Stuff – mmm-yoso

Oggi’s Sports/Brewhouse/Pizza (Santee)

June 4, 2024 Cathy Beer, Pizza, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is being written by Cathy today. Kirk is busy.

This is another 'not regifting a gift card' post. In addition to using 'free' money, The Mister and I decided to also get the most value by using the gift card during Happy Hour and for lunch specials.

Oggis began as a franchisee of a local pizzeria chain in Del Mar in 1991, it evolved into a sports themed restaurant and in 1995 it expanded into a microbrewery. There are now 15 franchised locations in California and one in Arizona (seven of the locations are in San Diego County).

72064782877__A7FECDAC-1E2A-4DAC-AAF9-CA2F0811B9A1 There are so many television sets in here. Each seat at each table has a view of at least two, even outside on the patio.

Here are a couple of tabletop menus.

The Mister ordered a Happy Hour Group Modelo (16 oz) for $4. I had a taste and it was nice. We were here on a Wednesday and ordered six 'wings' for $1 each (there were nine flavors (three mild, the rest indicated heat)) and we chose the Honey BBQ. Nicely sauced and topped with sesame seeds, accompanied by celery, carrots and a good housemade Ranch dip. All drums, no flats and quite a good sized serving.
The Happy Hour fried Lemon-Pepper Zucchini ($7.99) was another sizable serving. Light breading, crisp fried and not greasy, the crunch as well as the very pleasant fresh and not seedy zucchini was great tasting on its own and very pleasant with th Ranch dip and housemate marinara.

The Oggis Stix ($7.99). Pizza dough brushed with garlic olive oil and toped with mozzarella, parmesan and parsley were also served with the housemade ranch and marinara dips. This was kind of a wonderful, decadent bite. since we are watching our carbs; we did take about half of this home and it reheated well.

Here is another tabletop menu- Monday-Friday lunch from 11-2

72064803621__7D9E711E-DE70-496D-B5F4-A2CB9D34B7AE Here's a cup of potato-cheese soup (add on $2.99). This was very nice on the cool day we were here.

The half balsamic chicken salad ($9.99) was accompanied by a (giant) garlic knot; much fancier than a slice of bread. Spring mix topped with grilled chicken, candied walnuts and Gorgonzola and a house made balsamic vinaigrette.

We decided to try a half flatbread ($6.99) and chose the Charcuterie-Sopressata, Genoa Salami, pancetta, pepperoni, green onion, mozzarella and shredded parmesan. This had Oggis 'pizza sauce' instead of marinara and was a tad 'spicy' but nothing to complain about. I liked the crisp, thin crust and flavor meld.

Since the stores are franchised, prices and Specials may vary. Overall, there is great quality here.

Oggis Sports/Brewhouse/Pizza 9828 Mission Gorge Road Santee 92071 (619)449-6441 Open Sun-Tours 11-9, Fri-Sat 11-10 Website

Yoso-Silly – A Chili Crisp Comparison: Fly by Jing, Don Don Surprise, TJ’s Chili Onion Crunch, and Home Made

March 3, 2023 mmm-yoso Cooking, Stuff, yoso-silly

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but our next door neighbor who moved in several years ago is from Hawaii! She's wonderful as is her pup Kai. Her sister, who lives in West Virginia (!!!!) is a talented cook and she recently gifted us with some Chili Crisp she made when she was visiting. Needless to say the Missus loves the stuff, especially on boiled and fried eggs. So naturally, this made the Missus have me buy a couple of different brands to see how they taste.

So, I hope you don't mind a silly post for tonight comparing the various versions I recently bought.

So, left to right:

We were shopping at Marukai….the shop that used to be Marukai Living and is now Marukai "Japanese Grocery". They were having one of their rotating regional Japanese fairs and we saw some rayu that looked like Chili Crisp. I believe it's called Don Don Surprise. While shopping at Trader Joe's we picked up the Chili Onion Crunch. And while recently shopping at Costco, I came across Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp.

