Saturday morning at a coffee shop, where we meet two Bostonians against Mitt Romney.

We needed our strength. Ansley and I were headed to Battle Ground, Washington to go to a Barn House Sale. We stopped by the Wordstock office to get some programs and posters to pass out along the way and were headed to Ken's Artisan Bakery to grab some goodness to eat in the car.

But then. We drove past 50 Plates, which appeared to be open this fine, chilly Saturday morning. We decided to check out their breakfast.

It was empty - it's more of a coffee shop setting in the morning. The two people tending to the counter, a short-haired blonde girl with fashion-conscious glasses and a young man with dark hair, were talking about Sarah Palin. "She's on Saturday Night Live tonight," I said. "I know! We were just talking about that." The conversation then turned to Obama and McCain. The girl made an anti-McCalin comment. "Oops," she said, "I probably shouldn't have said that."

"Oh you're okay," I said, "This is Portland - you are pretty safe to make a comment like that." We talked a little bit more about the election and how we hoped that Obama would be elected. We talked about how amazing it was that it was such a close race. I mentioned that one of my sisters is writing in Mitt Romney's name for President.

"Well. We're from Boston. And you can tell your sister that as Republicans from Massachusetts, Mitt Romney has done nothing for the state." Okay, I said. I'll pass it on.

Then we ordered food. Ansley ordered the drinking chocolate - which if you ever go to 50 Plates, you REALLY need to get. It's a huge cup of hot milk, with a block of solid chocolate on a stick that you swirl around in the milk. So delicious.

I ordered orange juice (fighting a cold still!) and a waffle sandwich with canadian bacon, mustard greens and a duck egg. Ansley got the French toast skewers with berry syrup. (See Ansley's post with pictures of her food here.)

Delicious! The waffle was crispy and warm, the duck egg over easy, the mustard greens flavorful and the Canadian bacon just salty enough to complement the egg and the tomato. It was perfect. And it was only $4.50!

Such a delightful way to start the day and a long journey to Battle Ground. Politics to get the blood going through my head and breakfast to warm my stomach.


www.50plates.com