It takes a special artistry to write an honest pop song. Truthful songwriters touch on our dark sides in order to achieve the light- but few manage to get us to dance. Introducing The Weepies: a band that will have you smiling- and spinning- as they transform human frailty into an excuse to celebrate true love. You can listen to their entire new album, Be My Thrill, right here.

The Weepies – Be My Thrill by Nettwerk Albums

One of the most charming aspects of The Weepies is their personal story: they are a husband and wife singer-songwriter duo who fell in love over music. In our interview below, it’s easy to see how their relationship translates into such touching songs. As they sing about unpaid bills, the weeds smothering once-alive love, or the restlessness that holds us all back from loving well, they are capturing the beauty of treasured relationships and simple truths.

We asked The Weepies (Deb Talan and Steve Tannen) to share a little about their unique romance…(enjoy)…

The Weepies
DEB TALAN: Ten years ago I was a solo songwriter in Boston; I’d been in a youthfully frenetic pop band in Portland, Oregon for a few years, and when that band fell apart (as bands do) I headed east on my own and landed in Boston. I was working in a preschool in the early mornings, and I was playing out more and more. My first solo “shows” were a few hours during the day in various coffee shops all over town whose managers I’d coerced into letting me play (these were rather lonesome, and extremely caffeinated).

STEVE TANNEN: In 2001 I was driving from New York City to Boston to play my first solo show outside of NYC. At the time I was playing a lot of open mics around New York, and just starting to be able to have my own shows – mostly late night bar gigs with a bunch of friends and a fair amount of whiskey…By late afternoon I was driving through Somerville and into Cambridge, and I remember thinking that the singer Deb Talan lived there. I was a big fan of Deb’s, and I still am – I’d listened to “Something Burning” obsessively that winter. I had it in the car with me and I put it on as I drove to the club. We’d emailed a little bit as mutual admirers, and somewhere in the back of my mind I hoped she’d found out about the show and would come see it, but I really didn’t think she would.

DEB TALAN: Starting out in a new town and going to open mics, you get to hear a lot of other songwriters. Many of them have something about them you like, but it’s rare to feel that you’ve heard someone truly unique, whose music moves you. A friend told me I should check out this new guy from NYC named Steve Tannen. I ended up listening to his debut album (“Big Señorita”) about a thousand times, and like a true fan I felt he knew my heart before I met him (thrilling and totally unsettling), and then I heard he was coming to play Club Passim – I still have the music journalist’s business card on the back of which I had written “Steve Tannen – Feb. 12!” in sharpie. I had a cold and it was the middle of winter, but I put on a purple turtleneck sweater anyway and went to the show, armed with lipstick and a small posse.

STEVE TANNEN: We met in person for the first time that night just before the show. I think we’d both describe the meeting as electric. We were nervous, and we only talked for about 5 minutes before I went on stage.

DEB TALAN: I remember watching Steve before he went on. He was sitting in one of the folding chairs in the back, bent over his setlist, brown crazy hair falling over his forehead. He was wearing a white t-shirt so he sort of glowed in the dark.

STEVE TANNEN: Most of the rest of that show is a blur, I have no idea what I played, I just remember glimpsing Deb in the audience surrounded by her friends, thinking, “That’s Deb Talan in the audience. Don’t screw up!” From there my mind does a sort of movie-like cut-to: Deb and I passing a guitar back and forth in a tiny apartment, playing songs for each other until dawn.

DEB TALAN: So that was the beginning of all of this! We started writing together, started playing shows together, and started making records together.

STEVE TANNEN: Now of course we’re married with two amazing kids, a band, and a new 14 song record coming out. “Be My Thrill” is actually our 4th studio album. We are really proud of it. This was definitely the most fun we’ve had making a record; we wrote for months, worked with some of our favorite musicians in the world, and we took as much time as we needed at every step. Taking that time pressure off made the whole thing a little lighter.

DEB TALAN: We’re also heading out on a two-month, 36 city tour of the US in October! It’s going to be quite a change – the last time we were on the road was in 2006, and it was just the two of us driving to coffee house shows in our old Toyota packed like a sausage. This time we’ll have a full band, a tour bus, and of course the whole family in tow.

We can’t wait to see what the next 10 years will bring.