The Missus had been using these to flavor different things and noticed a tremendous difference in these three. So, She wanted to do a side-by-side comparison. So I made some roasted smashed baby potatoes and we had at it.

From left to right – follows the photos of the jars. The fourth is the home made version, which we actually liked for the ma-la balance and the strong garlic tones. We'll miss this when it's gone.

As for the retail versions; here's the Missus's favorites

1 – Fly by Jing – Has the most spice, you can also make out fermented black beans. This would work well on any Sichuan style dish. Good ma-la with a savory complexity as well. It's also the most expensive. Gonna love this on cold noodles when the weather gets warmer and cucumber. Not sure about putting it on Vanilla Ice Cream though?

2 – Don Don Surprise – Mildest in terms of spice, but good amount of sesame oil. There's a mild beany flavor to things and I saw Gochujang and Miso on the ingredient list. Good topping for noodle soups.

3 – Trader Joe's Chili Onion Crunch – Had the most "crunch" of them all, but wasn't very spicy, and had the least amount of complexity. Looking at the label revealed that a host of dried vegetables (dried onion, garlic, red bell peppers) provided all the crunch. But this was really weak and I probably won't be buying it again.

I'm sure we'll be trying other versions as we find them.

Have you been checking our different versions of Chili Crisps/Oil? If so, what are your favorites!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Monday Meanderings – Smack’n Guamanian Grill Coming to Miramar, No Moa’ Poke at Zarlitos, and Some Snackage

June 24, 2019 mmm-yoso Guamanian/Chamorro, Poke, Stuff

I haven't done one of these for a bit, so here are a couple of things I saw this past weekend.

Smack'n Guamanian Grill Taking Over the Bann Bann Cutlet & Teriyaki Location:

Noticed this as I drove past the old Bann Cutlet & Teriyaki location on Miramar. In case you don't know; Bann has reopened in the new H Mart.

I'll miss Bann, but it looks like some Kelaguen is coming our way?

9506 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92126

No Moa' Poke at Zarlitos:

I was hoping to grab some poke this past weekend so I drove down to Zarlitos, which I thought made some pretty decent poke, it had become a favorite of the Missus, and I enjoyed having a "Poke-silog" from time to time. First thing I noticed was a sign on the door announcing that Zarlitos was raising their prices. I walk in and quickly noticed no poke in the fridge and a sign that said there has been a management change and no more poke.

Looks like I'm going to have to work on a replacement.

Zarlitos Family Restaurant
505 East 8th St.
National City, CA 91950

And finally……

A Bit of "Snackage":

During my last trip to the SGV for an appointment; I stopped by Hong Kong Plaza, which has gone thru so many changes since we lived in the neighborhood in the late 90's. I quickly noticed how much HK Market had changed; especially the snack selection. So, when we recently drove up to the SGV for lunch (that post is coming soon), I convinced the Missus to drop by the market.

At first She wasn't too keen on the idea……but then

She saw the snacks and had a pretty good haul.

The salted egg fish skin is pretty heady stuff; deeply savory, and not cheap at almost ten bucks a package.

We did have a good time…..and because I was curious, I also got a bottle of the 3 year aged black vinegar ($8.29!!!) for my jiaozi as well.

While I was there, I actually saw a customer grab that bottle on the left, open the cap, and pop the tab to have a whiff. Sigh…..some things never change.

Hong Kong Supermarket
18414 Colima Rd #1
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Traditions- 2019 calendars, Rosca de Reyes and fresh roasted chestnuts

January 6, 2019 Cathy Bakery, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog and sometimes food is a small part of the posts. Today, it's about 2/3. Cathy is writing.

Happy New Year and thank you for the good wishes via Kirk's post. It's a time of finishing up the holiday season, rearranging and writing '2019' on paperwork. Part of my regular activity consists of acquiring new calendars from various businesses and sometimes posting about them with photos. This year is the same.
It started out slow; there were four Saturdays before Christmas in December 2018. A lot of businesses waited to do their giveaways with a purchase.

