Markets & Grocers – Page 25

Honolulu: Whole Foods Kahala, Ono Seafood, Tamura’s Kaimuki, Take’s Fish Market, Mini-Garden, and dinner

December 9, 2012 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Honolulu, Japanese Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, Oahu, Plate Lunch, Poke

I won't go into great detail about planning or trip; you can read a bit more in my previous post.

During my last trip, I noticed a lot of construction was taking place on a huge lot on Keaunui Drive. My in-laws live about a ten minute walk away. On this trip we saw that one of the "mega-Safeways" had opened on the property. I thought this was great, with more choices, and maybe with a better fish department than the nearby Foodland. Unfortunately, like Foodland, this place serves up carbon monoxide treated ahi….bummer. I guess we'll stick with Tanioka's. We were pretty much pooped and didn't do much the first evening.

But we headed out early the next morning. In all honesty, I'm not the biggest fan of Whole Foods. I did however, relish the opportunity to check out the Kahala location. I wanted the Missus to have a chance to grab some local produce. I was pleasantly surprised to see a really impressive looking food bar area……

This used to be the location of Star Market in Kahala Mall, which sadly closed in 2007.

It didn't seem like we'd have any time to visit a farmer's market on Oahu, so this seemed a decent option. Of course, driving from Ewa Beach on a week day morning wasn't exactly the most wonderful thing in the world….

This was of course, Whole Foods, and the pricing reflected that. I'm not a big fan of the prepared and hot foods, many of which I find on the bland side. But the choice of all the local vegetables was very nice. The Missus and I had sort of a breakfast with stuff like Sumida Farms watercress and Ho Farms Tomatoes.

The Missus just loved the watercress and we bought some stuff for dinner.

Whole Foods Market
Kahala Mall Shopping Center
4211 Waialae Ave, Ste 2000
Honolulu, HI 96816

Our next stop was set to be Tamura's Kaimuki, but their poke department doesn't open until 1030, so we decided to get something to eat. Well, we already did breakfast, so I guess we need to call this brunch?

We headed down to Ono Seafood and decided to share a poke bowl. We went with a "combo" poke bowl; for 50 cents more ($7.50), you get two different poke. The one item that I enjoy eating brown rice with is poke….the Missus loves the "brown rice revolution".

The fish here has been sparkling fresh on all our visits. The poke is not over-sauced and the texture of the fish is not compromised. The Missus really enjoyed the wasabi version of the ahi poke, while I liked the less heavily flavored "Hawaiian" style, with inamona adding a bit of nuttiness, and limu for some crunch. All the juice from the poke flavored the rice nicely, though the Missus has a bit of an issue with putting cold raw fish on top of hot rice…… I on the other hand have no such qualms……

Ono Seafood
747 Kapahulu Ave.Apt 4
Honolulu, HI 96816

We then headed back up the hill to Tamura's.

For some smoked tako, smoked fish, and some other stuff for dinner.

Tamura's Fine Wines & Liquors
3496 Waialae Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816

We decided to make one more eating stop….. We've done breakfast and brunch, so I guess this one is officially lunch? Anyway we headed to Mapunapuna and the former location of 99 Ranch Market. I'd always thought this was a weird location for a market and 99 Ranch Market didn't last that long. It's now a sort of food court with some shops….great for the working folks in the area. Though it still looks kind of seedy…..

**** Both Take's and Mini Garden Express have closed

I'd heard about a little place that makes a nice take-out chirashi with decent quality fish, called Take's Fish Market.

The place is run by a very nice older Japanese couple. They seem very mild mannered, even shy. I ordered the Kaisen Chirashi and was told it was going to be about 10 minutes. So while the Missus walked around I waited a while and actually saw them cut my fish fresh.

I then went for a walk and got the Missus to order something for me from another stand (see below). When I got back, my bowl was ready.

