Family-owned and operated Little Mesa Café will host a pancake breakfast from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 8 to support and help raise funds for 2-year-old local cancer survivor Cadence Schutter.

You wouldn’t know it from all the parking lots and shopping centers in our immediate vicinity, but out on the fringe of suburbia, acres of peaches are growing fat and juicy in the warm spring sunshine.

Life is peachy-keen at Schnepf Farms where this annual festival fills the orchards with smiling children and families in search of $2 a pound fresh, ripe peaches, family friendly entertainment and hot-off-the-griddle peach pancakes, served from 7:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. The festival begins May 18 and runs through Memorial Day and includes hay rides, peach pit spitting contests, live music May 18 and 19, roller coaster and other fair-type rides, as well as a “Peachy Sampling Tent,” where you can purchase a panorama of peach-related products. Other food options, including burgers and hot dogs, grilled chicken sandwhices, salads and kettle corn are also available.

Starchy, crunchy and flavorful, fried rice is a deeply satisfying dish no matter what you add to it. And you can add just about any vegetable or protein you care to name, fresh or left over.

Mill Avenue has always been a hot spot for tourists, students, and locals alike. With the constant flow of people and changing demographics, it is typically no surprise when a new restaurant or bar opens.

Pancakes for dinner?

What I wanted? A simple recipe — any recipe, any trick, any technique — that would entice my 8-year-old son to embrace broccoli.

Easter offers an ideal opportunity to enjoy family, faith and our beautiful spring weather, especially with the plethora of activities going on around town this weekend. Events ranging from a dino egg hunt to an Easter brunch “down on the farm” provide locations and price points to suit almost everyone.

They brought folk back to mainstream radio long before The Lumineers and Of Monsters And Men hit it big, with blissful, down-home tunes popping up in jaunty car commercials and adorable father-daughter YouTube covers. This weekend, you can find the 10-piece Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros at the McDowell Mountain Music Festival in Phoenix, where they’ll be rubbing shoulders with the likes of The Shins, Dr. Dog and The Roots.

This weekend downtown Chandler will be piled high with more than 20,000 pounds of BBQ at the Great American Barbeque and Beer Festival. The roster of restaurants dishing up ribs, brisket, pulled pork and chicken includes old favorites Famous Dave’s, Honey Bear’s BBQ, Joe’s Real BBQ and Tom’s BBQ, along with some newcomers including Porkopolis.

Mesa’s Ross Farnsworth spent several decades as chairman and CEO of various Farnsworth Companies developing land and real estate projects, driven by his desire to help people and the community he loved.

In honor of St. Patrick's Day I have packed four Irish ingredients into one tasty little appetizer — oysters, cabbage, Guinness stout and Colman's Mustard.

Mesa Vice Mayor and District 6 Councilmember Scott Somers will host a free community pancake breakfast and Red Cross blood drive beginning 8 a.m. Feb. 9 at Fire Station No. 219, located at 3361 S. Signal Butte Road. The pancake breakfast will last 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., while the blood drive will run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Enjoy free buttermilk pancakes Feb. 5 at IHOP restaurants around the East Valley in celebration of National Pancake Day. During the event, guests will be encouraged to make a voluntary contribution. Proceeds from Valley IHOP locations will benefit Phoenix Children’s Hospital, which has a clinic and after-hours care center in Mesa.

Enjoy free buttermilk pancakes Feb. 5 at IHOP restaurants around the East Valley in celebration of National Pancake Day. During the event, guests will be encouraged to make a voluntary contribution. Proceeds from Valley IHOP locations will benefit Phoenix Children’s Hospital, which has a clinic and after-hours care center in Mesa.

Not the type to salivate over boxed chocolates or chalky candy hearts? Sweeten Valentine’s Day with pancakes instead.

You can tour an ancient ruin without leaving town on Saturday.

It's easy to have romantic visions of the holidays - cozy fires, perfectly wrapped gifts, your house decorated like a magazine spread, all your friends gathered to celebrate, marveling at your culinary prowess.

City of Mesa Parks and Recreation held its annual Breakfast with Santa at the Mesa Convention Center Saturday.

Few foods are as satisfying as a golden potato pancake that is soft and tender inside, but crispy outside. But this simple dish so often is bungled. It can be undercooked, overcooked and/or soaked in grease.

Few foods are as satisfying as a golden potato pancake that is soft and tender inside, but crispy outside. But this simple dish so often is bungled. It can be undercooked, overcooked and/or soaked in grease.

Everyone knows - or at least every Jew knows - the story of Hanukkah's origins, the story of how just a tiny amount of oil miraculously burned for eight days. And they know that, in the spirit of that story, Hanukkah is celebrated in part by eating foods fried in oil, such as latkes and doughnuts.

With Hanukkah stretching over eight nights, there's plenty to celebrate. And often plenty of leftovers.