Then giveaways began en masse and my friend, cc, helped by also collecting some of the calendars from various South Bay businesses. I had told her that it was sad that our, 'regular' calendar from Orchard Supply Hardware (which closed in October) would be missing after giving away a train-centric calendar every year since 1931. She even purchased one calendar for us (the outhouse one on the bottom right corner of this last photo (it will hold a prominent place in The Mister's office). We actually needed to find space for two more calendars because now there are so many.

Within some of the above linked posts there has also been mention of Rosca de Reyes, a traditional Mexican bread shared on the 12th night after Christmas (Epiphany, January 6, Feast of Three Kings), usually while taking down Christmas decor. (In France, the traditional bread is Galette de Rois). cc and I did a small 'food crawl' the other day and stopped at three South Bay bakeries.

All of the bakeries had beautiful window art advertising the upcoming holiday.

They also had beautiful displays of the roscas for pre-ordering…
as well as plenty of samples.

However, I had already pre-ordered (as well as picked up and mailed one Rosca on Thursday) from Su Pan. I was there at 6 a.m. today.
and Roscas as well as other fresh baked sweets were everywhere, fresh and ready to be picked up.
A Grande for our neighbor and a Chica for us. Fresh..so very fresh; the car smelled great. Three slices with breakfast was perfect!

Another annual tradition is to take advantage of the freshly roasted chestnuts from in front of Lucky Seafood Market (which ran out of calendars before we got one). The little tent covering the chestnut roaster has disappeared, but the roaster, attached to a propane tank is right there at the door. (Apologies for the thumbnails, something happened with the phone update and the large size shows up sideways, but clicking on these enlarges and makes them appear upright…I don't know…).

There is one more annual tradition, which will be posted soon. Does anyone else have unusual traditions?

Tommy’s Restaurant (San Clemente) after a visit to the Mission San Juan Capistrano

May 27, 2018 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Diner, Orange County, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for reading this food blog named mmm-yoso!!! Kirk has been away for a few days, resting and Cathy has been taking some 'staycation' time and is writing today.

Having an out of town guest is always a reason to also do something out of the ordinary. We want to show friends how and where we live and not do too many typical touristy things. The Spanish Missions in California are a strong part of our history and always fascinating as well as educational. We thought a short drive up the coast would be fun. Mission San Juan Capistrano, the "loveliest of the Franciscan ruins",provided us with insight as to how the missionaries and indigenous natives lived and built their self sufficient compound, with gardens for food, vineyards (for wine used during mass), a baking area, stables and all in all a small city
with a church next to the cemetery. (This is the second church built on the grounds, the original 'Great Stone Church' with its Greco-Roman style architecture was felled by an earthquake on December 8, 1812).

A great day of walking, listening to a well recorded self guided tour and learning so much.

Mission San Juan Capistrano Website

We left just after 1 p.m. and although hungry, didn't want to stay in town, instead driving a few exits south to the signage we had seen so many times over the years.Yep. Tommy's Restaurant. We had always been curious but usually were 'almost home' so had never stopped.
The view from the parking lot is of the ocean.
Inside…well..look for yourself…

A 50's diner with beautiful upholstered booths and a fresh flower on each table. We had just missed the 'lunch rush'.
The menu accommodated each of us. The "2x2x2" breakfast ($8.99) had some really great, sweet fluffy and tender pancakes along with perfectly over easy eggs and two slices of quality, thick meaty bacon.
The Monte Cristo ($9.99 plus $1.50 for substitution of onion rings) was really well made, with plenty of ham and turkey (and melted Swiss) on a nicely fried eggy french toast. The rings were surprisingly good; whole onion slices in the crispy corn batter.
The 1/2 sandwich (with soup or salad, $7.99) was a wonderful choice. The clam chowder (soup of the day) was definitely made from scratch, had a clam juice based broth, filled with clam pieces as well as finely minced (yet still crispy) celery and with several (but not too many pieces of) skin on diced potato. Tuna salad on marble rye bread with lettuce, tomato and pickle was a great sandwich. It wasn't a 'solid' tuna, which meant it accommodated the various ingredients and had more flavor.