The shari (sushi rice) was prepared decently, not too sour or wet. The fish was very fresh, the hamachi impeccable. By no means is this an earth-shattering chirashi……but looking at the quality and price ($9.95), this is pretty darn good. I really can't, by any means, call this fast food. If I worked around here, I'd be having this just about every week.

Take's Fish Market
1151 Mapunapuna St
Honolulu, HI 96819

While waiting for my chirashi, the Missus and I took a walk. It was just after 11 and this place was packed.

The place was doing major business! Looking at the food the other folks were eating, I could tell….this ain't Panda Express. So I got the missus to order me something while I went back to see if my chirashi was ready.

What the missus ordered for me was the Roast Duck Pan Fried Noodles ($7.95). The Missus handed the styrofoam container over to me and I was surprised at its heft. Opening up I noticed that man, this place really packed it in.

The Missus loved the gooey sauce on the vegetables….mostly napa cabbage. There was a good amount of crisp noodles, one of my favorite thing. I found the sauce more like a fairly bland gravy which needed some flavor. The duck was super meaty and wasn't too salty, though it was on the mild side with regards to anything resembling five-spice or bean paste flavor.

Still, this is a load of food……..we had half of it left for dinner.

Mini Garden Express
1151 Mapunapuna St
Honolulu, HI 96819

Speaking of dinner……..it seemed like the Missus could not get enough watercress. We bought some Sumida Farms watercress and Ho Farms tomatoes and made a salad….and drizzled on a bit of soy and sesame oil for flavor.

Along with the stuff from Tamura's.

The smoked tako seemed a bit too sweet for our tastes.

The smoked marlin, which the Missus loved so much that I had to bring some home with me during my last trip, has somehow fallen out of favor with Her.

Turns out that the Missus prefers the stuff I now make at home. Of course it's made with Her taste preferences in mind.

The pipikaula was decent….not too tough, not overly salty.

I could eat a whole container of pickled garlic…..really.

While the Missus could do the same with tako wasabi……

While writing this I realized that we really packed it in…….though if you look through, we shared our food and never ate too much. We really enjoyed this type of "grazing"……..

We crashed fairly early, we'd bee headed to the Big Island the next day.

Thanks for reading!

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

H Mart opens in San Diego

November 17, 2012 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants, Markets & Grocers

I'd gotten quite a few emails from folks since the post about H Mart opening in San Diego. It seems to have created a bit of a buzz……..which was enough to actually get my crowd-o-phobic rear end down to H Mart today….opening day. Predictably, the place was packed, so I'm going to do mainly photos with this post. It'll be easier to see what this location of H Mart has to offer once the masses are gone.

We managed to pick up some prepared food which was pretty bland….especially the Japchae. The kimchi station wasn't ready yet upon this visit, probably by design.

They use all the marketing tricks in the book, from misting…….

To open prep stations……

To my disappointment, there's only a tiny little food court with looks like a single booth in the market.

The Missus was really impressed with the availability of organic and vegetarian products….. She's really into tempeh now and told me the selection and of course the prices were much better than Whole Paycheck. I wouldn't know…..

Decent seafood department…..

There was a nice selection of meat, with American Wagyu chuck roll and ribs available. I'm going to have to spend a bit more time here when things normalize.

We didn't even bother with Paris Baguette as the line was crazy long…….

In spite of the masses, every cashier station was open, so it was really fast once you got past the logjams at produce, the food court, meat, and seafood. I'm sure folks are happy to have another option in San Diego. Though not everyone looked thrilled……

As could be predicted, parking was an absolute nightmare….we parked on the street and walked into the mall. I'll do a folllow-up post in a couple of weeks when things slow down a bit.

H Mart
9440 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Tip Top Meats- a breakfast revisit

October 22, 2012 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, German Restaurants and Food, Markets & Grocers, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!! the blog with percolating posts. Today, Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are busy and Cathy is posting about a North County restaurant inside a grocery store.

