of Cookies last on this road trip to Pasadena, but it's been our destination since we parked in front of it on the first day of the year and today we had time.

The signage for House of Cookies is visible…if you look for it. The doorway is small as is the interior of this family run Armenian bakery.

As you walk in, there are cookies packaged and on the shelves at the door…

There's a refrigerated case with cakes to your right…

and small pastries in another refrigerated case at the back wall, next to another set of shelves of cookies. Yes- those are the prices.

It's *tiny* insde- four adults have difficulty turning around if all are inside at the same time. The husband and wife owners are very friendly. They are Armenian (as are a few of the businesses in this area) and only on Saturdays, they fry a few items (seen above, on the front counter) and offer them for sale- the powdered sugar covered rounds are filled with a custard, the oval shaped fried cakes are filled with either a peppery mashed potato filling or a ground meat filling. (The fried items are $1)

We also purchased what's in the photo above. The fruit topped one has a delicate crust and the same not too sweet cream filling as in the round fried donut. The eclairs are marvelous, not too large, fresh, not too sweet… and the flaky cream filled horn was perfect. We bought all the above, plus two meat filled and one potato filled. ($7.20-total. Really) You can see the delicate layers of the fried sweet donut, and just a little of the custard filling layer: not too much, not too sweet; perfect! Did I mention it was still warm?

Lightly fried, still warm, perfectly seasoned ground meat…these little meat pies are wonderful- and only made on Saturday.

A **wonderful** local place.

House of Cookies 2451 East Washington Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91104 (626)794-4280

Before stopping at the House of Cookies, we were just down the street – Pasadena High School- which has a Farmers Market in the parking lot every Saturday morning. I've written a few posts about this market.

On this day, almost every booth -and one entire booth- had fresh peaches available. I suspect in a few weeks, the same will be true for tomatoes.

This is a really nice Market, filled with a great variety of booths with beautiful fresh produce, flowers and other products. It's busy, bustling and filled with pleasant odors of fresh.

I really enjoy looking and shopping here. Overhearing the farmers telling cutomers that regular cabbage is not growing now and only Napa is available…and that the lemons from last week are all gone and the only ones are still white and on the tree is a good sign that the farmers here bring quality products to sell.

Our real reason for waking at 4 a.m. Saturday July 13; it was another Road Test day for the floats that will participate in the 2014 Tournament of Roses parade, being held for the 125th time. (Here's a link to the first road test)-at the Rose Palace assembly and decorating barn of Phoenix Decorating.

The Trader Joe's float, "Relish Your Dreams", is in the basic/rebar phase of construction and looks to have wheels of cheese, pickles and crackers as well as some small appetizer forks. I haven't seen the Artist Rendition yet and can see the float is very detailed.

Last month, the City of Alhambra float as in its rebar stage and now it was road tested in the 'cocoon' stage. It's a "Monster" truck- complete with monsters! Rotary International's float, "Engage Rotary, Change Lives" was road tested with adults aboard today. Last month, it was wood and foam over rebar.

Shriners Hospital for Children with it's "Love to the Rescue" titled float, Lions Club International and Lutheran Hour Ministries were also road tested with people on board.

The Odd Fellows and Rebekahs float was driving down Raymond Street when we got there this morning-this is the 'camera view' side of the float; more detailed than the other side…

Having the people onboard- and having them all able to get off the float in 45 seconds (in case of fire)- is the final stage of Road Testing and the floats will be stored at the Barn next to the Rose Bowl Stadium (the Rosemont Pavillion) until the first Saturday in December, when 'detail decorating' begins.

The Kiwanis float is very detailed, with an owl in one tree and an eagle at the top of another tree.

The Donate Life float is a group of lanterns and the float is titled "Light up the World". I heard that the float will have organ donor families and recipients riding on it and walking along the five mile parade route next to the float.

The Western Assets float was also tested today. You can see a giraffe rebar outline to the left. I also saw what looked like gazelle and elephant outlines.