We will definitely stop here again.

Tommy's Diner 1409 El Camino Real San Clemente, CA 92672 (949)498-7000 Open Daily 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Website

Tapioca Express, again

April 2, 2017 Cathy Caffeine Fix, Chains, Desserts, Stuff, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is this food blog. Kirk is, right now, taking a well-deserved break. Ed (from Yuma) is having some connectivity problems. Cathy is awake and writing about another of her adventures with food.

I first discovered the concept of tea houses and boba in 2007 and subsequently wrote about some of the food choices enjoyed from Tapioca Express, as well as other places. Yes, they seem to be beverage oriented, and I get beverage overwhelmed.

This is the menu board at Tapioca Express. The first FIVE columns are beverage choices, the last two columns are food choices, where I zone in. (My beverage choice is always the 'Coffee Milk Tea' ($2.98), either hot or cold, no boba, no added sweetener). Our shared meal this day consisted of a boiled pork dumpling plate ($4.98) which comes with steamed broccoli and a vinegar-soy dipping sauce. Fried shrimp rolls ($3.98) with a mild level of spice. These are pleasant, with a good crunch.The calamari (always rings)($4.28) are quite meaty, a good choice with an added bonus of fried basil, which i really like. When I thought we were finished eating, The Mister walked back into line and ordered the Chinese donuts ($4.28) which came out piping hot. These are a fried bread dough, not a typical donut batter, and served with both whipped cream and sweetened condensed milk. A delightful end to another light meal.

Tapioca Express 4646 Convoy San Diego 92111 (858) 636-7889 Open Sun-Thurs 11:00-midnight, Fri-Sat 11:00-1 a.m. Website There are three stand alone San Diego locations as well as a few food court locations.

Public Square Coffee (La Mesa)

September 27, 2016 Cathy Caffeine Fix, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!

Here you are once more, reading mmm-yoso!!!. a food-centric blog. Kirk has been having some really busy days of late and so has Ed (from Yuma), so it's Cathy doing the blogging today.

We've been having some really dry, hot weather lately. Since home has no air conditioning, The Mister and I go out when still cool to run errands and grab a bite. In keeping with a New Year Resolution, 'shop local' isn't easy yet it turns out to be quite rewarding. One day last week, we were heading to Swami's in La Mesa for a refreshing beverage and noticed this new storefront, two doors west.

Public Square Coffee took over the space of a long time coffee house/gathering place, Cosmo's Coffee, which unceremoniously closed about a year ago.

The space has been refurbished and is brighter. Since it is a 'soft' opening, there is a sort of temporary menu taped near the cash register, as well as a simple beverage menu on the wall.

More photos of the refurbishing, including a very nice outdoor patio area in front.

Deciding on a Cold Brew (large, $3) and a pour over (Columbian, $3.75), we were delightfully surprised at the 'for here' pot and cup brought out on a personalized board (see the 'square' symbol in the bottom left corner? It matches the designs out front) and the large size glass for the cold brew. Each coffee was very good.

Returning a few days later, we ordered a 'Gibraltar' ($3.25)-two shots of espresso mixed with about the same amount of warmed milk. This was also very good, if not a bit too mild for my taste.

We ordered a 'Rooted Salad' ($5.95) described as having kohlrabi, golden beets, celery root, green apple, orange, greens, candied almonds and a lemon maple vinaigrette. Other than no kohlrabi or celery root and instead slices of wonderful radish, it was a good salad. Since Public Square is still in its 'soft opening', we understood.