We’re excited to see what’s next for The Weepies. Thanks to Nettwerk and The Weepies for sharing the music. Their album can be found at your local Whole Foods Market, beginning September 7th.

Jimmy Dunne is President of Inspire and a Grammy-nominated songwriter, TV and film composer, and television writer and producer; with songs that have been recorded on 27,000,000 records worldwide and garnered a number of CMA, ACMA, Juno, and BMI and ASCAP songwriter awards and multi-platinum Billboard recognitions.

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Having your own kitchen in a college apartment can be a little intimidating. As a senior, this will be my third year living in an apartment, and I can assure you that cooking’s not as daunting as it may initially seem. Take advantage of your back-to-school energy – all that organizing and being on top of things the first few weeks -to put some healthy eating habits in place. Stocking the right foods in your kitchen is going to take you a long way toward a good start.

For breakfast, stock up on simple items like granola bars, apples, nut butters, yogurt, etc. Boxed cereal can be quick and easy, but check the nutrition facts to see how much sugar, whole grains and fiber you’re getting per serving. Overnight Oatmeal is super simple and nutritious – just soak the oats the night before, and they’re ready to go in the morning! If you have a bit more time, try a Mixed Fruit Smoothie. Just keep a supply of frozen fruit on hand and you can whip up a smoothie anytime. Whether for breakfast or dinner, egg-based burritos, tacos or pita pockets are quick, delicious and filling.

Just like eggs can be served any time of day, so can beans. Keep an assortment of your favorite canned beans – kidney, garbanzo, black, refried – and you’ll be able to put together a meal quickly. A few bean-based ideas:

• Turn a large green salad into a meal by topping with kidney beans for a protein boost.
• Toss together garbanzo beans, diced tomato, avocado and cucumber along with your favorite dressing for a delicious filling for whole wheat tortillas.
• Combine black beans with corn, diced bell peppers, cilantro and taco seasoning and serve over salad greens with a few corn chips as a garnish.
• Use low-sodium refried beans and grated cheese to make tacos or burritos. Add some rotisserie chicken like in these Quick Chicken Tostadas.

And here are some of my other favorite go-to dishes for simple college life cooking:

• Pasta: My classic stand-by. Go for whole grain pasta topped with your favorite jarred pasta sauce. Add some frozen veggies for a nutrient boost – I like broccoli. Just stir in and heat along with the sauce. Be sure to add a salad!



• Pizza Night: Instead of ordering pizza for you and your roomies, save some dough and make it yourself. Pre-made pizza crust, canned sauce and pre-sliced veggies from the salad bar make for an easy fix. While the pizza is baking, make a fresh salad.
• Sandwiches: Don’t forget this simple and satisfying meal. Choose some whole grain bread, top with your favorite veggies and protein and a spread (my personal favorites are roasted red bell pepper pesto and hummus). If you a have Panini maker, go for turning it into a fancy sandwich!
• On the weekend, step into the kitchen for something a bit more involved -stir fries are a great place to start. Try this Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry or make your own Buddha’s Delight.
• If you have a sweet tooth, don’t pull out a pint of ice cream and call it a night. Instead, stir chopped fresh fruits into nonfat Greek-style yogurt and then drizzle with chocolate syrup. If you’re more of a frozen dessert type, check out these Cherry Ice Pops – you can make a batch and they’ll be around when you need them!

More than anything else, make sure you’re not stressing too hard in the kitchen-save that for your classes. Just have fun and experiment with food-that’s how I learned what works for me!

What are your tips for eating well when you’re a college student living in an apartment?

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From FOODWOLFF.COM

[Now] is the season of burgers. Be it beef, bison, turkey, tuna, lamb, or tofu—I find myself craving a burger and its supremely satisfying proportions on a frequent basis.  I love making new variations on the classic theme of burgers. Ground meat doesn’t take a lot of time to prepare or cook and, if done right, can be a real show stopper if the right ingredients are used.

My husband and I work in the restaurant industry which means our off duty time is during the daylight hours. So for us, many of our best meals together are during lunch. Because of this I’ve began perfecting elegant, open faced burgers that taste great, have enough protein to sustain us through a long night, and go easy on the bread.

