Help Stuff the Truck for Forgotten Harvest at Whole Foods in West Bloomfield

The Saturday event encourages shoppers to help collect food for those in need.

Forgotten Harvest is teaming up with Whole Foods Market in West Bloomfield for a Stuff the Truck event to help gather food for those in need. Volunteers will be present to collect donations from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and all food collected from three Whole Foods locations will be distributed to Forgotten Harvest’s network of over 260 agencies in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Whole Foods shoppers can pick up a Stuff the Truck shopping list on their way into stores, purchase any of the list’s items while shopping and donate to Forgotten Harvest on their way out. The local store is at 7350 Orchard Lake Rd.; other locations are in Troy, 2880 W. Maple Rd., and Rochester Hills, 2918 E. Walton Blvd.  Source: Press release

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Police Blotter

Arrests at Whole Foods; Sheds Near Outback Targeted

The following information was provided by the West Bloomfield Township Police Department. Where arrests or charges are mentioned, it does not indicate a conviction.

West Bloomfield Township Police Department reports from May 1-7 included 80 alarms, 24 crashes and 14 arrests. Among the highlights: Prosecutors believe that a Detroit woman with six prior convictions for retail fraud suspected of shoplifting at Whole Foods Market last Sunday may have been carrying numerous other stolen items with an accomplice, according to Lt. Tim Diamond. Loss prevention officers witnessed a person later identified as the 42-year-old Detroit woman take two packages of meat around 5:45 p.m. before an altercation ensued, Diamond said. After the woman and her accomplice, a 31-year-old Detroit woman, were confronted, they struck the officer and ran to the second woman's vehicle in the parking lot and locked themselves …

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Police Blotter

Shoplifting at Whole Foods; Man in Lockup Destroys Window

The following information was provided by the West Bloomfield Township Police Department. Where arrests or charges are mentioned, it does not indicate a conviction.

West Bloomfield Township Police Department reports from March 13-18 included 54 alarms, 18 crashes and 14 arrests. Among the highlights: A woman was arrested for allegedly shoplifting items from Whole Foods Market on March 14, Diamond said. The 30-year-old Brighton resident, a first-time offender, was spotted by a loss prevention officer hiding vitamins, soy sauce, rice, soybeans and skin cleanser totaling $55 in value in her purse around 3 p.m., Diamond said.   The woman was given a citation and released. An 18-year-old West Bloomfield resident who had been arrested for drinking and driving with an open container of alcohol in his vehicle later became so unruly that he kicked in a glass window at police headquarters March 18, Diamond said…

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Police Blotter

ID Thief Takes Tax Return; Shoplifting at Whole Foods

The following information was provided by the West Bloomfield Township Police Department. Where arrests or charges are mentioned, it does not indicate a conviction.

West Bloomfield Township Police Department reports from Feb. 27-March 4 included 73 alarms, 32 crashes and eight arrests. Among the highlights: A 48-year-old West Bloomfield resident is still trying to figure out the state of his 2010 taxes after reporting to police March 1 that he was a victim of identity theft last April, according to Police Lt. Tim Diamond. Diamond explained that the man who reported the incident said that he initially attempted to file his federal taxes last year on April 15, but said that due to problems with the filing software Turbotax, it wouldn't go through until the next day. The man recently reported to the Internal Revenue Service that he hadn't received his expected return, Diamond said, and was told that the …

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Police Blotter

Woman, 81, Arrested at Whole Foods

Bloomfield Hills resident allegedly shoplifted food and beauty products.

An 81-year-old Bloomfield Hills resident was arrested Dec. 8 at Whole Foods on a charge of shoplifting after a loss prevention officer said he witnessed her placing several items in a black bag, according to West Bloomfield Police Lt. Tim Diamond. Diamond said the incident at 3 p.m. that day occurred after the officer saw the woman attempt to the leave the store without paying for goods valued at less than $100, including jumbo crab meat, anti-aging serum, lip balm and greeting cards. Diamond said the officer called police, who took the woman to the police station, where she was processed. She posted $100 bond that day and left custody. She is scheduled to be arraigned next month. For questions about this report, email Tim.Rath@patch.com.

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Pumpkin Carving Tips and Tricks

Carve out some time to explore eclectic pumpkin-decorating inspirations.

Americans love pumpkins: 46.3 percent of them will carve and light one for Halloween this year. Many others are adorning their front porches and homes with the pretty, straight-from-the-vine orbs, according to the National Retail Federation's 2010 Halloween Survey. At Whole Foods, you’ll find a selection of decorative squash and pumpkins that have been “flying off our shelves,” reports spokeswoman Maggie Bahler. “People use them for cooking, carving and decorating." Check out some pumpkin recipes on the Whole Foods blog. You can find a variety of shapes, colors and sizes at Lowe’s, reports spokeswoman Colleen Maiura. She’s especially excited about some of the ideas the Lowe’s creative team has come up with for decorating and carving …

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Moroccan Meat and Vegetable Pie

Phyllo dough makes this pie extra light and crispy, but sturdy enough to hold the delicious filling of spiced ground meat, mushrooms, spinach and Asian noodles. The best part is you don't have to travel to Morocco to eat it.

You might be familiar with the use of phyllo dough in the ever-so-popular Middle Eastern treat baklava, but did you know that it is just as scrumptious in savory dishes as well?  Many Middle Eastern, Balkan and North African dishes share the use of this thin pastry called phyllo (in the Middle East), bourek (in some Balkan countries) or warqa (in North Africa). Warqa, which literally means leaf, is thinner and easier to handle than phyllo dough but,  unfortunately, not widely available in the American market. Phyllo dough is easily found in the freezer department of any of your local grocery stores and yields a softer and more melt-in-your mouth result than the North African warqa. While I've never tried this recipe with bourek dough, I …

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