mmm-yoso!!!

Cafe Marché - Bird Rock/La Jolla

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog, written by a few friends: Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy do the majority of posts here, but a few others have helped out as well.  Today, it's Cathy's turn to write while the guys are 'researching' in various parts of the USA and world.

It's that time of year when The Mister and I just get in the car, drive and stop when one of us is hungry. The other day, we found ourselves in South La Jolla on the fairly new La Jolla Boulevard that has added circles in the middle of the road, so you have to drive slowly, zig zagging at 15 miles per hour, instead of stopping at every corner.

It's the area commonly known as Birdrock.

As I drove slowly, we saw this- Café Marché.  It used to be a different restaurant where we had never stopped.  This time, I found a parking space (the parking lot has green lines painted in it, but is labeled 'Customer Parking Only' and not '15 minute parking' as are green lined spots on the street).

I didn't get a photo of the counter when we walked in, but a good variety of freshly prepared deli items and flavored popcorns are available to grab and go.  

 

We sat near the front, and had a nice view of the painted Bird Rock on the wall.  The breakfast and lunch menus were brought to us.  

 

 

 

The Mister ordered coffee ($2) and a thermal pot was brought to him. It was a very good, fresh brewed French roast coffee.

The Mister's order came with a 'small salad', which was quite large and served with a very nice herbed balsamic dressing.  

Short story: The Mister and I had just been reminiscing about late night stops at Denny's after the UGLi (undergraduate library) closed, and how we always ordered a "Super Bird", a sort of Monte Cristo sandwich...

So, when the Cristo Crépe ($8.50) was on the menu, He had to order it.  I must say, this was *wonderful* and had a good amount of ham and turkey and cheese inside the *very* perfect, thin and flavorful crépe.

When I looked at the menu, I could not decide, asked what the soup of the day was and was told that in addition to French onion, the 'soup' was actually a chili. ($5).  I had to try it and was very, very happy I did. Our  (very nice and attentive) Waiter said it was his Mother's recipe...and I want that recipe!  Ground beef, black, kidney and garbanzo beans, corn and a perfect blend of spices, topped with cheese and a dollop of sour cream and...a perfect meal.  It was accompanied by grilled Focaccia, which was so very fresh and apparently what is used for sandwiches here...sandwiches which I'll order next time. 

What a great place.  So glad we stopped here.

Marché Café 5550 La Jolla Blvd La Jolla CA 92037 (623)332-3505

Coffee, Bagels &Crépes - Alpine

Welcome (back) to mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog about eating experiences. Today, Kirk is busy, ed (from Yuma) is busy and so Cathy is writing.

In early April, I had to be in Alpine a couple of times and noticed this small, new place had opened, right next to Alpine Liquor on Alpine Boulevard. I stopped once, enjoyed a fresh bagel snack with coffee and made a note that The Mister needed to be with me the next time I was driving out there.

Early one morning, we drove out here again and I had the time to pay attention to details.

The 'front desk' is an old coffee cart.  I say old, because it has inspection stickers on it dating back to 2005.

There is a menu you can see from the front of the cart when ordering, it has prices.  This is the side of the building with a handicap access ramp and the priceless menu.  Turns out that Coffee, Bagels & Crépes opened on April 1.  

There is a selection of coffees in pump pots and this morning I asked for the boldest one. The coffee here is good.  The Mister ordered a breakfast crépe ($5.50) and before even taking our money, the friendly owner turned around and began measuring and mixing crépe batter for us.  What service.

What freshness!  See those orange egg yolks?  There was crispy, nicely flavored bacon and cheese inside this light, slightly sweet fresh crépe batter.  The topping was a ribbon of basil sauce.  This was quite large and so very fresh.

When we saw that the owner was making a batch of crépe batter, it seemed natural to order a second crépe. 

Yes.  Why not a Nutella® and banana crépe?  It was breakfast after all...

