Beat the Heat with Whole Foods Market

Posted in Programs and Events on July 16 2013, by Matt Newman

For the next few months, it can’t be helped: you’ll see more New Yorkers fanning themselves with their newspapers than reading them. We’re all looking for a little relief from the summer heat, and for some it’s lemonade (or an Arnold Palmer if you’re next-level about your refreshments). For us, it’s a heaped bowl of cherries—chilled to frosty perfection! But there are so many ways to enjoy these summer treats that even we don’t know each and every one. That said, telling us about your recipe might just win you something!

The New York Botanical Garden is teaming up with Whole Foods Market this summer, and we’re on a quest to beat the heat. Naturally, that means uncovering novel ways to prepare some of our favorite hot-weather fruits and vegetables, whether they’re topping ice cream, filling out a fruit salad, or sitting pretty at the bottom of a juice glass. Whatever you can come up with—sudden epiphany, family recipe, a neat idea, anything—we want to try it out! Of course, we wouldn’t think to take this on without putting a reward up for grabs. After you’ve submitted your recipes, Whole Foods Market Culinary Demonstration Specialists will pick a winning dish to receive a $50 Whole Foods Gift card. Better yet, that recipe will be prepared in your local Whole Foods Market store and made available for visitors to sample.

Think of it as doing a service to the community’s collective palate while taking home a little something for yourself in the process.

Our first contest takes place on July 31, and as I mentioned before, the spotlight’s on cherries this time around. To submit your no-cook (that’s an important requirement) cherry recipe, all you need is a Twitter account. Tweet the recipe to us @NYBG with the hashtag #NYBGWFM and you’ll be entered for a chance to win. As an alternative, you can also submit your recipe in a comment on this Plant Talk post—we’ll remind you as the deadline nears. After all is said and done, we’ll announce the winner on Twitter and get in touch.

We’ll have a new challenge coming up in August, so keep your eye out for announcements. In the meantime, good luck to everyone participating—whether you’re the cook, the diner, or both!