Well, another year has passed and The Mister and I celebrated our eight days of birthday with many meals. (Our birthdays are seven days apart, and celebrating on the day of and on the day of makes it eight days when we deliberately do something a bit out of the ordinary.) For one breakfast, we drove to Carlsbad and Tip Top Meats, a German grocery store, which has a nice restaurant inside.
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Yes, I've written only one post on Tip Top, coincidentally a birthday breakfast, even though we have enjoyed many lunches and dinners here. Vicky also wrote a post, which included some other menu items.

There is a small list of some meal items, located at the entrance.

Once inside, the grocery store is overflowing with various German and European sundries, condiments and side dishes. The vast meat counters are filled with a wide array of fresh meat choices-

-as well as smoked meats. We passed this area quickly, as there was no line at the cash register for the restaurant, ordered, paid and chose a place to sit.

The condiments on each table include mustard choices along with the usual catsup, Tapatio and A-1.

Soon, our meals were brought to us. The Mister ordered the Big John Breakfast ($7.98) Three eggs (over easy), potatoes and all you want meat. This first meat selection was the breakfast sausage and bacon.

Later, Polish sausage and Bratwurst were choices. (Ham, the other meat choice, wasn't ordered this day)

I decided to go all out and ordered the steak and eggs ($8.98) Two eggs, poached, and a Delmonico cut of steak, cooked rare-medium. Of course, we each asked for rye toast.

Very nicely poached eggs…the yolk was fresh, velvety,wonderful.

You can see the rare cooked,very tender cut of dry grilled steak in this photo. A perfect breakfast!

On the way out, we stopped at my favorite aisle, all licorice…my weakness…so many choices, all good.

Tip Top Meats 6118 Paseo del Norte Carlsbad 92011 (760)438-2620 Website

Tunisia: Market day in Tataouine

October 13, 2012 mmm-yoso Desserts, Markets & Grocers, Travel, Tunisia, Tunisian Food

We left Ksar Ghilane early in them morning. We were headed to the final stop on our private tour, the island of Djerba. There would be a couple of stops along the way. We were headed to the town of Tataouine….yes, for those Star Wars fans, there really is a city name Tataouine. We traveled through some pretty inhospitable areas…..and yet, people have been living here for centuries. We passed by several ruins of Roman fortifications along the way.

Outside of Tataouine are several Berber hill villages. The most popular is called Chenini….yep, there's the Star Wars connection again. The village is known for it's distinctive white Mosque up on the hill.

We took about an hour to walk around the village. Many of the older homes built into the hillside had been abandoned and turned into storage.

Soon enough we made our way back to our transport and headed off to Tataouine. Since it was market day, the place was hopping.

Ben walked us to this little bakery.

Like Kairouan and Makroud, Tataouine also has it's special pastry called Corne de Gazelle, the gazelle's horn.

The pastry is in the shape of a gazelle's horn. I thought this was very nicely flavored, almonds and sesame seeds gave the confection a nice nuttiness. Like almost all classic Tunisian desserts the pastry was doused with a nice bit of honey. The Missus didn't care for it….I'm thinking it was the sesame seeds.

While Ben had a seat at one of the coffee shops, the Missus and I started walking around the market area. Here are some photos.

You know what this shop sells, right?

I was really enjoying the coffee culture in Tunisia and we decided to take a break at one of the coffee houses….it was a nice stop and gave us some time to take in the environment and people watch. They call espresso "cafe express" in Tunisia.

It was pretty calm driving from here on out, as we made our way to the island of Djerba. Soon we were driving over the causeway to Djerba which was the last leg of our tour. It had been a pretty hectic couple of days, but I was glad we did this…..there's just so much history in Tunisia.

Shopping and eating in the Market-99Ranch

September 17, 2012 Cathy Markets & Grocers

Welcome back to our blog named mmm-yoso!!! Kirk is still a bit overwhelmed with things happening, ed (from Yuma) is also dealing with whelming. Cathy is underwhelmed so has blogged this post for you.

