With no prompting whatsoever, Jeff Labhart from Bonta Gelato dropped by our offices yesterday to drop off four pints of gelato. Yes, we feel as if we must have done something right!

I am writing this as a confession that I squirreled away the Dulce de Leche with Sea Salt for myself - and have scarfed the entire pint over the past two afternoons. But the rest of the office doesn't to notice/mind, as they are fixated on the Strawberry Balsamic and Almond Vanilla Bourbon Pecan. "It's pretty much the best thing to ever happen to balsamic vinegar," exclaimed our Office Manager Kayja Buhmann.

• Dave Cantor
• The Thump Coffee roastery and brew bar at NW Bond St. and NW Franklin Ave. isn't open to the public yet—maybe soon, though.

A new sign popped up recently in the shopping center at NW Bond St. and NW Franklin Ave. next to Amanda's Mexican Cuisine. It reads, "Thump Coffee: roastery & brew bar."

The sign's a bit misleading, though. The new Thump location isn't a place to grab a cup of coffee—yet. Thump's general manager Dan Baumann said, however, they've been roasting at the location since January.

"We have people stopping in everyday looking for a cup of coffee," he said, adding that there's a misconception about Thump's cafe about a block away at 25 NW Minnesota Ave. closing. It won't.

Frisbees were invented by alumni from my small Vermont college. While there were famous alumni and authors from the school, the addition of frisbee to American culture was a certain point of pride for the school. There was even a statute of a giant Great Dane leaping with a frisbee in his mouth on campus (and, oddly, the artists decided to include giant genitellia for the very-male dog, and created a late-night tradition of rubbing the dog's balls for good luck.)

The story behind the frisbee is that some then-students were road tripping across the country one summer, and broke down in Montana. Stranded and waiting for help, the boys devoured a pie, which they had picked up at one of the nearby restaurants. The pie was from the Frisbee Pie Company, and as they tossed the tin around began shouting "frisbee, frisbee."

We just thought you should know.

Wednesday is deadline for our Pie-Off. Submit your favorite recipe to pie@bendsource.com. We will select the three favorite, and offer them to submit real-baked pies for review on Monday, November 11 at Broken Top Bottle Shop, 7 pm.

Oh sure, perhaps there have been some poisoned pies sent to enemies in the Middle Ages, but really, I would hazarded that 99.9% of the time a pie has been baked, it has brought joy.

There are a few days left for our Pie-Off: Submit a recipe to pie@bendsource.com, and we will select three recipes for our holiday pie-off, and for the title of BEST PIE IN CENTRAL OREGON.

Deadline for entry is: Wednesday, November 6.

Judging wil happen on Monday, November 11 at Broken Top Bottle Shop. 7 pm.

For additional reading about the world wide worthiness of pie, check out The World Needs More Pie blog.

My goodness: Bob Marley spread his seed—and Bend continues to benefit (?).
Sure, there was Ziggy Marley here this summer. Now, his (less musically talented?, but former linebacker) son is selling his coffee at the local Safeway.
Rohan Marley is the Bob Marley of coffee, so to speak: Marley Coffee is what the p.r. person calls “an international, gourmet, ethically farmed, coffee company with over 6,000 retail locations in 10 countries-from Europe, to cities across the US, to South Africa, and to Asia. And most recently, at Safeway here in Bend! Marley Coffee is stirring it up.”
We found this vaguely interesting.
What we found more interesting is, like father, like son: Although married and with two children with his legal wife (one who is currently a linebacker for Tulane), Rohan is referred to by Lauryn Hill as “her husband” and has five children with him!
We sure hope he is paying his taxes on the coffee beans.

• Flickr via Joe13

What's sad is U.S. foods are the likely culprits behind Mexico's growing waistline. It's not pickled vegetables and corn tortillas that are to blame—it's the same sugary sodas and high-fat, high-sugar overly-processed junk that's made the rest of the world so unhealthy. That and a marked decrease in activity levels—also an American phenomenon, but one that's been emulated elsewhere. Further, and like U.S. obesity, in Mexico the fat follows the poor, who are increasingly turning to inexpensive fast "food" for sustenance, rather than to the local supermarket or produce stand.

But! No such problems in Bend (?) At least not according to my somewhat-overweight father who, upon visiting from his home in Tennessee (a state often associated with obesity), always comments on how he's the only "fat person" in Oregon. Wrong! Oregon is as fat as states like Tennessee and Georgia.

• Turns out Oregon needs more veggies and exercise.

I doubt Bend contributes to Oregon's high obesity rate. And so does my 70-year-old father. If only the rest of the world had the recreational opportunities and access to fresh, whole foods (and the money to enjoy both) that we do...(sigh).

When eating food can be an act of support and civil pride, heck yes, count me as an activist!

All day today (Thursday) eating at several establishments around Bend earns money for Basic Right Oregon, the organization that is managing the ballot initiative for same-sex marriage (look for a more complete article in the upcoming issue).

In Bend: Broken Top Bottle Shop, Pizza Mondo, Strictly Organic and Sparrow Bakery all are supporting Bites for Rights.

Stop by.

I just spent the weekend in Maine at a very elegant wedding. Every toast was well crafted and simultaneously heartfelt. Of course, though, we had to share our "worst toasts" stories.
My story about my friend's grandfather (drunkeningly) confess an affair usually wins, but this time it was blown out of the water.
Some Boston friends had attended a cruise ship wedding - which, yes, is as awfully claustraphobic as it sounds.
On the final night, the bride's uncle pulled out a drink recipe from his wallet and presented it to the bartender, who he asked and graciously paid for the round. The drink? The recipe that he carries in his wallet? "The Wet Pussy." Yes, you read that right. Kahlua, whole milk and whipped cream. Once everyone had one in hand, he gave a toast that his niece's, well, her puddy-cat, would never be dry.
Worst toast ever! (Epilogue: The marriage last less than a year.)
Expect much better at next weekend's Mixology, when Minnesota Avenue is closed down for cocktail tastings.
And, yes, we are still soliciting your drink recipes for free tickets to the event. Send them to me, "editor@bendsource.com"

You may have seen the above sign and thought, "what happened to El Cap?"

Well, nothing, really. Other than a new sign and maybe a menu-update, which is not yet complete. Their Facebook page says: "still working in our menu though, have the same good old one right now." We suppose that means, "new menu items to come, but for now we're serving the same old stuff."

A phone call to the venerable Mexican restaurant revealed little. We were told that Amanda's is owned and operated by the same folks and, for now, has the same menu.

Okay. You're welcome for that.