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Considering that the harsh Central Oregon winter of 2016 birthed Duda’s Aussie meat pies, it’s not surprising that the COVID-19 pandemic became an opportunity for the local pie-makers to get even more creative with their humble handmade comfort foods.

“I think people appreciate those businesses that didn’t just throw their hands up in the air and say, ‘We can’t do it,’ but instead said, ‘Let’s try this and let’s try that and let’s try to help the community,” says Duda’s Aussie Meat Pie founder and chief pie-maker Amy Duda.

When COVID shut everything down last March, Amy and her husband Josh decided to step away from their partnership in Duda’s Billiards Bar, with the blessing of Josh’s business partner/father, who agreed to keep the bar going on his own while his son and daughter-in-law focused on their food truck and pie-making business. The couple kept their food truck (formerly Duda’s Aussie Pie Truck) at On Tap on Bend’s east side but changed the name to Jackaroo Pies. According to Amy, who hails from the small, Australian coastal town of Coffs Harbour, a jackaroo is a young guy who works on a sheep farm in her homeland. Jackaroo is also her young son Jack’s nickname.

The birth of Jack in 2018, along with the pandemic striking last year, were the impetuses for the couple to get out of the bar business and focus more intently on the pie-making business. Amy admits that it was very scary in the beginning, especially last spring when everything was shut down. She calls it an “unbelievable blessing” that they were able to keep their truck open the entire time, often focusing on community service. They delivered donated lunches to hospital workers, for example, and started doing porch deliveries so people didn’t have to leave their homes to have fresh, hot pies. They also became a fixture at the Northwest Crossing Farmers Market last year, viewing it as an opportunity to penetrate a different area of Bend. Plus, they got their products into local grocery stores (Newport Avenue Market, Market of Choice, Locavore and Food 4 Less).

“COVID forced us to diversify,” explains Amy. “It was such a shock and when we didn’t have the bar anymore; the little food truck had to completely support our family.”

As scary and as stressful as it may have been, Amy says it’s been going well. “Bend is such an amazing community in terms of supporting local businesses and supporting small businesses.” It’s that local support that has Jackaroo Pies anticipating a busy summer; they’re back at the NWX market again this year and will be at Munch & Music every Thursday night in Drake Park July 8 through Aug. 12. They hope to get their pies, pasties and rolls into even more grocery stores, but as Amy emphasizes, growing the business has to be done carefully. “We have to be able to keep up with what we’re doing now and keep putting out a great product and great service. Plus, I’m expanding, too—we’re having another baby, due in October, so I’m hesitant to put too much on my plate.”

The Jackaroo Pie origin story really began in the winter of 2016, when the newlywed Amy was homebound awaiting her green card. In search of indoor hobbies and also a bit homesick for Australia, she began making the comfort foods she grew up with, including meat pies— Australia’s national dish. That experimentation continued during a three-month cross-country RV trip with her new husband and their four dogs. They searched for “Aussie Pie Shops” in every city they visited and baked their own versions of pies in their small RV oven. Back in Bend, they were on a mission to introduce Central Oregon to Australia’s staple.

Now, five years down the road, the Aussie-inspired, Oregon-made Jackaroo Pies features pies made from scratch, by hand. Options include the traditional beef pie, the sought-after Ned Kelly with beef, brown gravy, scrambled eggs, bacon and cheese, a curried vegetable pie, a couple of vegan options, sausage rolls, a very popular spinach and feta roll, a vegetarian breakfast pasty and several other menu items.

Courtesy Jackaroo Pies

Different Name, Same Authentic Meat Pies

Duda’s Aussie Pie Truck is now Jackaroo Pies

By Donna Britt @foodlifelove.com

Courtesy Jackaroo Pies

Amy Duda with her son Jack, aka Jackaroo.

Jackaroo Pies

Open Daily On Tap 1424 NE Cushing Dr., Bend jackaroopies.com 541-633-0988

By Nicole Vulcan

Submitted

Madras Hosts Farm-to-Table Market

Locals in and around Madras have a new way to access the food grown in the region, with the opening of the Madras Farm-to-Table Market. The City of Madras is host to the new market that takes place at City Hall Plaza in Madras every Friday. The market opened on Memorial Day and will have its final market around Labor Day. It’s open Fridays from 2 to 6pm.

“The vendors at this market come from our own Jefferson County agricultural community,” the City of Madras detailed on its Facebook page. “We hope this new event will build strong relationships between our urban and agricultural communities, provide our citizens with easier access to fresh, healthy products and boost the economies of our local farmers and ranchers.”

Foods available at recent markets have included meats such as beef, pork, chicken and lamb, honey, berries, eggs, tomatoes, tomato starts and milk. The Madras Farm-to-Table Market posts regular updates on what’s available at its Facebook page, facebook.com/madrasfarmtotable.

Got Rhubarb? La Pine Does!

You see it growing in giant shows in backyard gardens around Central Oregon, and this week, La Pine will pay homage to the great abundance of rhubarb. The La Pine Rhubarb Festival takes place this Saturday from 9am to 6pm, and Sunday from 9am to 3pm at the La Pine Senior Activity Center. The event includes live music and local vendors along with rhubarb-flavored beer, cider, wine and much more. Are you a master rhubarb pie-baker? This is your event. Get more information at lapineseniorcenter.org/rhubarb-festival.