On Saturday, November 14th from 12 to 4 pm Our Specialty Department will be offering a holiday wine and beer tasting in the Culinary Center.  Pay $2 and get 6 tastes.  Vendors being featured: Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, Whole Foods Market Top 10 Holiday wines, Lulu’s Chocolates and Devil in an Apron.  Drink beer and munch on some cheese.  Don’t miss this great oppurtunity to find the perfect beverage to compliment your holiday meal.

Cherries are in full swing!  Enjoy them while you can!   We have both organic (only $3.99 per pound) and conventionally raised, which are on sale this Friday, July 10th for $1.89 per pound!  Here are some ideas for your cherries:

• pop them in your mouth for immediate sensory enjoyment
• make cherry jam
• bake a cherry crisp or clafouti
• make cherry salsa for a fun change
• sauce for pork or salmon 

All Alba sunscreens are “buy one get one free” this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Regularily priced at $9.99, and from SPF 18 to 32, this is a great deal, a smart shopper buy indeed!  Your skin is worth it and will love you.

Recipe Idea:

With a bowl of cooled, sliced baby red potatoes and a can of garbanzo beans, I was trying to figure out what kid of potato salad to create.   Surveying the fridge, I spotted the Bolani Garlic Mint Cheese spread, an Afghani yoghurt cheese with spices, mint and garlic.  Perfect!  Mixed it all together with a sprinkle of sea salt and the resulting potato salad was a hit.   This wonderful sauce is located in the dairy section if I’ve inspired you to try this very quick and easy recipe!   If you have questions about this recipe or spread, contact Lynn at the Sacramento Whole Foods Culinary School.

“bunny” Riesling  $6.99 per bottle right now!

This floral, fruity and flirtatious wine with crisp peach, pear and light acidity is on sale from 6/3 through 6/10!  A drier-style Riesling, it is a splendid apéritif and the perfect match with lighter seafood and salads, Asian spiced cuisine or full-flavored cheeses.  Don’t miss out on this great summer sipping wine!

A new artisan product is on our shelf from East and West Gourmet Afghan Food.   The Afghani stuffed flat breadbreads, known as Bolani, are incredible tasting, along with their spreads and dips.  Bolani come in Spinach, Pumpkin, Lentil and Potato.  Spreads and dips include sundried tomato hummus, garlic mint cheese, Cilantro Pesto, Eggplant Pesto, Sweet Jalapeno Sauce, Babaganoush and a few others. This Concord based company participates in about 70 farmers’ markets in Northern California and is now available at Whole Foods.  We’ve got several sampling demos coming up so check ‘em out!   And the best thing is most are low fat, but you’d never even know.

Why all the hype about gluten-free and wheat-free?  What is this about anyway? 

Gluten, a protien found in wheat, gives bread it’s elasticity.  But it is also the culprit of Celiac Disease, an autoimmune system disease.  Gluten triggers an autoimmune reaction which damages and destroys villi in the small intestines.  As villi are destroyed, absportion of nutrients diminishes.  Symptoms include abdominal distress and pain, gas, bloating, weight loss, diarrhea, rashes, fatigue and more.

Often mis-diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome or lactose intollerance, it has recently been linked to Attention Deficit Disorder and Autism in kids.  There is no cure thus total avoidance of foods containing gluten is necessary.

In steps the Whole Foods Market (WFM) Gluten Free Bakehouse!  Yes, WFM carries a very large selection of gluten-free products, many made by our internal Gluten-Free Bakehouse, located in Morrisville, NC.  Started and run by a Whole Foods employee who has Celiac Disease, the breadth of product continues to grow.  Only gluten-free products are produced in the bakehouse!

All WFM gluten-free bakehouse products are located in the frozen isle in every WFM store, and include a variety of breads, muffins, cookies, brownies, pizza dough, scones, biscuits, corn bread, pies and more.  If you have questions about Whole Foods’ Gluten-Free Bakhouse products, just ask a team member or see Sherri in the bakery.

We also offer a few gluten-free cooking classes in our Culinary Center, including “All About Gluten-Free Flours” the first Sunday of every month.  Check our on-line calendar for information. 

Look for our gluten-free marker to locate products throughout the store with this sign:

Eric in the Bakery is very excited about our Friday special today.  Pies!  9-inch Apple and Cherry, his two favorites (and this wasn’t planned).  Buy one get one free, a pretty great deal at $6.99 a piece!   So if you are looking for a yummy dessert for the weekend, or planning ahead for Memorial Day, come on in and take advantage of this deal.  Great ala mode too!