Feast Catering, Wikimedia Commons One of the most popular bar cookie is the lemon bar. Just about everyone loves them. Yes, we’re talking about bar cookies. Not found in a bar, but they are cut into bars. I like to make bar and drop cookies because they don’t require rolled-out dough, cookie cutters or cookie presses. These days, I find myself less eager to try recipes that take a lot of time. As a retiree, I am amazed that I have much less free time now than I did back when

Ahha, Freerangestock.com Seafood lovers cherish a platter of tasty crab legs. A cooked artichoke is a good go-along for such a meal. A favorite meal at our house involves each person getting a whole cooked Dungeness crab, cleaned, cracked and ready to eat, along with a big artichoke, both fresh from the coast. If we are very lucky, the crab has been sourced right from the docks and not from a freezer. As I am writing this, my husband is cooking and cleaning the crabs. He aske

Jim Lukach, Wikimedia Commons Enhance your Saint Patrick’s Day meal with some freshly-baked Irish soda bread. I wasn’t going to write about the typical Saint Patrick’s Day (coming up on Tuesday, March 17) meal of corned beef and cabbage, but I decided to give it a little attention. I went grocery shopping about a week ago, and had corned beef on my shopping list, followed by a question mark, because I wasn’t sure the stores had put any out yet. I found some, just two or three

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Waffle Spot restaurant owners Kim and Jason Praytor and children, from left, Chloe Praytor, Pepper Praytor and Ashley LeBar at their new up and coming location at 121 South D Street. “We are moving,” said The Waffle Spot owner Kim Praytor. However, the move probably won’t occur until the fall and Praytor plans to keep the existing restaurant open for a while. “Last year, we bought a building in Downtown Madera. Now, we are going through al

Andy Li, Wikimedia Commons While we usually think of the British in regard to this treat, the Irish like it, too. Just like one thinks of turkey on Thanksgiving, most of us think corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day, which is on Tuesday, March 17. While we have plenty of time before then, it never hurts to start thinking ahead and planning early. I am not sure what it is like for everybody, but I can say that I am amazed at how quickly time goes by. It does really see

Nancy Simpson/The Madera Tribune Hanna Lane, a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge 327, serves coffee at breakfast the third Saturday of each month. Pictured, from left are David Simpson, Lane, and Nancy Simpson. On the third Sunday of every month, Madera Odd Fellows Lodge 327 has a breakfast from 7:30 to 11 a.m. It is a mighty good breakfast, and included in the meal is two eggs, two pieces of ham or sausage, and three pancakes, with orange juice and coffee. The price is only $1

Jeffreyw, Wikimedia Commons Enjoy a bowl of chili made just the way you like it. National Chili Day is always on the last Thursday of February, which happens to be February 26 this year. One of the great things about chili is that you can make it any way you like. Meaning, if you don’t eat meat, make a vegetarian or vegan version. Don’t like hot and spicy? Tone it down to suit your comfort zone. Add this or take away that, and you end up with your own custom-made chili. I thi

Cat Campbell/For The Madera Tribune This cookbook has been used a lot during the last 36 years, as evidenced by all the smudges and creases. We were a 4-H family and enjoyed it very much. There is a cookbook, one of those spiral bound fundraiser types, that I use quite often. It is called, California Cooking: Favorite Recipes of 4-H Families. I bought it March 10, 1990, during Madera County Demonstration Day held at the Madera Fairgrounds. My oldest son, Matt, was in the hors