Hungry Times Two

One of the trickiest but also most rewarding things about moving to a new place is adapting to the food scene and culture. A common response Scott and I heard when we announced our Oregon move to friends and family was " OMG. The beer. The wine. The FOOD. " While we're very excited to try out many of the notable restaurants, plentiful food carts/pods, and the crazy explosion of breweries and wineries, I'm most thrilled about having access to the fresh local produce and seafood of Oregon. Not only do I enjoy home cooking but let's face it -- it's often cheaper to make food than to dine out. Despite the sales tax-free shopping, Oregon food can be expensive, and with one of us (me) being on a brief "job break" at the moment, meal planning and sticking to grocery lists is an important budget focus.

If you review the photos on your phone, you will notice trends. Maybe it's cute baby photos, snaps of your pets doing something adorable and/or ridiculous, shots of your culinary feats or fails, or travel pics. For me, my photo album is bookended with images of mayonnaise.  I can explain -- really. When Scott landed his planning job for Multnomah County, Oregon earlier this spring, we had many details to wrangle and projects to complete. Sell our house in Charlotte, North Carolina - ok, we can do it. Purge or sell many belongings -- that's FUN, let's burn it all! And successfully drive all our belongings for more than 2,800 miles in a 20+-ft. U-Haul truck, with the Ford C-Max with adorable, ridiculous #LorettaDog  following along -- errrr, do what now??? The drive from Charlotte to Gresham, OR was my one hesitation. Not exactly known for my smooth driving skills, I rarely enjoy operating a motor vehicle, preferring instead to take frequently-delayed Amtrak t...