Well, that was an early and busy Saturday. We woke at 4 a.m, left at 4:59 a.m. and got back into the driveway at one minute after noon… Hope you had a good weekend!

2014 Rose Parade float road test #1-and quick breakfast at Lucky Boy (Pasadena)

June 1, 2013 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is not only a food blog, but also a blog about events surrounding food adventures. Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) are both busy enjoying their adventures and Cathy is sharing her latest adventure, which involve a meal.

Yes, it's that time already. The Tournament of Roses has planned its January 1, 2014 Parade (with a theme of "Dreams Come True") and invited participants, who designed floats around that theme for the Parade and the renderings have come to life at the Phoenix Decorating Company's Rose Palace and seven floats had their first of three road tests early this morning.

When we arrived on Raymond Street around 7 a.m., the seven floats were lined up and inspectors were at each one, checking various hydraulics, mechanics and other safety items.

The City of Alhambra's 'Monster Truck' is taking on its basic shape.

The Rotary International 2014 parade float looks like it will end up being colorful as well as playful. Lollipops???

The Lions Club International is a small replica of "Matteo's Dream" , a park for children of all abilities that's in Concord, California.

The Kiwanis 2014 float, "Bridging Children's Dreams" has taken shape. The tree is in the position it needs to be in to be able to fit under street and signal lights on the parade route. The dove flying from the tip of the tree looks like it will be very colorful.

This is the rebar construction of the Shriners Hospitals for Children. Right now, it looks like a teddy bear wearing a cape, pushing off from a a heart at the base of his feet.

The Lutheran Hour Ministries float, with a theme of "Jesus Welcomes All" has this rendition on the internet. It looks like the fauna surrounding the church building will be quite large and colorful. The closer, more colorful float in the above photo is the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs entry. This view is the side the cameras won't show on television during the parade and it still is very colorful and detailed.

The floats took their turns driving down to the end of the street and turning around without incident and before 9 a.m., the frst day of road testing was over. Time for breakfast.

The Mister and I walked over the Metro tracks and one block North on Arroyo to a favorite 24 hour walk up and eat outdoors restaurant.

Predictably, I ordered our usual…

My lettuce, tomato and egg on rye toast ($3.25)…again, perfect.

The one pound three egg, hash browns and bacon burrito ($6.25). Served on the grilled giant tortilla, this was a huge meal. Which we shared…

You see, when we were awake and walking out of the house at 5 a.m., two of our dogs thought we were going for a walk…so we put them in the car and brought them on this road trip.

I hope all of you are having a nice weekend!

Roadtrip: Take-out from Shufeng Garden and Easy Earthen, plus some other stuffs

April 4, 2013 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

**** Both Shufeng Garden and Easy Earthen have closed

As I mentioned in my Tasty Noodle House/Torrance Farmer's Market post, we had decided to spend the night in Hacienda Heights on the way home from Vegas. We didn't plan much at all, we had lived in the area for a good chunk of time, long enough for it to be considered to be perhaps my "third home". We just wanted to see what the neighborhood was like over a decade later. Sure, we've stopped by quite a number of times over the years, but we've never spent a good amount of time in the area since we left.

We both felt sluggish and tired, Vegas has a way of just sucking the energy right our of us. So the Missus thought it would be a nice idea to just do take-out and eat in our room. We'd take a drive and maybe even a walk after dinner.

I successfully lobbied for some of my favorite take-out in the area; from Shufeng Garden. So we drove on over, placed our order and since this was one of those "just eat as much as you want" moments, we walked less than a block over and went to Easy Earthen, Earthen Restaurant's smaller, more "fast-casual/take-out" shop. There was a funny moment at Easy Earthen….the Missus just naturally spoke mandarin to anyone in a Chinese restaurant in Rowland/Hacienda Heights. She walked up to the counter and spoke to the young lady behind the counter, who replied, "oh, sorry, I don't speak Chinese". The Missus was so thrown off She just said "oh" and walked away from the counter! We had noticed some subtle changes in the neighborhood, like more folks actually walking, but this, a Chinese who spoke no Mandarin or Cantonese, this was something totally different for us. I gave the young lady the knowing "third generation" look and proceeded to order. It was nice seeing old haunts; Nijiya was still there, though some, like the Albertson's on the corner of Colima and Azusa were gone.