The cross section- the banans inside the crépe were warm and the ones on the outside were still cold; a nice contrast.  A nice breakfast outside in Alpine.  We will be returning for lunch. Soon.

Coffee, Bagels & Crépes 2250 Alpine Blvd (next to Alpine Liquor, at Marshall Road) Alpine, CA 92101 

Trails Eatery-Breakfast in San Carlos.

Hey there! You've found mmm-yoso!!!, the blog with more than seven years of writings of what Kirk and a few friends eat, drink and do.  Today, Cathy is writing about a recent meal.

As you may know, San Diego County is more than 4200 square miles of land.  More than 70 miles of Pacific shoreline from Mexico to the Northernmost edges of the county and inland another almost 200 miles from the shore to the Easternmost edge of the county.  What we call "East County" is really still the Westernmost one third of the entire County.

This -in the background- is Cowles Mountain, the highest point in the City of San Diego, just South of  Mission Trails Regional Park (the largest municipally owned park in the State of California), in a neighborhood known as San Carlos. The park has over forty miles of hiking, mountain bike and equestrian trails, a rock climbing area, a campground adjacent to a small lake. Many, many people drive to Cowles Mountain daily and hike it, day and night.

Less than a mile from both the Park(which has an entrance from Mission Gorge Road near Jackson) and the Mountain(which is on Navajo at Golfcrest), on the SE corner Jackson Drive at Navajo Road, is The Trails, an eatery serving breakfast, lunch and occasionally, dinner. (See the top of Cowles Mountain to the left all the way back?)

When you walk into the recently refurbished space (the restaurant was featured on an Episode of Restaurant:Impossible), to your left is a 
small area selling souveniers. Yes, this restaurant does have many gluten-free choices on rather large separate menu as well as being close in proximity to the actual Trails and Mountain.

Bright, clean, spacious and inviting.  The Trails has greatly improved.

The condiment choices are pretty much the usual.

On this day, The Mister chose one of the before 9 a.m. weekday chalkboard specials- a multigrain waffle with bacon($4.99).  The waffle was light and fluffy, not heavy or chewy...though you could tell it was a bit 'healthier' and had more fiber than a traditional Belgian waffle.  The bacon was quite flavorful; something I have not expected with thin cut bacon. 

This particular morning was not about a sensible portion nor about low calorie.  I came here for this- the French toast croissant combination, with two poached eggs and one sausage (I could have had two meats and no egg as an option)($7.99). I continue to try and replicate this method of making French toast using a croissant as the delivery mechanism.  The egg is only on the top, the bottom is just toasty, flaky croissant goodness. The sausage is quite good (despite the dark color in this photo).  It's juicy and has many spices in it, making it the perfect counter to the slight sweetness of the croissant.  The eggs, as always, were perfectly poached, with runny, orange yolks.

Coffee is $2.29 and constantly refilled.  In addition to an entire gluten free menu (including GF beer), cinnamon roll pancakes and Elvis Cakes (chocolate chip banana pancakes topped with peanut butter) seem to be a common breakfast order here.  

It's a neighborhood place as well as a destination: just like Mission Trails Park and Cowles Mountain.

The Trails Eatery  7389 Jackson Drive (next to Keils Market) San Diego, Ca 92119  Open 7 days 7 am-3 pm and 5 pm-9pm Wed-Sat.  (Lunch starts at 10:30)  website

 

Curly Jones Cafe- when the traffic is bad, take the exit. (Norwalk)

Here you are, back at mmm-yoso!!! This blog is about food.  Sometimes, like today, it's a diary of why, where and what.  Other days it's blog/diary about who, when and how as well as hundreds of other combinations of those interrogatives.  Kirk is busy, ed (from Yuma) is also busy; Cathy is writing.

One recent weekend, The Mister and I were headed North and hit a terrible patch of traffic somewhere on the older (three lane section) of Interstate 5 just past Disneyland.  Since I would rather be moving than just idling in traffic, we took the closest exit and drove the surface roads, trying to parallel the freeway. At some point we saw this building and signage.