Then we saw this at the top of the menu.

Homemade sugar scones ($3.50 each), with a choice of flavored butters (50¢ each) (or two scones and a flight of all six butters for $9.50)…and so we did.

First, the scones are *perfect*; flaky, buttery and creamy. The rock sugar topping is not disturbingly crunchy nor too sweet.

2. The butters were such a variety of flavors: pumpkin spice (which I imagine will change with the seasons), guava, cinnamon, maple cayenne, blueberry tea and Nutella bacon. Each was unique, not salty (except for bacon pieces in the nutella) and oddly, began melting from the bottom of the cold, wood tray.

This was very good and far more interesting of a sweet than some sort of baked or fried pastry.

A very nice addition to downtown La Mesa village. Here is a link to cc's post about her recent visits.

Public Square Coffee 8278 La Mesa Blvd, La Mesa, Ca 91942 (619) 777-8273 not really a website link Mon-Sat 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday 7 a.m.-5 p.m.

Your personalized order is written onto the back of one of the 'Carpe Diem' cards you see in the above (10th and 11th) photos. Open and read a good thought for your day.

Sauces, Salsas and when you can’t decide, Divorce (Divorciados)

October 2, 2015 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. We thank you for stopping by to read. On this lovely Friday of a very busy October weekend, Kirk is working a lot of stressful overtime, while Ed (from Yuma) is gearing up for a busy weekend of research for future postings and Cathy is relaxing in front of the computer and writing this post.

For the past few decades, I've been more than interested in condiments. Numerous varieties of ethnic cooking are common here and so many ingredients are available.

Living in San Diego County, the varieties of sauces and salsas used in and on and with Mexican food are numerous.Walk into any generic grocer and the choices are overwhelming…

Walk into a Mexican Market and the choices increase exponentially.

Step into any taco shop and the fresh made vats of salsas and condiments are unique in flavor and selection.Have a seat at primarily mariscos (seafood) restaurant and the hot sauce selection on each table leads to some interesting flavor points if you become curious about what makes each differ from the other.Depending on what you order, at certain establishments, the 'proper' salsa/sauce (made in the restaurant) will be brought out to the table. One of our favorite Mexican places, Maritza's (it's in Clairmont; I'll have a post ready soon) makes a special chopped green salsa, served only with carnitas, which are prepared and served only on Wednesdays. It's multi flavored with a medium heat, a little salty and compliments the chunky seared pork absolutely perfectly.Then there is mole: complex flavored, multi ingredient sauces with flavors unique to various regions of Mexico. The above breakfast (over eggs) mole is from Vanessa's Deli and has a distinct sweetness.These three moles served over chicken enchiladas from Rana's (again, I have a post forthcoming) are each wildly unique: the red mole is poblano chili based and, like the other two, is made with more than 20 ingredients, the white mole has pecans in its base while the green mole uses fresh herbs, tomatillos and sunflower seeds. Each is wonderful on its own and when I can't decide..well the 'Tricolor' plate is my choice.The enchilada suizas at Ponce's is my usual choice. Suiza means 'Swiss' and the sauce is cream based, thick and with a mild green salsa mixed in for this version.Similarly, the Karina's sauce is green and creamy, but more of a culiché sauce: cream, poblano chilis and garlic dominate the flavors.Sometimes, I crave a rich flavored, chili pepper and tomato based red enchilada sauce on top of cheese filled corn tortillas. The above is from my neighborhood taco shop; each taco shop makes a unique version.

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Then, there are this days when I can't decide and everything sounds good. The wonderful Mexican people have a solution on their menus – Divorciados!

Huevos divorciados (divorced eggs) is a Mexican breakfast made with two fried eggs, separated in the above version by refried beans and potatoes (I've sometimes had chilaquiles as the separation food item). One egg is covered in salsa roja (red sauce) and the other egg covered in salsa verde (green sauce), giving each egg a distinct flavor. (The above Divorciados Plate is a breakfast item at El Portal ). Dropping in at Carnitas Uruapan, there is a white board of daily specials and lately 'Carne Divorciados' has been an available special.