We made our way back to the room and dug in. Of course, the Missus doesn't eat chicken, so I had the entire half "Shandong Chicken" to myself. This was good, but even with an entire container of sauce, it just didn't have the assertive tones that I recalled. It tasted watered down. The chicken was good though, fairly tender.

The stuff from Shufeng was as good as always and we finished everything………

Easy Earthen
18303 Colima Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Shufeng Garden
18459 Colima Road
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Feeling fat and happy after dinner, we took a short walk to the 99 Ranch Market on Azusa where I always used to see the most interesting "Engrish" signs, the best one being a very interesting rendition of "six pack coke", you can imagine how they spelled "coke", right? Of course they didn't let me down. I'm sure this was just for old time's sake:

I think someone should buy them a vowel. Though if you said it "Bunnuts andsedsandberries" it sounds kinda neat.

The area is constantly changing, old businesses leaving, new ones coming along, like the new 85 C Bakery. Here's one that caught our eye.

Maybe next time……

Roadtrip: Beijing Pie House – Monterey Park (Los Angeles)

March 3, 2013 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

Back in October, I had a chance to grab a bite with one of my favorite couples, Kirbie and her DH. As always, conversation always drifts toward food. One of the places that Kirbie recommended was Beijing Pie House in Monterey Park (read her post here). So on our next trip to the SGV, we made sure to check the place out.

We had stopped by China Islamic right before our visit here, so we knew it wasn't going to be a gigantic meal.

We arrived pretty early and the dining area was empty except for a guy who I'll designate as the loudest slurper and chewer I've heard. We could hear him smacking his lips all the way on the other side of the room.

We could actually see flecks of food flying from his mouth as he spoke while chewing. His dining companion left the table for a good long time…..probably to remove all the detritus from her hair.

The young man who served could not have been nicer. The Missus found him adorable…..mainly because he spoke Mandarin with a very formal "American" accent.

The Missus has an affection for the various porridges she grew up eating…….which includes the cornmeal based version here.

As for the various Xian Bing….

They were nice enough to serve us a combination vegetarian XB.

Two radish and two "combination".

First off, these "pies" had a nice crust, crisp, but not oily. The filling were also moist….

The radish version was probably my favorite……the bitterness of the radish had been tempered when cooked……

Creating a nice chew with a balance of the pungent and sweetness.

The combination featured mushroom and bean curd with a good amount of seasoning. Though on the salty side, this was still good.

Since we love lamb and mutton, we also ordered the lamb pie……

These didn't quite do it for us. In terms of texture and preparation, we both thought, the Xian Bing were prepared well.

With regards to flavor, we thought this on the weak side…it could have been pork or any other protein, the distinctive flavor of lamb was missing.

I understand that there are those who don't enjoy the "flavor of the pasture", but I still think lamb should taste that way. When it is too tame….well, you might as well get anything else.

Still, the Xian Bing were well prepared, the service was nice. I wouldn't hesitate in returning.

Beijing Pie House
846 E Garvey Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91755

Thanksgiving Brunch: Sea Harbour – Rosemead (Los Angeles)

November 25, 2012 mmm-yoso Dim Sum, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

This year we decided to dust off an old tradition, one we'd put away into the closet over 5-6 years back and grab some dim sum on Thanksgiving day. Over the years we've become less satisfied with the inconsistent and plain low quality of the dim sum in San Diego. Instead, we opted to drive to our favorite place for dim sum Sea Harbour. We made really great time on our trip to the SGV, having time to grab some roast duck for dinner (a later post) before arriving at the doors to the restaurant about 10 minutes before opening. Sea Harbour is one of those places with an eternal line during weekends and holidays, you either get there early, or try to time the first major turnover of tables.

On this day, the line dictated a major seating effort and the place was at full capacity ten minutes past ten.

