From 4/16 – 4/20, we’ll be posting daily shots of DRY bottles in various locations around Washington. Be the first to correctly identify the location of each bottle with a comment or @reply and you’ll win a coupon for a 4-pack of DRY to use at a grocery store near you. We’ll give a hint as to when each day’s photo will be released so you can be at your sleuthing best. Happy hunting!
Photo credit: Jon Argos
DRY’s Five Pie Salute to National Pizza Month
United States Congress has named October National Pizza Month. We here at DRY are thankful that they could reach across the aisle and make a political statement we can all support: pizza is awesome. In that spirit, we want to spotlight five of the most unique pies in the land. All these delicious pizzas crafted by pizzerias that share our sentiment that the pizza/soda pairing doesn’t have to be ordinary.
5. My Big Fat Greek Pizza (Zaw Pizza | Seattle, WA) – Spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted garlic, Kalamata olives and free range, marinated chicken breast – served on a base of house-made pesto with feta and mozzarella cheeses. Fresh oregano on top.
Pair with: Blood Orange DRY – The citrus of Blood Orange DRY Soda pairs nicely with the olives and greens on this unique pizza.
4. The Jerk (The Station Pizzeria | Woodinville, WA) – Braised jerk chicken, fried cheese dumplings, trio of onions, arugula pesto.
Pair with: Rhubarb DRY – This rich, comfort-food laden pizza is complimented by the lush fruitiness of Rhubarb DRY Soda.
3. The Fungi (Blackbird Pizzeria | Philadelphia, PA) – Assorted mushrooms, fresh thyme, garlic butter, truffle oil, mozzarella style daiya cheese.
Pair with: Juniper Berry DRY - This vegan delight matches perfectly with Juniper Berry DRY Soda. The thyme and mushrooms are a perfect combination with the herbal freshness of the soda.
2. The Spicy Thai Pizza (Pizza Schmizza | Portland, OR) – Garlic chicken, roasted red peppers, crushed red peppers & cilantro on a spicy peanut sauce base.
Pair with: Wild Lime DRY – The zesty tartness of Wild Lime DRY Soda matches well with the cilantro spiciness of the Spicy Thai Pizza.
1. The Gene Parmesan (Sizzle Pie | Portland, OR) – Shaved beef steak, green peppers, white onions and Italian provolone, plus an Arrested Development reference. What more could you want?
Pair with: Rhubarb DRY – The double-meatiness of the Gene Parmesan is well complemented by the sweeter notes in Rhubarb DRY.
During these cherished summer months in our home state of Washington, decks are filled with sun-deprived Washingtonians soaking up every ray of beautiful Northwest sunshine they can, often times around platters of local seafood caught right along the west coast. Here, seafood and summertime are nearly synonymous, and it’s because of this that oysters are a great food fit to represent Washington.
Raw on the half shell, shooters, cooked in the shell: there are a lot of ways to prepare and eat oysters. Try these three preparations for a new take on this ugly beauty, all concocted by some of Washington’s best foodies.
Local Washington’s Oyster Recipes
Oyster Bánh Mì | via Fat of the Land (@LangdonCook – SEATTLE, WA)
Smoked Oyster Crostini | via Hama Hama Oysters (@HamaHamaOysters – LILLIWAUP, WA)
Oyster Pudding | via Hogwash, prepared by Jess Thomson (@OnFoodAndLife - SEATTLE, WA)
For more local food connections such as this, follow DRY Soda on Twitter and Facebook
Photo credit: Juice Peddlers
With National Bike Month upon us, we’ve noticed an awesome, healthy uptick in the amount of bikes we see on the road around DRY HQ. With this inspiration in mind, we found five of the most amazing, innovative uses of bicycles that you may not have thought of.