The top plate has the red sauce covering chicharron (fried pork rinds) and the green sauce covering pork pieces.

The second plate has the green sauce covering chicharron and the red sauce covering beef rib meat (they were out of cooked pork at the time of our order). You can see how different the sauces are from the same kitchen on different days.

Finding new flavors makes me happy, finding divorciados means I don't have to make many decisions on some days…

Have a great weekend!

Elixir Espresso Bar (Westfield UTC) and Elixir Espresso and Wine Bar (Westfield North County)

June 2, 2015 Cathy Caffeine Fix, Desserts, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!

Thank you for (once again or first time) stopping to read mmm-yoso!!! a blog about food. Since Kirk is vacationing, Ed (from Yuma) decided to also take some time out for a road trip and Cathy is staycationing in San Diego, walking around malls for today's post.

It really has been years since Either The Mister and I have ventured into a Shopping mall. This year, we decided to make our daily walks a bit more interesting and that's worked out.

We went back to Westfield UTC with the intention of stopping here for a respite. This rather large kiosk is in between the Banana Republic and Anthologie stores (and on the way to the parking garage-which was the only reason we noticed it). It opens at 7 a.m. Mon-Fri and at 8 on Saturday, 9 on Sunday…before the mall opens.

You order and pay at one window, find a seat and your order will be called when it's ready.Peeking inside, you can see the crêpe machine and to the right is the espresso machine. That's all that is on the menu here…coffees and crêpes.Calabria Coffee is what's used, and it is excellent and artfully prepared. [That's a small latte above ($3.50)]Since it was early, we decided to share a breakfast crêpe ($5.25). The description is simple 'ham, egg and cheese'…so I assumed the egg would be scrambled, cheese melted in and sliced deli ham would be laid on top and the crêpe would surround it, like a burrito…but no!

Notice the edge of the egg over the edge yet baked within the thin pancake-like crêpe. The ham was *really* good- a smoked ham, cut in chunks, not slices. The cheese added a good tangy flavor with gooey melty component. Far more than I expected at a mall kiosk. Wonderful food here.

Elixir Espresso Bar La Jolla Village Drive 92037 (858) Open daily 9-8 website

The weather started getting warmer a few days later, and we decided to go walking at an enclosed (air conditioned) mall. Westfield North County mall it was!Traveling down the third set of escalators, I noticed this large open eating area from above and was surprised at its name when we stopped to look. Elixir Espresso AND Wine Bar…The menu board was similar, yet had additional food items, and in the seating area, the clipboard menu was most interesting…Sandwiches, bakery items, gelato and wine, all out in the open part of the mall. Crazy. We had to.First, we ordered a Viennese crêpe ($4.75) Simple, filled with honey and cinnamon (and served on an appropriately sized and shaped plate, although I thought the hot dog liner paper was a good way to serve the outdoor crêpe at the outdoor kiosk). This was a nice way to enjoy a sweet crêpe.

The clipboard menu had a 'Flatbread' section on it…and the Pears, Bleu Cheese and Coastal Cheddar ($10.75) sounded nice.

Wow. Thinly sliced pears overlapped and covered this freshly made, soft yet baked to a light crunch flatbread. The toppings of the Bleu and Cheddar, melted in and melded with the bread and pear and this was wonderful. If we had ever thought to do this at home, a nice glass of wine would accompany it.

We have learned to stop and enjoy our breaks and so far, we have been really pleased.

cc has been to the downtown location of Elixir, which has an interesting past…

Elixir Espresso and Wine Bar 200 Via Rancho Parkway Suite 9000 (Westfield North County, in front of Nordstrom and bottom of escalator) Escondido 92025 (760)741-1488 Website

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!