Service was bit confused at first and while not exactly the most friendly, much better than Shanghai No. 1, where the asking of the most simplest question (like, "could I have a menu?), would cause them to give us a pained look like Dr Szell had been working on them for a couple of hours, "Oh, don't worry. I'm not going into that cavity. That nerve's already dying. A live, freshly-cut nerve is infinitely more sensitive. So I'll just drill into a healthy tooth until I reach the pulp." You almost thought they were trained here. 'Nuff said……

For some reason the Missus wanted some Gailan…..

They obviously brush some oil on it to give this poached vegetable some sheen. As gailan goes, this was fine, but I thought the oyster sauce was very good.

We usually go fairly light and at Sea Harbour go primarily with seafood. The hargow was good, nicely pleated, the wrappers not too think nor too sticky.

The shrimp were plump and cooked well…my only complaint were that these were perhaps too big, you couldn't eat them in a single bite. Which I guess is not much of a complaint at all.

I loved the Shrimp, dried scallops, and Chinese celery dumplings on our previous visits. These did not disappoint.

Nice wrappers, not too sticky, the savory flavor of the shrimp and dried scallops, with a nice textural counterpoint and the palate cleansing flavor of the Chinese celery. Still a favorite.

We always try something new when we visit Sea Harbour. On this visit it was the Radish Cake with XO Sauce. We usually avoid ordering these because we make it at home, but the allure of the XO sauce could not be avoided. This dish totally changed our opinion of Radish/Turnip Cake.

There were huge pieces of daikon in these, not shreds, that literally melted in your mouth! The texture was excellent. The XO sauce wasn't artificially salty and just added a touch of spice, with a nice savory touch. But those tender chunks of radish cake….I'm sure we'll be having those again.

The clunker of the day….and there always seems to be one, was the vegetarian Black Fungus and Celery Dumpling.

Nice textures, but pretty bland.

I was looking forward to trying the Egg Tofu in Abalone Sauce.

Loved the texture of the egg tofu, the sauce was pretty mild though.

At this point, we were satisfied but waiting on one item. We asked one of the gentlemen about it and he efficiently went to check the kitchen and told us "exact, three minutes"…and about three and a half minutes later our Pan Grilled Spinach Pork Bun. The Missus thinks this is too sweet, but I usually love the flavors. Today, I was less then satisfied with the dough which had the texture of dough where steam had escaped leaving it on the harder, waterlogged side.

I still enjoyed the filling, so I'll just have to wait until our next visit to see……

Overall, our tab came to about $35. Which may be expensive if you dim sum in LA, but not so much if you've had it in San Diego recently. Plus, there's nothing here that comes remotely close to this in quality, prep, and flavor.

Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant
3939 Rosemead Blvd
Rosemead, CA 91770

We made two more stops before heading home; first to Tianjin Bistro for some "day after" suan cai yang rou, then the market for some supplies. We had smooth sailing until the 5/405 merge…after that it was pure murder until we hit Carlsbad, where traffic suddenly dissapated…..very strange!

Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year!

Road Trip Weekend-(Pasa)Dena Burgers, some markets, meat by the side of the road and final 2013 Rose Parade float road test.

November 19, 2012 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for reading mmm-yoso!!! on this week of preparation, travel and beginning of holiday celebrations. Cathy is writing today. The guys (Kirk and ed(from Yuma)) are very busy.

This past Saturday was a busy (and exciting) day for us. The Mister and I woke early, let the dogs out, drove North, encountered rain and sunshine and got to Pasadena to enjoy the final day of Rose Parade float road testing before the actual parade (photos at the end of this post) and then drove North on Arroyo Seco, headed East on Orange Grove and saw this signage…and had to stop.

I liked the font…and right there on the corner of Orange Grove and North Los Robles, an angled building, to allow for drive through access while ordering from the passenger side of your vehicle-

Dena Burgers looked like a place to investigate.

Walk in, order and pay at one window,

and pick up at the other window.