Thanks to the good people at Jimenez Family Farm (based in Santa Ynez, they drive down to the Hollywood Farmers Market every Sunday),  I discovered the beauty of a perfectly cooked lamb burger. Top the ground lamb shoulder patty with the complementary flavors of mint and sweet Santa Barbara Pistachios, and the results hit the flavor trifecta: simple, delicious, and true to the terroir. This lamb burger with a mint and pistachio salsa verde is so good, I’ve actually started daydreaming about owning my own restaurant and building the whole business around every juicy, burger-bite.

Recipe here.
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Organic Recipes, Organic Food, Local Food, Small Farms, Family Farms, Edible Landscapes, Shop Local – OrganicToBe.org

Today’s the big day! All of our U.S. stores are helping shoppers celebrate Labor Day by offering ground grass-fed beef at a sale price of just .99 per pound. Today, September 3rd only!

This is the perfect way to try out grass-fed beef if you haven’t yet; and if you have, a perfect opportunity to stock up!

Grill up some unique burgers befitting flavorful grass-fed beef:

• Bahn Mi Grass-Fed Beef Burgers
• Apple and Cheddar Grass-fed Beef Burgers
• Or use grass-fed in any of these 25 ground beef recipes.

Here’s what I think are the most important aspects of grass-fed beef:

• Grass-fed beef ranching is not only good for the animals, but involves managing natural resources and supporting local producers.
• Grass-fed beef is a leaner choice and has a more favorable ratio of omega fatty acids.
• Grass-fed beef is priced fairly for the producer and is worth every penny.
• Grass-fed beef is a delicious alternative to grain-fed beef and cooks a little differently.

We’ve got more details on all of those aspects on our Grass-fed Beef page and you can read about our Grass-fed Rancher Partners and find out who supplies the grass-fed beef that you buy in your local Whole Foods Market. Very cool.

Let’s fire up the grill and cook some beef!

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The back-to-school madness can make getting together for dinner challenging. But the final meal of the day is about much more than rounding out your nutritional requirements. It’s a time when families come back together, regroup, catch up and talk about their day. The family dinner table also provides a place for parents and older children to model good eating habits and table manners for younger children.

Some studies suggest that children who eat meals with their parents have healthier eating habits than those who don’t. Families that eat together at home tend to consume less fast food and more fruits and vegetables, and preparing meals at home gives parents control over both the quality and quantity of food.

With childhood obesity on the rise in the United States, many experts also recommend that parents:

• Serve sensible portion sizes so kids know that “supersized” isn’t normal.
• Help kids understand how to eat until they are comfortably satisfied, but not full.
• Let children serve themselves as early as age 5 so they begin to regulate portions themselves.



• Don’t pressure kids to clear their plates; encourage them to judge fullness by physical rather than visual cues.

Here are a few ideas for helping make those dinners happen:

• Allow each family member to choose the menu on a regular rotation.
• ” Have family members look through cookbooks (online or in print) and choose a few new recipes to try.
• Learn to cook with a pressure cooker or slow cooker to make meal prep easier on everyone’s schedule. You’ll return at the end of the day to a dinner that’s ready to serve.
• Cook several meals over the weekend and refrigerate or freeze them to be reheated later during the week.
• Mix prepared and homemade foods to save time and still provide complete nutrition at each meal.
• Turn off the phone, television and other distractions. Play soothing music to set the mood if you like!

Now, get cooking with some simple suppers like these:

• Ravioli with No-Cook Heirloom Tomato Sauce
• Mexican Taco Stew
• Broiled Tilapia with Parmesan and Herbs
• Greens with Carrots, Feta Cheese and Brown Rice
• Quick Chicken Tostadas
• Easy Baked Penne
• Cheesy Lasagna Rolls

Get more Back to School tips and find lots more great recipes in our Family-Friendly and Cooking with Kids recipes collections.

What is your family’s favorite weeknight meal?

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From GREG ATKINSON

This soup is so redolent with tomato flavor that you will wonder what the canned version has to do with tomatoes at all. It’s best made with the oversized deep red tomatoes that come in at the end of summer. To set it off properly, a dollop of bright green pesto or a crumble of fresh white goat cheese is just the ticket.