Instead of your normal bike ride, why don’t you use your pedal power to…
1) Make a Fresh Fruit Smoothie
Mainstays at farmers markets in and around Seattle, the thinkers behind Juice Peddlers truly make their customers a part of the business and experience. Juice Peddlers outsource their smoothie-making work… to the people who order them. Patrons pick their fruit combo, pony up to the mounted bicycle at the custom smoothie bar, and pedal away to power the blender in front of them until the concoction is just right.
2) Bring Pie to Your Doorstep
One of Seattle’s best secrets, Max Kraushaar, AKA Seattle Pie Man, has been in the business of peddling and pedaling his baked-from-scratch pies around the University District in Seattle since 2010. His business, known as The Piecycle, is as novel as it is delicious. Kraushaar bakes a variety of pies in advance, hungry customers call or text in orders for delivery, and he rides them over in a blaze of delicious glory.
3) Fence Off Your House
We love us some upcycling, and this double embodiment of the word is just too fantastic. The folks at Fence Workshop have an incredible collection of custom bike-made fences that truly tickle our design fancy. The sturdiness of bike frames help make dependable, strong fences, while the colors and concept exude a creative, DIY spirit.
4) Take a Picnic Mobile
What’s better than a picnic with friends? One that you can take anywhere, even down the street at 20+ mph. In one of the crazier ideas we’ve seen, a few friends converted an abandoned wooden picnic table into a tandem bicycle, mobile picnic machine, complete with drink cooler and grill for their “rider food.”
5) Power the Grid
Riding a stationary bike at the gym may is a good thing, but generating free energy for the grid while doing so makes it a labor of love. With a grid-tied inverter and some handiwork, you could turn your workout into a green machine. You won’t be able to power your house on the energy produced, but every little bit helps!
Hope that everyone is having a fun, fast and safe National Bike Month!
It’s no secret that I love eating delicious food – at restaurants, at friends’ houses, or at home with my family. A few weeks ago, I had lunch at a place I hadn’t been to in years … actually decades. An elementary school cafeteria. I had lunch with my youngest son and got an eye-full as to what the school lunchtime experience is for many kids. My son and his classmates had 10-12 minutes to eat their lunches before getting outside to run around the playground. Most of the kids at the table followed the adage “life is uncertain, eat dessert first” and gobbled their cookies before eating anything else in their lunches. Few kids had much protein or fruit or veg in their lunches or if they did, they didn’t eat it; and many lunches had an abundance of sugar and empty calories. And then, lickity-split, the kids were out the door to squeeze in some playtime before the bell.
Our country has been abuzz recently about school lunch nutrition. In December, school lunch nutrition standards were raised for the first time in 15 years, requiring more fruits, veggies, and whole grains in school lunches and reducing sodium, trans-fat, and starchy vegetables. I thought this before/after infographic from the White House was handy in understanding how the proposed changes would impact school lunches. I also read that some healthy food advocates, like Marion Nestle, think the new standards aren’t perfect but could be a step in the right direction.After my school lunch experience, I was really excited to read about the change in the air at Seattle Public Schools. Seattle’s new-ish Nutrition Director Eric Boutin worked in the nearby school district of Auburn where he led a movement to bring local wholesome food into school lunches. He’s now in Seattle and working to revamp both the composition of lunches (locally sourced, whole foods) and figure out how schools can effectively source and prepare local foods for lunch. Recently Seattle Public Schools became a recipient of a grant, which will pair chefs and operations managers from Tom Douglas’s restaurants with school cooks in order to help retrain school lunch program staff to source and prepare fresh foods. I love it!
So the only downside to this lunchtime story is that my poor son no longer gets dessert in his lunches — he has not invited me back. But maybe I can wrangle an invite once the schools finish their lunch program revamp.
(images courtesy of Dunn+Hobbes, LLC)
I was in San Francisco earlier this month, home to one of my favorite places – the Ferry Building. In addition to being a gorgeous historic building, it’s chock full of amazing regional food producers and crafts people. Cheese from Cowgirl Creamery, Boccalone’s salumi, Blue Bottle Coffee, Frog Hollow Farm’s stone fruits … is your mouth watering yet? What’s inspiring to me is the community of businesses that have been cultivated in the Ferry Building – businesses that are creating products using traditional and sustainable production methods to make pure foods. 