For some time now, I've posted about local grocery stores where I shop which have in store prepared food areas. All of them do, you know. 99Ranch is no exception, other than it is also a very large chain, with 36 stores in Northern and Southern California, Washington, Nevada and Texas.

There is only one location in San Diego on Clairmont Mesa Boulevard, just East of the 805. It's pretty much a compendium of Asian canned and bottled foods and condiments, snacks and sundries.

It sells the usual and unusual fruits and vegetables and fruits, dairy products, meats, rice, noodles, soy based 'meats' and pickled everything.

There are eight live fish tanks,

a very good variety of whole fish and

also fish steaks are available.

The store is currently undergoing a step by step remodel, with new flooring, adding open freezer areas, new doored freezers…

The bakery area has temporarily moved (where the Soup Lady used to be) and is much nicer than the old area, with new display cases. We've notice new shelving and a rearrangement of the regular grocery aisle, which have been shortened to allow for the new freezers parallel to the meat and seafood cases.

In any case, the Steam Tray/ready to eat area is not yet updated. I posted about the food from this steam table area in 2007 and suppose it's time for an update, although not much has changed.

Nor has the Dim Sum area.

The roast chicken and duck area remains next to the cash register…

There are still Monday thru Friday combination specials, now $3.49. You can see they are subject to change.

This area, where beverage and soup orders are made and the open refrigerators have snacks is now the temporary bakery area from the above new bakery photo.

One day the soup was on special for $2.99. It had five shrimp and pork dumplings along with the noodles and bok choy, all cooked after you had paid and presented your reciept. It was very good. I hope the nice Soup Lady area returns; it was sad to not see her the other day.

This was a Monday Special ($3.49) the fish filet with sauce (the sign says tomato sauce, but this was a sweet and sour sauce) with rice. Good and crisp. Turnover is very quick here and nothing from the steam trays is ever old or stale.

This was a Friday Special ($3.49) and was supposed to be beef stew, but I don't think that meat is beef. In any case, it was a very good sauce over nice (not mushy) vegetables (the sauce is not sweet and not too salty/does not need any condiment added).

I always like the chicken roll wrapped in tofu ($3.50). It's quite large in the tray and is cut to fit into the box once you order it. Perfectly seasoned. No carbs!

One of the grab and go snacks, the Vegetarian Spicy Sauce, is usually a take home item, but one day I decided to buy it and have it as a side, with an a la carte…

Fried whole tilapia ($3.50). It made a nice meal.

Here's my obligatory fish carcass photo.

99Ranch is in a good, central location and the in store food court area serves some very good food. Shopping here is always an adventure, with so many items available. I hope everyone is having a good week!

99Ranch Market 7330 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard, San Diego 92111 (858) 974-8899 website

Sunday Stuffs: North Park Produce coming to Clairemont, Birrieria’s la Guadalajara closes, and other stuffs

September 2, 2012 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers

North Park Produce coming to Clairemont:

I went for my recycling run today and noticed this sign in the strip mall on the corner of Balboa and Clairemont Drive:

Can I get a big "ALRIGHT"! I'm looking forward to this.

The address is:

4220 Balboa Ave

Birrieria's la Guadalajara closes:

I was told about this a few weeks ago. We drove down to Chula Vista this past weekend, for some fish tacos and grocery shopping. Stopped by to confirm that sadly, one of our favorites has indeed closed. Too bad, we enjoyed quite a few meals there. Even if the birria wasn't the best, the borrego a la plancha, tacos rojo, cabeza en su jugo, were quite good. As were the hand made tortillas.

Bummer……

1310 Third Ave
Chula Vista, CA 91911

We also checked out the Northgate Market on Third Avenue…..and saw these giant mutant sweet potatoes. I placed a large orange (no, that's not a lime) for a size comparison.

Saw this woman treating her fairly good sized pooch like a baby in the parking lot of Balboa Market…loading in groceries by hand while carrying the dog with the other.