Makes about 4 servings

½ cup organic olive oil
1 large organic onion peeled and thinly sliced
6 large organic heirloom tomatoes (about 3 pounds), cut into thin wedges
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Pesto, crumbled fresh chèvre, or olive oil, for garnish (optional)

1. Put the olive oil and onions in in a heavy soup pot over medium-high heat and cook stirring regularly with a wooden spatula or spoon, until the onions are soft and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes

2. Add the tomatoes, cover the pan, and when the soup is boiling, reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the tomatoes are very tender and beginning to disintegrate, about 10 minutes.

3. Purée the soup with an immersion blender or, if no immersion blender is available, transfer the soup in small batches to a standard blender. (Put the lid on the blender, then drape a dish towel over the lid, and to prevent the hot soup from splashing out, hold the lid down with the dish towel while the motor is running.)

4. You might wish to strain the soup to remove the seeds. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve the soup hot with a dollop of pesto, a crumble of fresh chèvre, or a drizzle of olive oil.
~~

Organic Recipes, Organic Food, Local Food, Small Farms, Family Farms, Edible Landscapes, Shop Local – OrganicToBe.org

Tomorrow is the big day! We are having a great sale on ground grass-fed beef just in time for Labor Day. ONE DAY ONLY – Friday September 3rd, you can pick up ground grass-fed beef for .99 a pound. Perfect way to try out grass-fed beef if you haven’t yet; and if you have, a perfect opportunity to stock up!

Here are the highlights on a few of our rancher partners who provide us with this great beef.

Simply Grazin’
Skillman, NJ

Fifteen years ago, Mark and Lynne Faille began to raise grass-fed beef for personal health reasons. Today, Simply Grazin’s six ranches sell their beef to local restaurants and Whole Foods Market. The primarily Angus herds roam freely and feed on a diet of clover and timothy hay. Simply Grazin’ practices rotational grazing, and the cattle have enough pasture to last them throughout the spring, summer and fall-they receive no grain at all. Organic hay is harvested all summer long and stored for their consumption throughout the long winter months. Ranches are located in New Jersey, New York and Virginia.

Grass-fed beef from Simply Grazin’ is available in our stores in Western Connecticut, New York and New Jersey (excluding Marlton and Princeton).

Maui Cattle
Kahului, HI

In 2002, Alex Franco and a group of Hawaiian ranchers formed the Maui Cattle Company because they were frustrated with the quality of beef in their local markets. Maui Cattle is an all-Hawaiian operation that raises approximately eleven thousand head of Angus cattle. These cattle roam freely and graze on a diet of tropical grasses supplemented with sugar cane and pineapple.

Grass-fed beef from Maui Cattle is available in our stores in Hawaii.

Grassfed Livestock Alliance
Tarpley, TX

Grassfed Livestock Alliance (GLA) was formed to provide a fair sustainable market for family owned and operated farms and ranches. The GLA is currently comprised of 14 ranches spread through Texas and Oklahoma with a total of approximately 1500 head of English-breed cattle, mostly Angus and Devon. All GLA ranches allow their cattle to roam freely and utilize low stress practices. In addition, the GLA believes in caring for the land as well as focusing on humane treatment of the animals. Learn more about the individual ranching families.

Grass-fed beef from Grassfed Livestock Alliance is available in our stores in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Want to know where the grass-fed beef in your local Whole Foods Market comes from? Just check our Grass-fed Rancher Partners page. And don’t forget to pick up some grass-fed beef in our stores to give it a try yourself! We’ve got recipes and cooking tips along with the whole scoop on the benefits of grass-fed on our Grass-fed Beef page.

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I remember when “health food” sandwiches started “making the scene” in California when I was a kid. How did we know it was health food? It was made with whole wheat bread and alfalfa sprouts – that’s how! I get a kick out of how things can change so radically over time, and then again, not change much at all. Take sprouts, for instance. They’re a really great addition to a healthy diet with lots of choices and many great ways to enjoy them. Still, there are plenty of people who narrowly define sprouts as 1) bean sprouts that come in some Asian dishes, or 2) alfalfa sprouts, the classic topping for “heath-food-store” sandwiches.

