Upgrade your after-school snacks and activities with this back-to-school food box!
It’s back-to-school season! While turning our living rooms and home offices into virtual classrooms, it can be a challenge to find activities to keep our students entertained. That’s why we created this week’s Iconic Market Box – helping you get through the new school day! From gourmet ready-to-bake mac ‘n cheese to a dozen mini chocolate sprinkle donuts, with pit stops for Beecher’s cheese sticks and chocolate hazelnut spread in between. Regardless if it is you or your child who is coloring in the Market artist’s coloring sheet doing the word search, or following our guides for making yummy food art, we have fun hands-on activities to pass the time and get the creative juices flowing.
Pasta Casalinga
Started in 2018 by Michela and Nathan, Pasta Casalinga is the best of Italy and the Pacific Northwest combined. Friends for years, both have an extensive love for food, drink and community, and hoped to bring all three together when they first opened the gates to their small pasta counter in Pike Place Market. At Pasta Casalinga, it is all about rustic, homestyle cooking. The menu typically changes ever few weeks, and offers 3-4 different pastas, each one inspired either by “the farm”, “the ocean” or “the garden”. It is Italian comfort food at it’s finest.
This week’s Iconic Market Box includes a Fancy Mac n’ Cheese from Pasta Casalinga. Ziti pasta smothered in 2 kinds of Italian cheeses, ready to be baked at mealtime. It is exactly what is needed after a long, hard day learning at school. Follow Pasta Casalinga on Instagram @pastacasalinga.
Re-heating Instructions: Remove plastic lid and cook at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 and 1/2 hour, until golden brown around edges. Let sit for five minutes prior to eating.
SeaBear Smokehouse
Founded in Anacortes, Washington in 1957, SeaBear Smokehouse produces all the seafood and smoked fish products at the Made in Washington store in Pike Place Market, and provides smoked products to fine dining restaurants and hotels nationwide. The name “SeaBear” refers to a Native American legend
of a creature that is both part bear and part killer whale, which is appropriate considering both animals love salmon!
This Week, SeaBear Smokehouse has provided their ready-to-eat Wild Sockeye salmon. Fully cooked , boneless and skinless – easily mix it with mustard or mayo for a quick sandwich spread. All natural and full of healthy proteins and Omega 3s, this salmon will surely keep your student focused on their studies! Follow SeaBear Smokehouse on Instagram at @seabearsmokehouse.
Beecher’s Handmade Cheese
Beecher’s Handmade Cheese is easily one of the most well-known brands born from Pike Place Market. Known for their long cheese-hungry lines and large cheese-viewing windows, it is no surprise we have been working with them since our first food tour more than thirteen years ago.
Started by Kurt Beecher Dammeier, the Pike Place Market location opened in 2003 and has since expanded to the Flat Iron District in New York City and even to Monroe, Wisconsin. Eating food without harmful additives or preservatives is critical to Kurt and is even part of the company’s credo: “Beecher’s Handmade Cheese makes foods only with ingredients we trust, are proud of, and would eat ourselves. It’s just authentic and original food, full of flavor.”
Beecher’s Flagship cheese sticks are a relatively new product and is featured for the first time in our Iconic Market Box this week. It is everything you love about the Flagship Cheese – creamy with a mild sharpness – all in handheld, cheese stick form. Follow Beecher’s Handmade Cheese on Instagram @beecherscheese.
Chukar Cherries
If you ever enjoyed the morning version of Savor Seattle’s Signature Tour of Pike Place Market, you would remember your stop at Chukar Cherries. This day stall has been in business for over 30 years and is well known for their inviting staff, offering tastings to anyone who asks. The business was founded by Pam Montgomery, a Seattleite with no farming experience but a love for the outdoors. Seeing her small family grow, she they should move out of the city and found a property in Prosser, Washington that just happened to have a few cherry trees on it. Those “few” cherry trees turned out to be over a thousand Bing cherry trees, and many were left unattended after picking season ended. Pam soon realized the leftover cherries did not spoil on the tree, but rather the Eastern Washington sun and the natural sugar in the cherries lead to natural preservation. After eating one, she realized that the dried cherries were delicious and promptly started to cook with them, creating delightful treats. However, the biggest hit was covering those dried cherries in chocolate, and the rest is history!
Ditch the salty bag of potato chips and enjoy the Cherry Apple Crisps from Chukar Cherries found in this week’s Iconic Market Box. Naturally sweet and tart, your student (or you) won’t want to put them down. Perfect to enjoy as a lunch-time treat or as an after-school snack. Follow Chukar Cherries on Instagram @chukarcherries.
Le Panier
If you love the smells of fresh-baked croissants and French press coffee, then you will love Le Panier in Pike Place Market. Started in 1983, the bakery blends together precise French technique with the local bounty of the Pacific Northwest. Signature items include the classic French baguette, almond croissants, and macarons. Today, as the Pike Place Market reopens, it is still the talk of the town, with lines still out the door.