On this trip, I was thinking how lucky SF was to have the Ferry Building and its community but I know that Seattle is also very blessed, not only do we have Pike Place Market, but we have a new addition to our local food scene — Capitol Hill’s Melrose Market. This market-hall style building is home to Seattle’s own mix of food purveyors including Rainshadow Meats, The Calf & Kid cheese shop, Marigold and Mint, and delicious restaurants and bars that showcase regional food products on their menus: Sitka & Spruce, bar ferd’nand, Still Liquor, and Homegrown.
I had the opportunity to have lunch at Sitka & Spruce a few months ago. The food and atmosphere were amazing – they make different dishes each day and the kitchen is open so you have the opportunity to go and check out the dishes and learn about where the food is from and how it is prepared. Another good sign that it is a great place to eat – I ran into my friends Jason and Nicole Wilson eating lunch there too (owners of Crush and Chef Jason is a James Beard winner).
What I love most about places like Melrose Market and the Ferry Building – the opportunity to learn about the food I’m buying and learn about the producers. The business owners are either producing their products or buying them directly from the farmers, ranchers, cheesemakers and they can tell me about the food and how best to eat or serve it. Well… I also love that both places sell tons of DRY Soda!
While we were in San Francisco for the Fancy Food Show, our Director of Sales introduced DRY’s HQ team to Beard Papa’s Fresh ‘n Natural Cream Puffs. Upon our return home, we were thrilled to find a Beard Papa’s in Seattle’s International District. We still don’t know exactly how they do it, but their light, airy confections are to-die-for. Founder Yuji Hirota first sold his all-natural, fresh puffs in Osaka, Japan in 1999. Since then, Beard Papa’s stores have sprouted up throughout Asia, Australia and the USA. Puff flavor options include delights like the original vanilla, chocolate, pumpkin, earl grey tea, and strawberry. The company’s mission is simple: serve a unique cream puff to happy people. Now we just need to get them to serve DRY! To find a local location, visit www.beardpapa.com and be happy!
Online grocery shopping seems to get better every day. Small Potatoes Urban Delivery (SPUD) proves our point perfectly with their huge selection of natural, organic and local products, as well as a 100% satisfaction guarantee, admitting they “understand that buying sight unseen requires more trust than shopping at a grocery store.” They also offer free shipping on orders over $35, which is an easy total to break given their expansive product offerings. Currently, Spud’s services are only available to those of us on the West Coast, but they plan to expand, so be on the lookout. www.spud.com
We have admittedly and wholeheartedly fallen under the spell – the spell of cupcakes, that is. These shops, each offering their own special twist to today’s tiny cake, have captured our minds with their sweet designs, friendly people and tremendous tastes! And they look just beautiful next to a bottle of DRY! Lucky for our waistlines, we have a whole team of cupcake sleuths on the move to help us find the best of the best. Our favorites from across the states are listed below. More to come soon!
Big Sugar Bakeshop – Studio City, CA
Kara’s Cupcakes – San Francisco, CA
Vanilla Bake Shop – Santa Monica, CA
Magnolia Bakery – New York, NY
Brown Betty Dessert Boutique – Philadelphia, PA
One of the first restaurants to carry DRY Soda was Crush, in Seattle. While we were certainly thankful for the business back then, what we really appreciated was the way Chef Jason Wilson embraced DRY and paired it so perfectly with his entrees. At a time when few people had actually heard of DRY, he helped us show there was a market for a refreshingly new kind of soda.
For that reason – and the fact that the food is truly amazing and the dining experience is a masterful escape from our jam-packed schedules – we try to eat at Crush whenever we can, and highly recommend it if you’re ever in town. www.chefjasonwilson.com
DRY SODA CO. / 410 First Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98104 / 888.DRY.SODA (379.7632)