Every Sunday in Ahwatukee Foothills, residents can browse through a variety of cheeses, meats, fruits, vegetables, jellies, breads and other products all grown or produced within a 15-mile radius of the area at the Ahwatukee Farmer’s Market.

Summertime is burger time. And it’s so easy to throw a few beef patties on the grill. Not much is required in the way of embellishment, yet they have a big happiness return.
What’s the magic ingredient? Fat, of course. Beef burgers are high in fat, which guarantees flavor and juiciness. And because fat enhances flavor, it also makes anything else you put in or on the burger taste better, too.
Heartbreakingly, as you decrease the fat content in a burger, its flavor tends to go bye-bye, too. This is a real problem if you want to dig into a delicious burger and still want the blood to continue sailing through your arteries. The solution? Turkey.
I know. I know. You’ve tried turkey burgers and it was like eating wet cardboard. Hah! But you haven’t tried my turkey burgers...
Let’s start with the basic ingredient — ground turkey. While researching this recipe, I discovered that the labels on ground turkey can be quite confusing. You’d figure that a package labeled “lean” would mean what it says. Weirdly, it turns out that the calories and fat in a 4-ounce portion of “lean” ground turkey can range from 120 calories with 1 percent fat to 160 calories with 12 percent fat (which is as rich as a lean beef burger). As always, it’s best to read labels and not rely on words such as “lean” or “white meat” when looking for healthy choices.
Or, better yet, grind your own turkey. Start by buying a small package of turkey tenderloins, the flap of meat that lies just under the breast. As little as a 1 1/2 pounds of turkey tenderloins can be ground to produce six burgers. Cut the tenderloins into 1-inch cubes and freeze them for 30 minutes. Pop them in a food processor and pulse until they achieve a medium-grind consistency.
Now we come to the crucial part of the recipe, the part I call Turkey Helper. The blandest and driest of white meats, turkey cries out for flavor and moisture. Happily, any number of vegetables can answer this call, including sauteed onions, bell peppers or mushrooms, shredded raw Napa cabbage, or carrots.


Two dining areas were set up in the spacious home, where tables were decorated in a black and white damask design, contrasted by red roses.

Even with a healthy appreciation for the arts and a career that puts me in close proximity to them — not to mention a cousin who’s an accomplished professional ballerina — I can’t say I clamor for a night at the ballet.

Another Italian eatery is preparing to open in the recently closed Anzio Landing restaurant space in Mesa.

There are restaurants that slash prices on margaritas or invite a mariachi band for Cinco de Mayo - and then there are restaurants that go a little nuts.

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.

Say cheese! Mary Ciesynski wants to take Ahwatukee’s picture.

On Sunday, the popular PBS restaurant review show, “Check, Please! Arizona,” hosts its first food festival at CityScape in Phoenix. While attendees enjoy a plethora of food and wine samples and live demonstrations from award-winning chefs like Robert McGrath and Chris Bianco, one humble festival booth — Pittsburgh Willy’s Gourmet Hot Dogs — takes the next step in its Cinderella story.

Friday is National Pretzel Day, and a Valley restaurant known for its pretzels is celebrating in a big way: Brat Haus in Old Town Scottsdale will be super sizing their signature German-style soft pretzels all day April 26, and serving them with beer and cheese fundido or Nutella.

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.

You wouldn’t think $3.50 cupcakes would catch on in a recession, but Sprinkles Cupcakes did just that. Opened in 2008 at Scottsdale and Camelback roads, the sweet shop is celebrating its fifth anniversary by giving away something fans of its cupcakes can’t even get in Arizona: Sprinkles brand ice cream.

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.

If your goal is to lose weight, look and feel your best and live a healthy, vibrant life, be aware of the damaging additives and synthetic chemicals in the foods you buy and eat. Seventy-five percent of the average American diet is from processed and packaged foods, which equates to approximately 10 pounds of additives eaten annually.

Pressure cookers never really did much for me. They seemed fussy — and scary! All those stories about explosions...

Feeling like you should do something for St. Patrick’s Day but missed Saturday’s downtown parade or don’t fancy a drive all the way to Fountain Hills for a spray of green water?

If the number of failed New Year’s resolutions are any indication, eating healthy in a fast-paced world still isn’t all that easy.

When Ahwatukee Foothills residents Rhona MacMillan and Mark Jorve retired they became the busiest they’ve ever been, following their dreams and opening a vineyard in Willcox, Ariz.

A national pizza chain known for an impressive array of art and pizza made with high quality ingredients is taking over the space left empty by Rock Bottom Brewery in 2011.

How many times has this “Medical Advice” column reported a change in prevailing medical recommendations? Here we go again. Humpty Dumpty could certainly identify with the angst a humble egg currently has to deal with. Talk about self-esteem issues. For years, eggs have been slashed from “healthy” diets because they were considered too loaded with fat and, therefore, a leading contributor to heart disease. The general recommendation was no more than two eggs per week. Even yours truly ascribed to that theory and personally was responsible for instructing her patients in that direction.

It seems that every culture has a probiotic food that has been made for centuries. The Koreans have Kimchi. The Japanese have Miso Soup and Kombucha. The Africans have Amasi and the list goes on and on. Our history and ancestors have fermented and preserved many types of foods. This actually benefited our health and well being. Meanwhile, in our generation we have gone away from these traditions and have added antibiotics to our bodies. These antibiotics can be found in both our medicine and our food. This has caused a great imbalance in the beneficial bacteria that belongs in our bodies. This imbalance has contributed to a wide variety of diseases. Today, we are seeing a great come back with both probiotic supplements and foods.

Fourteen local restaurants are coming together on Saturday to help raise money for Mountain View Lutheran’s youth ministries and to give guests a taste of Ahwatukee.

If you’re looking for a meatball sandwich or fettuccine alfredo, you won’t find it here.

After “A Walk to Remember,” “The Notebook,” “The Last Song,” “The Lucky One,” and “Dear John,” Nicholas Sparks is obviously running a campaign to become president of sappiness. His novels have inspired a number of hokey adaptations chock-full of one-dimensional archetypes and scenes ripped off from other romances. This guy loves seeing people get caught in the rain more than Michael Bay marvels at the sight of explosions. The latest picture from the novelist turned producer, “Safe Haven,” is every bit as cheesy and mushy as one would expect. It’s about as original as a Lifetime movie designed to brazenly manipulate our emotions. Maybe I’m becoming easier to manipulate, but this melodramatic cornball kept me completely invested from beginning to end.

Television is full of cheesy sitcoms, so why not unplug from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 5, and make some real cheese of your own?