Operation Plan Portland: First Installment

It's important to disclose early on that SB girls are wanderlusty by default.

It delights us to support the local businesses that do thrive in our southern college towns/suburban neighborhoods/rural areas despite one-note growth and development. Best-kept secrets are more special when there are fewer gems to discover.

But Southern, er, comfort keeps us the novelties of the north mysterious and exciting: good public transportation, livable summer temperatures, and (to generalize), more culturally developed local color and European influence.

Deep down, our men recognize this. Sort of. At SB headquarters, Texas Monthy subscriptions have replaced our New Yorker daydreams, and perhaps rightfully so. We needed to fully connect with the goings-on in our indefinite home state instead of memorizing the Met's event calendar.

Our co-captain's intelligent Texas pride can come off like a high-brow Yankee-snub, though. That and a little cabin fever has caused us to suggest some enlightening travel this summer.

Now, no matter how evolved, good 'ol boys are more comfortable in the land of smaller ponds, heart-melting sunsets and fried chicken. When exposing our cowboys to locales outside of Dixieland, trips should be chosen wisely and planned carefully.

According to our very own rural-raised lover, Portland, Oregon is the first destination of choice. We agree for these reasons:

Nature abounds. Cycling trails, barefoot hikes, rivers, trees.

Um, it's Quirkytown, USA. The small business model here is especially inspiring for SB and hers, who dream of opening a classic toy store/24 hour old-school arcade/bagel shop someday.

Portland's got vineyards without the Napa travel cost, a strong, central arts scene, and is a muse to some of our favorite post-punk writers and artists.

(Maybe we'll bake Bitch some cupcakes while we're in town, with an extra dose of lightenup!.)

Outside Portland


Stay tuned for reviews of Pacific Northwest travel guides and TV specials featuring heavily-inked cooks.

More French than fries

Here at Sugar headquarters, we pride ourselves on shedding vices of the food persuasion. We've given up cheese for Lent and said buh-bye to forty pounds after baby time in late October. Sure, the photo from our high-school hotness-prime seems a bit out of place by the coffee maker. The formerly permissive kitchen is becoming a shrine to skinny.

Regardless of our fervent and rewarding fat-watch, we recognize that we share a freezer and a Kroger discount card with someone who eats a heartier diet than we do. We also happen to adore time spent enjoying meals with him. We'd like to share these meals beyond middle age. So we push the health. Champion alternatives to Cheetos (organic), bacon (turkey), and cooking with cream (fat free plain yogurt) are staples now.

Out of true and abiding love, we've long searched for a french fry substitute. Now, not even the most well-meaning meal assembler could locate low-fat french fries. But a starchy, crunchy side that could hang with ketchup had to be waiting somewhere out there.

Hallelujah, there it was in the freezer aisle, right beside its lardy nemesis:

Ore Ida's Country-Style Hash Browns

Qualifier number one: 70 calories per generous 1 1/4 cup serving.

And two: the old-school, home cookin' factor.

These shredded lovelies can go where fries can't (or shouldn't, anyway):

Breakfast

Casseroles

Nifty french pancakes

Patties!

Next on the Banish and Replace list: Powdered donuts. Leads welcome.