Eating with the seasons is not only nutritious, it’s also affordable – and most importantly – delicious! Join Amanda Skrip, Natural Foods Chef and Health Coach, and discover how tasty it is to indulge in the seasonal bounty! Amanda will whip up some easy recipes using carrots, parsnips, beets, spaghetti squash, pumpkin, and more! To sign up please visit AmandaSkrip.com

Learn to pipe like a pro! Join us for our very first Bakery Academy class - Cake Decorating 101! Ashley, our fabulous cake decorator, will lead this very hands-on class and teach you the basics of cake decoration. The class comes complete with everything you’ll need to decorate, and you’ll go home with your very own 5” cake – that you’ll decorate of course! Please sign up today at our Customer Service Desk, as class size is extremely limited.

Your grocery list can make Chicago safer today. Shop with us on 10/17, and 5% of what you spend will go to CureViolence (formerly known as CeaseFire), a nonprofit that uses a public health model to stop shootings and killings in our city. Help support a safer Chicago and do your peace. For more information about CureViolence, please visit www.cureviolence.org.

Honey Crisps, Galas, Braeburns, Macintosh, Granny Smith, Sweet Tango, Pink Lady...apple season has arrived. Our produce team members are talking and tasting apples today! Stop in and partake in our “blind” apple flight; taste every apple in the store! Register in advance with our Customer Service team for a chance to enter to win an apple gift basket. Also shout out your favorite apple via the Twittersphere -  our handle is @WholeFoodsCHI...and make sure you use #AppleFlight!

The cooler days are approaching…prepare for the chill and learn a few simple and delicious soup and stew recipes.  Natural foods chef, Amanda Skrip, will share her favorite, tasty recipes that will keep you warm all the way through winter! Class will be gluten and dairy free. To sign up please visit AmandaSkrip.com

Oysters! Join our dynamic fishmonger duo, Max and Jackie, as they introduce On the Half Shell. The class will treat attendees to a dozen oysters complete with wine pairings. The menu will focus on raw oysters, but smoked, fried, and a couple of surprise offerings are in store! Whether you’re an oyster novice or a pro looking for a new mignonette to serve with your oysters for the holidays, this class is one you won’t want to miss. Please sign up at our Customer Service Desk today.

In your wildest of dreams, you cannot believe the superb samples and the whimsical wonders we have in store for you…at our Halloween party! Make sure you enter for a chance to win our $500 “Green Ticket” gift card! From children to adults, there will be something for everyone. For more information visit our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/wfmchi.

Meet Creative Pitch, a local non-profit that works with Chicago design studios and marketing firms to get used art supplies into the hands of the students and instructors who need them. Learn how you can “pitch” in: drop- by and meet Creative Pitchers Dian Sourelis and Kelli Langdon as they get to know our store and introduce themselves. Through the end of 2012, Creative Pitch will be featured as Whole Foods Market Chicago’s One Dime at a Time recipient.