Whole Story

Many of us throw parties and entertain guests over the holidays.  Maybe it's my inner Martha Stewart - but even at my most casual gatherings, I want my guests to have a good time and be impressed by the food I'm serving.  This week's customer tips are all about elegant entertaining on a budget.  From our Whole Foods Market brand Chocolate Truffles to using leftovers in inventive ways to 'cheating' and using our prepared foods section - Whole Foods Market has got what you need to leave your guests thoroughly wowed this holiday season. Remember, each week, we choose tips to be featured in our weekly The Whole Deal™ blog post. Every chosen tip gets a $25 gift card, so submit you tips and recipes here. From Kimberly:

I love Whole Foods Chocolate Truffles! They are a great value for a box and so yummy! For holiday get-togethers, I add the truffles to a platter of homemade cookies and it makes the desert so much more elegant - for only around $5!

From Julia:

An elegant, delicious and healthy way to use up leftover portions of meat, cheese, veggie, and herbs is to make stuffed mushrooms. Buy fresh, large caps, rinse and remove stems, and drain. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a cast iron skillet on medium-low and place the caps upside down; when the caps release their juices into the well, remove from heat. Chop the rinsed stems, an aromatic vegetable such as onion, garlic, or leeks, and whatever savory food you have on hand - pine nuts, crab meat, and cooked corn was last night’s combo and saute in a little olive oil. Add some herbs, salt and pepper, and some bread crumbs while cooking through and remove from heat. Place the stuffing into each cap in an open baking dish, being careful not to lose any of the juices in the cap. Top with mozzarella or other cheese and bake for 15 minutes at 325 or until sizzling brown. Voila! You won’t believe how good these are, and different every time.

From Kellie:

I don’t have a lot of time to cook, but I love to entertain. I have found it economical to use the delicious prepared food from my Whole Foods store. When I cook for a small group and follow fancy recipes I buy specialty ingredients just for that one dish- then end up not using them again. Much better to buy the complicated dishes and supplement with my own easy additions! I had 6 for lunch the other day. I bought 3 paninis and sliced each into 3 small sections. I bought a small portion of a few of the gourmet salads and then sliced my own fruit (on sale of course.) Served the salads on a bed of lettuce… it looked like I’d been cooking for hours! Whole Foods is my own little catering secret!