If you haven't been by the patio at Monti's La Casa Vieja in Tempe for a while, it's changed.

A tapas-style meal made up of a variety of small, appetizer-like bites is something we tend to associate with evenings and cocktails. But we thought the same idea of small plates would lend itself perfectly to a Mother's Day brunch. So we came up with a variety of tapas ideas suitable for Mom's big day.

Not so long ago, there was a certain image associated with being vegetarian. It usually involved Birkenstocks, lentil loaf and an agenda.

Lo-Lo's famous Phoenix restaurant is the inspiration behind a delicious potato chip, and you can help put those chips in stores around the country.

Wednesday, May 1 is Customer Appreciation Day at Joe’s Real BBQ in Gilbert. Anyone who shows up between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and then from 4 p.m. through the rest of the evening — until they run out of food — will get a free BBQ sandwich made from pecan-smoked meats like chicken breast, pulled pork and beef brisket and pit ham; a free side, like sweet cut corn, potato salad, mac and cheese or BBQ pit beans; and a free drink.

The silky petals of a fragrant pink shrub rose; the crunchy texture of a gravel path; a nook where grass rustles and a stream runs. What we smell, see, hear, touch and taste can make a garden walk a wonderful sensory experience.

I was chopping vegetables for dinner recently when my 14-year-old daughter, Grace, disappeared with the unusable end of the bok choy. She returned five minutes later with paper, a stamping ink pad and the pilfered vegetable.

One-pot chicken that is a blast of savory goodness

This one-pot chicken dinner by Kentucky chef Edward Lee blends a staple of Southern cooking — fried chicken — with two deliciously savory Asian ingredients, salty miso and a half pound of shiitake mushrooms. Together they produce a chicken that is tender and wildly flavorful with a thick sauce that is good enough to eat by the spoonful.

Eddie Castillo said that the South American culture has the empanada, the British have the pasty, and he and his business partner Mike Caliendo are giving Arizona the hand pie.

Eddie Castillo said that the South American culture has the empanada, the British have the pasty, and he and his business partner Mike Caliendo are giving Arizona the hand pie.

Arizona shoppers are getting a bit of a financial reprieve as prices for meat took an unexpected -- and potentially unexplained -- drop during the first quarter of the year.

Your dishwasher, sink drain and garbage disposal do the major dirty work in your kitchen, and you can keep them smelling fresh and running efficiently with a few easy steps.

The unpredictable nature of spring — balmy one moment, frigid the next — makes us hanker for dishes that reflect the season's maybe-maybe not feel.

Armando Adrian-López doesn’t farm anymore, but he still looks to the natural world for inspiration and materials, using corn husks, dried flowers and found objects to create fantastical winged and horned creatures.

Tater Tot was one of the skinniest dogs R.E.S.C.U.E has ever taken in. He couldn’t hold his head up, was limp, and seemed unable to see. After being rushed to the emergency veterinarian, the vet stabilized him and said Tater had been born with a liver shunt, meaning that his liver was not removing toxins from his body.

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.