Some folks sure love their dogs!

Hope you're having a great Labor Day weekend!

Saturday Stuffs: Gifts from a fellow blogger, we needed a new cleaver, almost impulse buys from Thuan Phat, and recently consumed……

August 25, 2012 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers, yoso-silly

Gifts from a fellow food blogger:

During our lunch at Moby Dick (insert punch line), fellow food blogger Canine Cologne, "CC" to me, generously gave us a goody bag of swag……

I gotta say….this was some really yummy stuff. The Missus really loved the smoked mussels and the tuna!

Thanks as always for your generosity CC, it's always a pleasure seeing you!

We said we needed a new cleaver……

Actually, the Missus mentioned this to my MIL. So when the D's visited, guess what we got? Well, not one…but three cleavers from China! Thanks to MrD Sr.

One daily use, lighter weight…a medium weight, and one that's super heavy and perfect for chopping up bones among other things. We really appreciate the gifts!

The brand is Wang Ma Zi which is one of those "time honored brands". Really good knives, the Missus loves the everyday cleaver, which I got good and sharp.

Someone asked me how I keep my knives sharp….so sharp that PeterL was kind of afraid to use them. A sharp knife cuts cleanly and is safer to use than a dull one that slips around. I have a Smith Abrasives Tri Hone that I really like along with a steel and a whetstone I've had for decades.

Recently seen at Thuan Phat:

The Missus has taken to shopping at Thuan Phat…..well, at least every once in a while. She likes thevariety; the place is much less "pungent" then Vien Dong was, and we do find items that catch our interest once in a while, helping to make the sometimes mundane task of shopping a bit more fun. I recently used up the last of the palm sugar we brought back from Cambodia, so I needed to restock. It had been so long since I last shopped for the stuff that I was surprised to find jars with tablespoon sized disks of palm sugar available. For those that have wrestled with the large blocks/discs of hard as rock palm sugar, this stuff is great. A drop of water and 10-15 seconds in the microwave and it becomes very soft.

There were a couple of items that caught my eye during shopping. Even though I have no use for it, this was almost irresistible.

First, I wondered if it really smelled like durian…..of course I'm not going to be dumb enough to open it in the store! Can you imagine….or worse, what if I spilled it? Gives new meaning to "clean-up in aisle five". Still, if your coffee smells kind of odd next time…..

Recently Consumed:

I saw some nice watercress at the Linda Vista Farmer's Market and thought it had been a while since I made Luang Prabang Salad (Nyam Salat). That's basically why I needed the palm sugar.

Even though I hadn't made it in a while, it turned out well….the Missus got a kick out of the presentation. It's kind of an inside joke with us.

We' ve found that taking sometime to make your meal look a little more….well, pretty enhances the meal…even Sun Brand Cold Noodles……

The lemongrass chicken at Yum Cha Cafe is $3.99 for a half chicken and it's probably the best BBQ item they have. It does tend to dry out, so buy it intact and cut it up at home.

Funny thing is…the Missus is starting to text me photos of Her breakfasts when I'm at work……

Road Trip-Pasadena. ( 2013 Rose Parade floats, Lucky Boy for Breakfast, shopping at Wholesome Choice)

August 19, 2012 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, Festivals & Events, Markets & Grocers

Hello. This is mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. We write about food: eating food, cooking food and adventures related to food. Cathy is posting today: Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are busy doing something related to food.

Last month, I posted about a road trip The Mister and I made to watch Rose Parade floats having a road test. This past Saturday, we woke early (4 a.m.) and drove North, (leaving around 5 a.m.) and around 7 a.m., parked a block from Raymond Street,

where we could walk to a Starbucks and then continue across the Gold Line Trolley tracks

and be on Raymond Street, where the floats were already lined up and on their road tests.

The Shriner's float is painted-marked with all the areas ready to be covered by flowers. It should be magnificent.