I say broaden your horizons! Sprouts are the very young shoots of germinated edible seeds from vegetables, beans or grains. Remember that just about every seed, nut, bean and grain can be sprouted, and doing so increases its nutritional value. While I happen to like both alfalfa and mung bean sprouts, I am just as enthused about other varieties as well, especially during the summer when I love to add them to my salads and sandwiches. I’m talking about broccoli sprouts, sunflower sprouts, clover and radish sprouts, too. If you’ve never been a sprout kind of a person, I hope to change your mind! Not only will you be enjoying a crunchy, cooling, tasty treat, you’ll also be getting:

• Vitamin C
• Folic Acid
• Phytonutrients
• Improved digestibility

Here are some delicious ways to put sprouts on your menu:

• Yes, they cuddle up well in sandwiches and wraps – stuff them into pita bread, too!



• Salads are a go, as you know, but not just the leafy-green type. Try them on crunchy vegetable salads, steamed vegetable salads as well as bean and grain salads. I like them as a garnish to egg, potato, chicken and shrimp salad, too. To spice up your sprouts, try this idea for Firecracker Chicken Salad with Pineapple and Mango.
• Try them rolled up in sushi.
• Mung beans are super popular with Asian salads and noodle dishes. Here’s a great recipe for Asian Tofu and Sprout Salad and here’s a favorite for a Quick Noodle Salad with Tofu and Vegetables.
• Juice them with other veggies or fresh fruits.
• Add them to coleslaw – they are delicious that way!
• If you love Thai food, then you will love the sprouts that garnish our Pad Thai Tofu.
• Throw them into stir-fries.
• Make a summery soup and stir them in.
• Mix them into cottage cheese, cream cheese or goat cheese and spread on sandwiches or crackers.
• Mix and match your sprouts depending on your recipe. Here’s a blend of sunflower and mung bean sprouts in a delicious Beet Salad with Arugula.
• Carrots join sunflower sprouts in this refreshing Carrot and Sunflower Sprout Salad with Basil and Green Peppercorn Oil.
• Eat them fresh, as is, with a bit of your favorite salad dressing.
• Serve them over rice pilaf and other hot cooked grain (or bean) dishes.
• Toss them with a lovely dressing and use them as a bed for skewered meats, tempeh, tofu or fish and vegetables -kabobs on a bed of sprouts!

Sprouts should be kept cold at no higher than 40°F at all times as both temperature and humidity can increase the potential for bacterial growth. If sprouts are well cooked, this is not an issue, but when consuming them raw, improper handling could potentially be problematic. Be sure to keep them cold and eat them quickly, within a day or two if possible. Remember that each passing day brings a reduction in nutrient levels as well. The fresher the better!

Do you love cold, crunchy sprouts, too? I’d love to hear your ideas and favorite recipes!

Whole Story

By now, you’ve probably heard about our goal of putting 300 salad bars into public schools across the U.S. Thanks to our amazing customers, we’ve raised over 1,000 in just three weeks. That’s about 272 salad bars! Woohoo! We’ve still got the full month of September to gather more donations, so keep ‘em coming. Once again, you, our customers, are showing how in touch you are with the needs of our community. Let’s work together to shatter that 300 salad bar goal.

And here’s the next step in the process of changing our schools: the Great American Salad Bar Project’s grant application is now open for schools to apply for one of these free salad bars. Now don’t get worried when you hear the word “grant.” Our partners, Chef Ann Cooper’s Food, Family, Farming Foundation (F3) – who are conducting the grant process – have made sure it is very simple. The whole point of the formal grant is to make sure that the schools receiving the salad bars have the support they need to make good use of them. Makes sense, right?

We know that our customers care about their local schools. So your role is to help us get the word out about the grants. Any public schools – elementary schools, middle schools or high schools – within a 50-mile radius of a Whole Foods Market store are eligible to apply. F3 will be accepting grant applications from September 1st through November 1st. Schools selected by F3 will be announced by January 15, 2011 and salad bar kits will be shipped to schools within a month.

Any parent, teacher, food service worker or other concerned person can make sure that eligible schools are aware of The Salad Bar Project. In fact, we know that parents and teachers are often the drivers of making great new things like this happen for their schools. We’re depending on you to help get the word out about the grants so a school administrator can complete the online grant application.