Of course the car went straight to the parking lot.  When we walked in, the grill and counter seating were to the right and tables and booths to the left.  It was crowded, but a few tables were empty (There weren't two seats together at the counter).

There must be a fascinating story behind this place, but it wasn't written inside the menu.  The customers all seemed to be locals and our waitress made it a point to welcome us 'strangers' warmly. The interior was a mishmash of decorating styles and photos of that didn't happen.  The menu choices were also a bit of a mishmash.

The menu had a few Greek, Italian and  Mexican selections, a lot of American/Diner selections and the above Homemade chili section. Since we may not ever find our way back here, we had to order what we may never get a chance to order again...

Eggs and chili ($6).  Probably the best chili I've ever tasted.  No beans (of course) meaty, spicy (I could detect cinnamon, garlic and cumin and the chili heat level was pleasant).  Homemade. The chili was rich and almost like smooth chocolate...a mole of sorts. Poured over nicely scrambled eggs topped with cheese, served with the garlic bread. (I asked for onions on the side -and that bowl appeared with the plate-).  This was wonderful and the new thing I learned that day - chili goes with eggs.

Just as wonderful was the chalkboard special of machaca and eggs ($7). Beef, onions, peppers, tomatoes along with more spices (I tasted garlic, oregano and cumin) cooked long and slow into a great stew until the beef falls apart, creating machaca.  The stewed meat and vegetables were cooked in a pan with eggs.  It was served with really good beans and rice as well as tortillas and a homemade salsa.  Wonderful.

A great find, all because of traffic. I hope someday you have gridlock turn out as well. 

Curly Jones Cafe 13220 San Antonio Norwalk, CA 90650 Open until 2 or 3 p.m. daily. (562)864-4399 

KSandwich, Chow King, Valley Foods - Breakfasts with sausage (and no biscuits)

Hey.  This is the food blog, mmm-yoso!!! Kirk is kind of busy, ed (from Yuma) is sort of busy and Cathy is crazy busy, but needs a bit of a diversion from things going on right now. 

Here's a bit of a break from the Week of  Sushi. Instead of raw seafood for lunches and dinners, pieces of efficiently butchered meats stuffed into intestinal casings and served for breakfast is the subject. 

Not just plain old American breakfast sausage in a biscuit though.  San Diego is a Melting Pot of people from all over the world, and the first meal of the day for many is usually comforting as well as convenient. 

Stepping into K Sandwich, there is a printed menu item taped to the front counter as well as a placard on the counter at the register.  " Trung Cha LX". Chinese sausage, pate, eggs on a (warmed) banh mi roll with pickled vegetable, jalapeño and cilantro ($3.50). The most expensive (and heaviest) sandwich here.

That's it - on the right.  On the left is a ham, cheese and egg on a (fresh, warm) croissant ($2.75). Both are wonderful breakfast choices.

Here's a close up of a Trung Cha LX from another visit.  The slices of the Chinese sausage are pretty thick, grilled nicely and a good amount.  The eggs are scrambled hard and the combination of vegetable flavors with a mild pate is magically perfect.

I've tried many Chinese sausages, sold at every Asian market around and some are very sweet and have no other flavor and others are rich and include grain alcohol as an ingredient.  All are kind of thin and don't take on much of a 'char' after being steamed and sauteed and I've had to slice them into odd shapes to get as much surface area as possible to sauté and make the sausages more flavorful.  This is the brand K Sandwich uses; sold in the refrigerator section next to the bread and croissants and I do like it the best.