The City of Los Angeles float will be an ode to LAX- the major airport and hub where many of us have connected.

It will be promoting the new Tom Bradley International Terminal which will open early in 2013.
The City of Alhambra float is complete and that center has a working fountain!

It looks like the City of Glendale float has 'searchlights' lighting the sky.

The HGTV float, which has also been welded in the last month, has many types of houses on it- I see a bird house and igloo shape and the back house in this photo is lowered, as part of the testing to see that it will fit under the street and signal lights along the Rose Parade route.

The Trader Joe's float, which was only a rebar outline in the July road testing, is complete and so detailed with many moving parts. This is the view of it you won't see- the side which will be away from the television cameras.

From this camera side view, you can see the giant orange thing is an espresso machine, a few more details and also that a 'gravy boat' is following the larger boat of a float…and the back of the main float has a hand mixer (with spinning blades) and cracked eggs, and appears to have been blending up a fluffy meringue at the back of the boat.

Here's a little more detail at the center: a hand held can opener is in front of the espresso machine and under the open cookbook. This float is most certain to win a prize; it is unique and so well done.

So after we viewed these seven floats, The Mister and I walked back across Arroyo and North a block and we were once again at Lucky Boy.

(This is the view from the Trader Joe's)

Once again, creature of habit, I ordered the egg sandwich ($3.25) but neglected to ask for it on rye bread, and it was on white toast..not bad and still filling, it's just that I really like rye toast. I swear it is three scrambled eggs.

The Mister tried the bacon burrito this time, and I wanted you to see the grill marks on the tortilla, as well as the amount of filling which really does make it weigh around a pound- cheese, hash browns, eggs and …bacon!

We did walk over to the Trader Joe's and purchased some Goddess salad dressing, which I had read about (it is good; has tahini, soy and garlic). Then we were headed home, and decided to drive on the 210 toward Interstate 15 for our trip South…

knowing that if we took the 210 to the 57 to the 71 and went West on 91 (instead of East, which goes to the 15) and three or four exits, we would be at the Anaheim Hills location of Wholesome Choice, a fascinating Market which I posted about more than two years ago.

The store has good prices and selection of fruits and vegetables

as well as several areas of various ethnic cuisines in steam trays for easy grab and go.

as well as gelato,

and six glassed bakery cases…

There is also the area I migrated to- the olives (although those figs stuffed with coconut on the left caught my eye)…

and the various house prepared salads, including hummus and baba ganoosh, which were purchased…

along with *hot* out of the oven, almost three feet long, just baked , placed on a piece of brown paper

sesame covered, spongy soft, bubbled and a little burned fresh Sangak bread ($2.79). The bread lasted four meals, only because we resisted tearing off pieces while driving home.

We were home by 12:30 and had a great Saturday adventure. I hope all of you did, too.

Lucky Boy Drive In 640 S. Arroyo Parkway Pasadena, CA 91105Website It is closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, otherwise it's open.

Wholesome Choice 5755 East La Palma Anaheim Hills, CA 92807 (Open 7-11 daily) (Food Court area open 11-8 daily) website

Valley Foods Mediterranean Market- Eat in the store, shop in the store(revisit)

July 29, 2012 Cathy Markets & Grocers, Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome(back) to our food blog. Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy usually blog in this space. Today, it's Cathy's turn.

Hi again. I've posted about Valley Foods, a small grocery store in El Cajon, run by a group of refugees from Iraq, two times now. It's turned into a regular stop for The Mister and I, for both a quick lunch and a place to do some interesting shopping.

When you walk in, just to the left are six tables and steam trays, with a price list above the trays. You order, pay and have a seat. (There are three cash registers straight ahead when you walk in)

The steam tray area is always interesting. The weekly specials, with even better prices, are listed in the area below the trays.

One day, we tried the lamb shank meal ($7.99) We were asked which rice we wanted to go with the shank and chose this one, which had bulgur and vermicelli. Then the nice lady put some scoops of a tomato and onion sauce on the grain mix before putting the large and moist lamb shank on top of it all.