This week, you will find Le Panier’s Pain aux Grains in your Iconic Market Box. This soft, multi-grain sandwich bread is a versatile and can be enjoyed with pretty much anything that you can think of. We recommend the Tayberry Jam from Johnson Berry Farm and Nocciolata chocolate hazelnut spread for an elevated PB & J experience. Follow Le Panier on Instagram @lepanierbakery.
Middle Fork Roasters
In 2009, a close-knit group of friends and coffee-lovers decided to put their passions first and began roasting coffee in the heart and soul of Seattle’s coffee scene. Since then, they have been regularly active in their community, giving back whenever they can and working with other businesses to help make their own coffee dreams come true. In fact, Middle Fork Roasters are responsible for providing the beans to many businesses around Seattle, including those in Pike Place Market. We’re psyched that
Middle Fork created the Savor Seattle Blend – a combination of Brazilian and Sumatran beans, delivering a bold yet buttery body with rich chocolate undertones. This laid-back blend provides an incredibly clean finish that is perfect for easing into your morning routine. Every Iconic Market Box includes a 1 lb. bag of whole bean coffee. Follow Middle Fork Roasters on Instagram @middleforkroasters.
Frank’s Quality Produce
When it comes to fruits and vegetables, there is no better place than Frank’s Quality Produce, located at the Corner Market Building of Pike Place Market. Three generations of the Genzales’ family have had a presence in the Pike Place Market, starting with Frank “Cheech” Genzale in 1928, and now Frank Jr., the current owner and operator of Franks’ Quality Produce. Locals choose this stall not just for the high quality of produce, but because of the people that make this stall so special. It is not a rarity to find team members recommending recipes or describing flavors of veggies unfamiliar to those who pass by or visit. It is that kind of quality service that keeps locals loyal, and why we love working with this amazing family-owned small business.
Each week, Iconic Market Boxes include a box of produce, curated by Frank Jr. and his team. The produce changes each week based on availability and season, ensuring that our customers get the best produce available – much fresher and better than what you find at the grocery store! Follow Frank’s Quality Produce on Instagram @franksqualityproduce.
Johnson Berry Farm
Located at the southern tip of the Puget Sound, Johnson Berry Farm is a favorite among the jam lovers of Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Owned and operated by Jim Johnson, the farm was established in 1975 and turned Certified Organic in 1993. Berries are picked by hand on their farm in Olympia, Washington and jams and pepper jams are made in small, single batches to ensure the best color, flavor and freshness.
This week’s box includes Tayberry jam. What’s a Tayberry? It is a cross between a Scottish Raspberry and an Aurora Blackberry – and is utterly sweet and delicious. This is one of their most popular jams that they sell, and we can’t wait to see what tasty creations you make using this jam! Follow Johnson’s Berry Farm on Instagram @johnsonberryfarm.
Truffle Queen
The tastiest little shop in Pike Place Market, Truffle Queen was started by Rei Hanscomb in 2003 as “La Buona Tavola” (The Good Table, in Italian) and recently rebranded as Truffle Queen to better convey their line of products and allow for the reveal of Rei’s own private label truffle products. Having a classically trained chef for a mother and a sister-in-law who married into an Italian truffle hunting family, it was only natural that Rei’s passion is to share delicious things whenever she discovers them. The shop has been a space where visitors can discover and learn all about truffles and how easy it is to use them in ways to make everyday a little more gourmet. The shop has recently re-opened after having to close from the statewide shutdown.
This week, Truffle Queen has provided Nocciolata chocolate hazelnut spread. If you like Nutella, then you will LOVE this spread. Made the old fashion way, without palm tree oil or any other kind of artificial additives or preservatives, you’ll never want to eat Nutella ever again. Follow Truffle Queen on Instagram @trufflequeen.
Daily Dozen Doughnut Co.
A favorite stop on the Signature tour of Pike Place Market, Daily Dozen doughnuts is the place to be for doughnut lovers in Seattle. Operated by sisters Sue and Barb, the business makes their mini doughnuts using a vintage Doughnut Robot, which produces 30 D.P.M (doughnuts per Minute). It is easy to want to just eat a whole dozen in one sitting, but in this case we won’t tell anyone if you do.
You will find a dozen rainbow-sprinkle mini doughnuts in each Iconic Market Box. Enjoy them as is or heat gently using the instructions below. Follow Daily Dozen Doughnut Co. on Instagram @dailydozendoughnut.
Robot vs. Sloth
Love Robots? Love Sloths? Then you will love everything inside Robot vs. Sloth, the artist shop created by local Seattle artist La Ru (Lauren Rudeck). La Ru also loves both and decided to put them together for a name that makes people stop and wonder “What the heck!?” When La Ru moved to Seattle in 2005, she would draw robots on stickers and leave them behind in Seattle neighborhoods as she explored the city. She feel in love with Sloths at the Jaguar Rescue Center in Costa Rica in 2011. Robot vs. Sloth is that combination of her two favorite things.
You will find 2 awesome coloring book pages inside this week’s Iconic Market Box. Full of the fun characters that the artist is known for, this activity is meant to be fun for students and adults alike. Get creative, draw inside (and outside) the lines, and share with us your beautiful creations on social media! Follow Robot vs. Sloth on Instagram @robotvsloth.