We decided to go by the name of the place, and ordered a Breakfast Burger ($5.25)- a 1/4 pound burger, egg, cheese, lettuce, tomato and hash browns on a toasted bun. It was large and tasty, but kind of dry and we each added some ketchup at some point in eating our respective half.
A Machaca and eggs plate ($5.50) as well as some very good (Gavina) coffee completed this meal. The fresh tomato and crisp bell pepper as well as onion cooked with eggs and beef to a crusty brown, was really good (The salsa and onions on top were added from the condiment bar at the pick up window). The rice and beans were unusually tasty and the fresh, warm corn tortillas were a bonus.

Dena Burgers 445 E. Orange Grove Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91104 (626) 792-7035

When we finished, we walked across the parking lot to this grocery store.

Baja Ranch Supermarket was magical. I didn't take many photos inside, because it was quite crowded. There is a large steam tray area, deli area, excellent meat/poultry/seafood selection, tortilleria, bakery and produce area. There were extensive displays of chiles being sold here- dried in bags, in bulk and fresh. There items sold here include Mexican as well as Peruvian, Cuban and Salvadorean…and some American staples. We spent $21 and filled five cloth bags we had brought from home (this part of LA County charges for grocery bags).

Baja Ranch Supermarket 475 Orange Grove Blvd, Pasadena 91101 website

We continued East, got to Sierra Madre Boulevard and

stopped at the Pasadena Farmers Market again.

We chose a few seasonal items…

Pasadena Certified Farmers Market, Sierra Madre at Paloma, next to Pasadena High School website

Then we headed East on the 210…and, remembering that H Mart was opening in San Diego that day, decided to check out what we figured would be an uncrowded H-Mart located close to where we were…

Upon entering the Diamond Bar location of a Super H Mart and turning to the right,

we encountered a large Food Court area… which included this little franchise-Deli Manjoo

which has a window where you can watch this conveyor belt baking system making sweet treats. We were given samples fresh off the griddle! You can get a mix of eight for $3…

You can see the walnut shapes are filled with red bean paste as well as a walnut. For Lucky Fish we chose two filled with custard and two filled with cream cheese. Deli Manjoo Website

We also picked up savory treats at The Tous les Jours franchise. Excellent and so very fresh! The young ladies working here were very helpful and the selection was amazing. Website

There were other vendors in the food court area..and small shopping areas on other walls of this large store- then there was the H-Mart store itself.

Clean, fresh, friendly. One thing we noticed that the ladies giving samples were set up at the aisle ends, which were specifically sample areas- outlets on the floor so electric pans could be easily heated for sampling. Combined with the available items in the 'regular' food aisles, H Mart is a great store. I can't wait to visit "ours". Generic H Mart website link.

Since it is Thanksgiving, we needed to pick up our smoked ham, or "meat by the side of the road" as I have fondly termed it.
Once again, the Valley Center Optimists have their trailer set up in front of Fat Ivor's and are selling smoked hams (whole and half) for Thanksgiving. They will also be selling hams for Christmas and Easter. We wait for this time of year to be able to purchase this ham.
Here is a cross section view of the smoked half ham ($35). My friend from Valley Center, Ms. T., picked hers up and warmed it so The Mister and I could have a slice when we drove by to pick up ours. Valley Center Optimists 760-390-4173

Oh. So this day began with the last day to see 2013 Rose Parade floats do their final road test of the year. I've posted about previous road test days…all the floats need to pass three tests before being allowed to drive down Pasadena streets on New Years Day.

When we got here, the Lions Club float was finishing the test drive.

The Honda float, very long and intricately detailed was parked and waiting in line to be tested. Those are steps leading to a slide that people will be sliding on during the five mile long parade route.
Here's a better view of the slide.
Here's an unusual view of another float…

and another float from a high viewpoint…

and here is another perspective of the front of the Honda float (see the slide?).

Those viewpoints are from above ground, because I was standing on-ON- the front of The Lutheran Hour float! Yes, The Mister and I were asked to participate in the road test and fire drill.