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

Chow King is a chain that began in the Philippines in 1985 and has made its way here, with four locations in San Diego County.  I know it goes against my New Year Resolution (to make an effort to patronize local businesses), but the breakfast here fulfills all of my cravings...(not the All Day Breakfast in the sign, but this one:)

Rice, a basted egg, bangus (milkfish) and sweet longaniza, a chorizo-like sausage popular in the Philippines ($7).  The bangus is sour with a vinegar base to it and the longaniza here has pineapple juice as its base. Longaniza is made with various spices related to the region: garlic-y, sour or sweet as well as with various meats as the base (chicken, beef and even tuna).  

I purchase the fresh longaniza that you choose and cut individually at the fish counter area at Lucky Seafood. It's really good.

As an aside, other 'breakfast-y" items I like at Chow King are the Chicharap (shrimp chips), usually an add on for $1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and the "Taho", a tofu beverage usually served cold, but when you ask for it hot (and with no added brown sugar syrup) it arrives in a reusable container and is filled with boba as well as a silky tofu.  This is comforting for me. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Chow King 8955 Mira Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92126  (858) 653-4977   website.

Then there is basturma, an air dried sausage similar to pastrami, that we had in a sandwich on the first day of 2013, at the House of Basturma in Pasadena.

We've been on a search for basturma in San Diego and found it sold -and served at breakfast- at Valley Foods in El Cajon. The breakfast plate ($6.99) includes sliced sauteed basturma mixed with fluffy scrambled eggs and is served with a (fresh, baked in the store) sammoon bread and plate of pickled turnips and onions, tomatoes and hot peppers. It is wonderful.

We've tried to recreate this meal at home, buying each type of basturma (lamb or beef) of the home made sausage and it's still better when prepared for us at Valley Foods (plus we can go shopping after we eat)...the eggs are unusually creamy, light and fluffy.

The basturma is a very solid (because it is air dried) sausage and the beef one has a bit of hot paprika in addition to the garlic, cumin and fenugreek spices.  Both sausages are good and the same price ($7.99/lb).

There are other breakfast sausage options in the county: I'm researching. Hope you're enjoying the weekend!

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

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

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

 


 

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

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

 

 

PL Bagels-(Point Loma)

This is mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog.  Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are out and about running errands today. Cathy was out and about running errands and this place caught her attention. She is writing about it today.

A few years ago, I was working in the Point Loma area on an Election Day. When I had time to take a break, I stopped in this parking lot on Voltaire Street, anchored by this Stumps Family Marketplace, a 'fancier' Market.  The Mister and I now make regular trips here, mainly to purchase their various house made sausages, which are coarse ground and have just the right amount of spices.  

It's a very nice market, selling a good variety of items and I would shop here regularly if I lived closer. On the same block, but around the taco shop and in the next parking area East (closer to Point Loma High School) I discovered this humble looking bagel shop.

 

It's owned and run by a very nice Asian family who make what I think are the best bagels in the County.

Eight tables inside the building. A limited menu.  A limited number of bagels made daily- usually sold out before 1 p.m. (the store opens at 6:30 a.m. daily). Bialy (my favorite) are made on weekends only.  Mini bagels available for 35¢ each.  These are not huge, fluffy, chain store bagels; each one does have a hole in the middle. Handmade, with great chew yet soft and always fresh is what is served here. I have heard people say the bagels here are as close to New York Style as you can get on this coast.

Toasted and with butter is how I've always enjoyed a bagel.  You can see the size on these smaller (6 inch?) paper plates.  The Mister's (on the right) is his favorite- a salt bagel. Mine is a (wheat) everything (white everything is also available).  (I order an everything as a default because I am easily overwhelmed when  having to choose, and an everything has a bit of...everything... on it.)

What really sets these bagels apart from others is this- this is a photo of the bottom of each bagel.  The 'toppings' are really 'surroundings' of flavor.  Just perfect.

I hope everyone is have a good weekend!

PL Bagels 3704 Voltaire Street, Suite 107 San Diego 92106 (619)223-4788 Open daily 6:30-1:00

Tip Top Meats- a breakfast revisit

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.  \

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

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

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