2020 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade Float Road Test #3. Food from Cream Pan (Tustin), Portos (West Covina) and The Hat (Murietta)

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog.  Still, there are so many reasons we end up eating the meals that we share here with you.  Cathy is writing today.

Link to Road Test #1 

Link to Road Test #2 

Link to Road Test #4

Link to Road Tests # 5 and #6

The 131st Tournament of Roses Rose Parade (and 106th Rose Bowl football game) will occur on January 1, 2020; the culmination of a week of many other Tournament events.  Preparation begins in mid-January, just after the prior parade is concluded.  The Theme for 2020 is The Power of Hope.  Some floats for the parade are built by Phoenix Decorating Company, which has monthly road tests noted on their website and Facebook page.  The website also notes where you can sign up to volunteer to decorate floats. This Link to The Rose Examiner has a lot of current happenings surrounding the Tournament of Roses.

Last Saturday, a few floats were tested for mechanics and maneuverability.  "Hope Keeps Us Going", the entry for the City of Alhambra looks to be ready for detailed decorating. SInce you see the artist rendition here, I thought that showing you the back of the float might be interesting. 
This float, ridden by the Royal Court (who will be chosen and announced soon) will be the same float as last year, with fresh decorations. 
The same is true for the 'Closing' float- the last in the parade (there's usually someone singing on it). The float reminds everyone to tune in to the Rose Bowl football game, which starts about four hours after the Parade ends.  The Opening, Closing, Royal and Honda floats are never in competition for the awards given for float design and decoration. 
The Huntington is celebrating its 100th year with a float in the 131st Rose Parade.  This was a first Road Test. You may recall this wonderful post, written by Ed (from Yuma) about the lovely visit he and Tina had at The Huntington in 2014. 
 The City of Hope will enter a float for 2020.  It sort of looks like a large tree, with doves, flowers, butterflies and bees randomly scattered in the tree limbs.  I bet it's going to be beautiful.  Hopefully there will be an artist rendition and more details next month.  A quick peek inside the Decorating Barn is showing quite a progression being made on float construction.  

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On to the food portion of the blogging.  

We leave our home at 5 a.m., get to Cream Pan by 6:20.   I have been afraid we are taking Cream Pan for granted and barely even post about our stops here.  Not to fear; there was a notice inside that they are hiring for their new store in Fountain Valley! This morning, we chose a ham and cheese croissant ($2.80) (always good, meaty, cheesy and flaky), a (still warm) crispy cheese bread ($2.50) (fulfills cravings) and an 'orange chocolate' ($2)-new to us-It's almost like croissant dough in torn pieces mixed with dark chocolate bits and a great zip of orange flavor; now another favorite.

Cream Pan 602 El Camino Real Tustin, CA 92780 Open daily 6 a.m.-7 p.m. Website

Watching floats and then leaving, we were six miles away and had to stop at Portos, again.  (My third ever visit, The Mister's second).  Underneath that egg is a wonderful light, soft masa with whole pieces of corn, filled with shredded, slow roasted pork accompanied by a great salsa verde, the Tamal a Caballo ($4.75) is kind of a perfect breakfast.
Since we haven't tried the whole menu (yet), a Medianoche (Midnight sandwich; same fillings as a Cubano, but a different bread) ($5.99) was shared.  Fillings are slow roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, Cuban dressing and pickles.  Great flavors and another good choice any time of the day. 
We also shared a ham croquette (95¢)-smoked ham and parsley in a roux, coated with a crispy layer of bread crumbs.  Also one of the trademarked Potato Balls ($1.05)- mashed potato filled with a picadillo (seasoned ground beef with red bell pepper and olives).
Because we were eating in, the Porto's cortadito ($2.69) - two shots of espresso and sweetened condensed milk- was delivered to the table in this cute plastic espresso cup with its own tiny spoon (yes, I brought it home).  We also shared an iced coffee ($2.25). There were also lists made of what else to try, both for us and for cc, Bert and TC.

Porto's 584 S. Sunset Ave., West Covina 91790 (626)214-3490 open Mon-Th 6:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m., Fri-Sat 6:30a.m.-9p.m., Sun 7 a.m.-8 p.m.  Website

The Mister and I weren't really hungry until at the split of the 15 and 215, in Murietta.  The last (or first, if you are heading North) exit is the closest location of The Hat,  just East of the 215 exit.  The Hat started in Los Angeles in 1951.  "World Famous Pastrami Dip" is the primary food item here.  But, there are a few other items on the menu.  

There's a beef dip sandwich ($10.49)
There are also onion rings ($4.99) (whole onions, a nice crunchy breading and quite a large size).
But no.  The Mister has begun looking at photos online.  This.  This is: chili fries ($6.99) (The chili here is noteworthy, the amount of fries you get in a regular 'small' order fills a paper bag) add cheddar cheese ($1.69) add pickles and tomatoes (20¢) add pastrami ($4.99).  It weighed more than two pounds.  After ten minutes, with both of us eating, maybe 1/4 of it was gone.  We took it home.  There were small bites taken for dinner, there were fried potatoes and pastrami for breakfast the next day...
 The Hat 40476 Murietta Hot Springs Road Murietta, CA 92563 (951) 304-2244 open daily 10 a.m.-10p.m.Website 

Comments

[kat]

chili fries...oh my!

[caninecologne]

Great float pics! I can't wait to see the parade on TV. Might even drive up to see the floats this year....

The orange chocolate pastry is one of my favorite items at Cream Pan. You seriously can't go wrong with anything there, but yes...I love how crunchy that pastry is on the outside and the flavor combination is great.

[Sandy]

I need to go to Cream Pan to try that orange chocolate pastry! I do wish that the new location was closer to SD ...

[Cathy]

The chili fries alone are a meal, Kat. The pastrami is just a 'side order' that you can get on its own and/or add to a sandwich...the combination is decadent. We saw several people sharing the same thing as their lunch.

I really think you need to write a bucket list and then cross off riding a float as well as seeing the floats (and the same float you rode on) in person, cc. Float viewing could be the start of a New Year Resolution of walking over three miles a day. I've only ordered the orange brioche at Cream Pan-soft and citrusy; this crunchy chocolate was a wild and crazy choice and boy is it good!

Sandy-two birds, one stone. The new Cream Pan is only about one mile East of the new location of Brodard! You will have no excuses and instead, many reasons to drive North.

[caninecologne]

Good to know that the new Cream Pan is near the new Brodard! I am all for "two-fers"! We've gone to Paderia Bakehouse, also in Fountain Valley.

You're right about the bucket list, ha ha. It was quite the experience riding the float and doing the timed "disembarkment" test in case of fire.

[Soo]

Awesome day! Floats are looking good! I miss Porto's. Maybe I can visit next month. That's cool you avoid the traffic on the 5 and go home on the 15 plus you get to visit the Hat.

[Cathy]

It is *so* close, cc. Brodard is at the northwest corner of that golf course; that's a signal light. Go East until the next main road/signal light (Harbor) and then it's just north, on the West side of the street. Probably 1.25 miles at the most. Fountain Valley is a nice city.

Thanks, Soo. Portos in West Covina opens at 6:30. If you leave at about 5 a.m., take the 5 to the 57 to the 10 to Sunset, Portos is at the South East corner. You'll be one of the first in line! (and yes, we take the 5 going North and then the 15 South to get home; traffic on Saturdays can be miserable and there seems to be more to see by heading home that way.