Here's the float after the fire drill. It had started to rain when we were testing…but had to pretend there was a fire anyhow.

We've never made a "Bucket List" of things we wanted to do, but if we had, this would've been on it- and checked off!

If anyone wants to know about volunteering to decorate a Rose Parade float, information is available HERE.

I hope everyone has a non-hectic week ahead.

#GoBlue

Roadtrip: China Islamic Restaurant – Rosemead (Los Angeles)

November 11, 2012 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

Both the Missus and I have a special place in our hearts for Northern style Islamic Chinese. The Missus even worked at the well known, but now closed Tung Lai Shun which was a fixture in Focus Plaza in San Gabriel for a short while. We used to eat at VIP Restaurant a couple of blocks from where we lived in Rowland Heights, several owners ago, when it was still Halal, and before they started serving "Jung Hwa Yori" (Sino-Chinese/Korean Chinese) dishes.

On a recent roadtrip, the Missus and I planned three stops, and decided to start at the very old school China Islamic on Garvey.

I was told a few years back that this place has been around for probably 20 years or so and after entering the fairly dark restaurant, I gotta say, it's starting to look it. The tables have that unique "San Gabriel sticky" feeling to them, which I actually have some fondness for……

Since the Missus doesn't eat beef, pork, or chicken nowadays, this was almost the perfect menu for us. Historically, many of these restaurants served a dual population, those that ate following certain dietary restrictions and the Chinese. So you'd have to look through the menu and bypass the chow mein, beef broccoli, and stuff like that to get to the heart of the cuisine. I'm not sure if China Islamic serves Halal, I didn't see it noted anywhere.

Of course we needed a lamb dish. Instead of the usual lamb with scallions, I went with lamb with sa cha sauce, basically a dried seafood, chili shallot, garlic, and oil sauce, often called "sa-te" sauce, but which has nothing to do with Southeast Asian sate sauce.

In retrospect, I should have ordered the classic lamb with scallions. Though the meat was on the chewy side, we both loved the really gamey flavor. We were indeed eating lamb. The flavor of the sauce was very mild, watered-down, and almost too slimy for us. The presentation brought back memories…."what presentation" you might ask? Exactly….no presentation…..

Next up was the crispy duck.

For some reason, we've had some pretty good fried duck in Islamic Chinese joints and this was no exception. This was the best dish we had during our visit. Though everything was just dumped on a plate, the duck wasn't greasy, the skin was light and crisp. It could have used a bit more in the flavoring department, or at least have some pepper-salt or sauce. As served it was pretty plain.

I actually went ahead and made fried duck sisig with the leftovers….which tasted really good.

One of the reasons we came here was for Suan Cai Yang Rou, preserved vegetable and lamb hot pot. For some reason, this has become one of my "comfort dishes". My Chinese friends find it amusing that I really enjoy this dish, which historically used the fatty parts of the lamb and napa cabbage that had been preserved to last over the winter….in other words, it's "poor people food".

The first thing the Missus lamented was the lack of frozen tofu in the dish……tofu, when frozen then thawed becomes sponge-like and really absorbs all the flavor. But most of all, this wasn't ready for prime time. Everything had just been put together, so the broth had no flavor and the meat was really tough. We ended up taking almost all of this home. We bought some tofu at Hong Kong Market and put it into the freezer when we got home. By the next day, the sour flavors of the suancai had permeated the broth and also helped to tenderize the lamb.

Overall, we felt this was pretty pricey at over $45. We'd heard that service here was on the rude side, but I tend to think that it's more of an "all business attitude". The two guys that served us were efficient and actually quite nice. Still, I don't think we'll be back, I think the suan cai yang rou at Tianjin Bistro is much better.

China Islamic Restaurant
7727 Garvey Ave
Rosemead, CA 91770

2013 Rose Parade Float Road Test-and breakfast at Euro Pane Bakery (Pasadena)

October 28, 2012 Cathy Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy do things and eat, just like you. Today Cathy is writing about why, where and what she had for breakfast.

