Portland's Voodoo Doughnuts (check out those colors!).

As promised, I will focus this week on stuffing—as in stuffing my face! As I type, I am preparing for another venture in eating everything street food and bakery shelved. I am in Portland, Oregon--home of rain and amazing, fresh, sustainable food.

Occupy Portland protesters

One of the city's 600(!) food trucks.

Home of 600 food trucks (city commissioners of Sarasota, take note, get rid of your ban and let the grilled cheese trucks in!), Portland, Oregon, is a melting pot of foodies. So of course I went in search of great stuffing recipes and Thanksgiving recipes. Think of me as "Judi on the Street" reporter. I interviewed everyone from people from the Occupy Portland rally to the Museum of Art and here is what I found.

• Sourdough bread makes the best stuffing (I still use Wonder Bread like my mom used)
• A traditional Thanksgiving dinner to thousands in this area means no turkey, vegan pumpkin pie and celery-root soup with roasted chestnuts. (Sorry, this carnivore needs a hunk o' turkey, Brussels sprouts with pancetta and a heck of a lot of cream and butter in my pies. It's no wonder I got the evil eye when I asked about giblet gravy—Tofurkey doesn’t come with the insides!)
• The art of sharing food, a Thanksgiving tradition, was apparent with the protesters. Several people passed out sandwiches and several older citizens brought down pans of pasta and cakes and pies to share.  Celery root, caraway seeds, roasted winter squash and chopped walnuts is a favorite stuffing in the Northwest.

I do have some stuffing recipes to share on www.flavorsandmore.com this month. At the rate I am going with my eating, I will be the largest stuffed bird at my table!

And, as promised, I have found the perfect pie baker(!). I met Beverly Brenner, a former New England caterer a few weeks ago and she wasn’t kidding when she told me she made the perfect apple pie. I have ordered 3 and a friend is about to order six. Get this, the friend lives in Tampa and is sending a courier to pick them up--now that is a pie fanatic (and I can relate). Beverly’s giant apple pie is $22, a bargain for the size and flavor. Her Linzer torte is sinful and she  bakes everything from scratch. You can reach Beverly at 780-1742 or [email protected].