We were also asked which soup we wanted to go with and chose this spinach-tomato soup, which was really good.

Another day, we chose the fried fish filet meal (also $7.99). This was tilapia, lightly breaded with corn meal and place on saffron rice. This came with the Iraq salad- chopped cucumber and tomatoes in a simple olive oil and lemon dressing and steamed vegetables. The squeeze bottles of pink liquid on the tables, the only condiment other than salt and pepper, is red wine vinegar. I use that with the vegetables as well as the rice after eating about half of it 'plain'.

The masgoof-prepared whole tilapia ($6.99) is in the steam table just like this and this is what you get. The whole fish, split and grilled with a whole onion and a whole tomato, also grilled. Usually one of us goes into the store and buys a piece of bread to go with this filling, simple meal.

The kabobs are always fresh and moist. They used to be 99¢ each, but in July the price changed to $1.15 for the chicken and $1.25 for the beef. Very much worth it. Even if you order just one, you get a side of sliced raw onion topped with sumac in the tray.

Here is a cross section photo of the kabobs. You can see some of the herbs which are mixed with the ground meats before grilling. I really like the kabobs here, not only moist, but so flavorful- and large. If we order five, we end up taking two home for dinner.

The chicken schawarma plate ($7.95). I mentioned in one of my other posts about the spits in the back cooking schawarma. This is an easy way to get more than a sandwich. The moist, grilled meat is a hefty portion and comes with lettuce, tomato, house made pickles and house made hummus and a small, hot piece of flat bread, which is made in the store.

As mentioned, we are here to shop also. Walking just past the steam trays is a glass case selling a few lunch meats, like all beef Mortadella, many types of olives, some pickled vegetables and various Feta cheeses. Right next to that case is this open case, selling grab and go items. A few are the same as offered on the steam trays, at the same prices.

Right across from that open refrigerator is this case, which has salads, the house made hummus, house made eggplant dip (that's what they call it, it is not labeled as baba ganoosh) and -the reason I am here at least once a week- house made yoghurt. Each is sold by the pound and I crave the yogurt. It is unlike any yoghurt I have ever tasted. There is a definite 'burned' or smoke flavor to it, along with an initial 'tang' that I just love.

Then there is the texture. You can see the 'skin' that was formed on top of this first scoop taken from the container. The yogurt is thick but not smooth. I always buy a container when here. The price is about $2.59/pound; worth it.

Along the back wall, just next to the open grab and go foods is the bakery. There are fresh sammoon rolls sold in bins just past this area (small, 11¢ each, large 30¢ each). At the end of this sweets display area you may get lucky and see a line of people standing and looking through that door right there. That's where the bread oven is located. If there isn't any fresh bread cooling, then someone is stretching and pulling dough, placing it on the rounded, flat pillow-like paddle and bending over, slapping the bread onto the wall of the hot oven and in less than a minute, grabbing it with long tongs after asking you how many and "white or wheat?" (If there is no line, there is a bell on top of the counter that you can ring to get the Baker's attention)

In a few seconds, the large, hot bread is folded and placed in a paper bag and handed to you. This is a large paper bag and the bread is folded twice.

Here is an unfolded white bread on the stove at home. It covers both right burners, the center burner and part of the left burners-18-ish inches around.

Oh. One piece is 99 cents.

Here is a photo of the wheat bread with a small container of the house made eggplant dip- which also has that smoke flavor-showing a size comparison.

Anyhow, in addition to these prepared foods, the store has a few aisles of basics, a small meat department and even smaller fish selection and a small vegetable department, some bulk bins of grains and sweets. It's a nice, not fancy, local place and I hope everyone has the chance to shop like this near their home.

I hope you are having a good week!

Valley Foods 1275 East Main Street El Cajon 92021 (619) 749-8355 Website