And just in case you are wondering, the food on these salad bars will be provided through the schools current buying channels for procuring food. The grant money, raised by customer donations, will be used to buy the actual salad bar. Each school that is chosen will receive a portable, five-well Cambro salad bar complete with utensils, pan inserts, chilling pads and training tools. The Lunch Box will provide the necessary training tools and ongoing support to help ensure proper management.

More than 31 million children rely on the National School Lunch Program every school day. For many of these kids, school lunch is their only complete meal of the day. Let’s make sure that salad bar choices are part of that meal!

Learn more in our salad bar FAQ, encourage your local school to visit The Salad Bar Project to apply for a grant, and continue to donate to the cause at the registers or online. Thanks for your support!

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From GENE LOGSDON

I have a hunch that readers thought I was joking when I wrote recently about growing tree seedlings in roof gutters. The picture above proves that it works. I thought by now (late summer) the seedlings would have died for lack of water, but we’ve had regular rain so now I can transplant some of those seedlings this fall if not next spring. I can just lift the plants out of the gutter and plop them, roots and leaf mold intact, in a hole in the ground. Ever since a reader, Ohiofarmgirl, called a broadcast seeder “one of those hand-cranked thingies” on her website, I have been thinking of putting together a catalog of farming and gardening  oddities with similar descriptions: sections of roof spouting I would label as “roof whatchamacallits for starting plants.”

There are weeds growing amid the tree seedlings up there in the gutter too, as you might notice. The trees are mostly maple, ash and elm seedlings which gives me an excuse to go into one of my favorite rants. The experts all tell me that I can kiss white ash trees goodbye because the emerald ash borer is killing them. Yes, the old ashes are all dying, but my woodlot is full of seedlings, just coming up wherever sufficient sunlight penetrates the tree canopy or, as you can see, on the barn roof. I argue that when the ash borer has killed off the older trees, it will run out of food and die off too, before these seedlings get old enough for them to kill. A whole new generation of ash trees will come along. Ash trees start producing seed when they are mere saplings.

That is what happened to the elm. Lots of new young seedling elms are growing all over our woodlot. They get old enough to produce seed before they are struck down like their parents. If we can just keep out of the woods those experts who want to kill all the endangered trees to stop the spread of a disease or predator, the ash will survive.

There are also wild cherry and cottonwood seedlings in the roof gutter, which at first surprised me since neither of these trees grows close enough to the barn to drop seeds on the roof. The cherry seedlings, I assume, got there because birds ate the fruit and then pooped on the roof.  Cottonwood seeds, as the name implies, are carried along in the wind because of the cottony growth around the seeds, so they can float a considerable distance before coming to rest on earth. Our big cottonwood is at least a thousand feet from the barn.

All of which underlines a truth or two. First of all, old nature is one wonderfully adaptable mother. Secondly, one learns only by laboriously digging up tree seedlings and transplanting them that unless you have an automatic roof whatchamacallit, it is easier to let nature do the planting or plant seeds where you want the trees to grow so you don’t have to move the seedlings.

Many people believe that to get a new tree to grow faster to enhance a landscape, the larger the transplant, the better.  Actually, an undisturbed tree growing up from seed will often catch up with the transplant in about five years, and will in any event grow more vigorously with a much better chance of survival than the transplant. The bigger the transplant tree, the riskier the chances of survival, and of course, the higher the cost of moving the tree.

This can be true even of fruit trees which we have been taught must be purchased as grafted transplants from nurseries. If you wish to be sure of getting a good, named variety, that is true (although sometimes the good, named variety turns out to be something else).  However we are right now gorging on delicious peaches from unnamed seedling trees that came up on their own around our chicken coop (as I wrote about in a post last year, “Peach Trees Light Up The Old Henhouse”).

These peach trees are right next to the barn. If a peach tree seedling comes up in the gutter, now that would be another pleasant surprise. The trees aren’t tall enough yet to drop a seed on the roof, but I suppose a squirrel or an opossum might carry a peach up on the barn roof, eat it, and let the seed slide into the gutter. But I have a better idea. I will eat the peaches and put the seeds in the gutter, er, in my roof whatchamacallit, myself.
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Organic Recipes, Organic Food, Local Food, Small Farms, Family Farms, Edible Landscapes, Shop Local – OrganicToBe.org