As you (may) know, The Mister and I grew up back East watching the Rose Parade from our snow covered homes on January 1 (or 2nd, if the 1st was a Sunday) for most of our childhood. At some point, we were able to fulfill one of our "when I grow up" goals. We have volunteered decorating floats for a few years now and know that the parade does not happen overnight. Planning for next year starts almost as soon as the parade ends. One of many steps is the "road test" of the floats. I've posted about the July and the August road tests from this year and skipped writing a post in September, but did, once again, wake at 4 a.m. (so the dogs could all be let out) before leaving our home in East County so as to be on Raymond Street in Pasadena at 7 a.m. to view the floats. We did it all over again on Saturday. So, here are some photos of the September and October road testing..and our breakfast.

The Banner Float-the first one you'll see, showing the Theme of the 2013 parade. It will have so many different items to match and contrast all the colors painted on here as guidelines.

The LAX float was just a shell of rebar in August. That's the new Tom Bradley Terminal, which will open in March.

The HGTV float last time was kind of difficult to picture, but now, all the different home styles are clear.

This little guy, in his own home, will be on the "camera" side of the float.

So those were the 'completed' floats from September.

After we saw all the road testing, once again, we stopped at Lucky Boy and pretty much ordered what apparently has become our "usual". I didn't think you'd be interested in another post, especially containing the same meal…

But I did think you might be interested in seeing a September road test of the rebar-only floats and the resulting October completed floats…

All we knew about this float was that it was the Farmers Insurance Group entry in the parade. It looks like some sort of centerpiece or that something will be featured on the top of the vessel.

It turns out that one lucky couple will be getting married on this float during the parade! (There was a contest to pick the couple, entries ended October 14). The people are on the float to test how it moves/turns with weight, as there will be people riding on the float during the parade.

In September, seeing this…

pulling this, with our only clue being this was the RFD-TV float, had us guessing what was what (other than we knew the front item was a tractor).

Amber waves of grain- so surprised to see such a beautiful result.

Here's the "camera" view…

The Donate Life float appears to be one long mobius ribbon forming hearts along the float. The riders will all be recipients or families of organ donors, as always.

<–This is a closer look at the float, while the riders were exiting on a fire drill.

There was only one 'bare' float being tested and I'll save it for next time. (Hint: Honda)

After this early day, we headed out to seek breakfast 'somewhere on Colorado Boulevard'.

and since it was before 9 a.m., only had to look where we saw vehicles parked…and Euro Pane Bakery looked like a nice place.

Not very large inside (I counted 12 two person tables, and one that could seat eight). When we arrived, only five tables were occupied.

The two photos show all of the display cases and breads available (those are very large macarons in the photo above). Of course, I didn't want any sweets, and chose a slice of spinach quiche:

It came with a currant filled eggy roll… fresh-soft and lightly chewy, which went well with the unsalted butter.

The quiche is very spinach-y, without addition of other flavorings (i.e., no onion or nutmeg). The custard part of the quiche was smooth and eggy, like flan (there was an opposite of a custard:spinach ratio in the pieces near the edge). The crust was light and flaky…and gosh, so fresh.

The Mister saw this item on the counter and asked what it was and the nice Lady said "ham and cheese". Turns out there was also bacon, onions and carrot inside this fresh, crispy crust. It was very much like an Alsace Onion Tart (or the Tarte d'Alsace sold at Trader Joe's), but rolled and inside a crust. The onion was a carmelized sweet and inoffensive (The Mister only eats onions if they are battered and fried or in French onion soup and he did eat some of these, although a nice stack was on the side of the plate when we traded.).

Both items were heated-in an oven in back-for us and brought out to our table. Heating made the flavors even better. I neglected to take the receipt and only know that these two items plus one coffee cost a bit less than $13. I must say the quality was there and the sandwich menu board looked extremely interesting…and now I wish I had grabbed a sweet, or a loaf of bread…

Euro Pane Bakery 950 East Colorado Boulevard, Suite 107 Pasadena, CA 91106 (626) 577-1828