It’s time for me to do one of my very favorite things: contemplate what fabulous dish I plan to take to a friend’s potluck. Unfortunately, I sometimes contemplate myself into a tizzy and end up showing up with Fresh Market pie or something.

Monday is Cinco de Mayo, a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. One of my friends has an annual Cinco de Mayo party where everyone brings fantastic Mexican dishes and we all stuff our faces and drink margaritas. It’s a blast.

The party this year happens to coincide with my infatuation with fresh, local strawberries. Yesterday, I visited Dansby’s Strawberry Farm near Rocky Mount for next week’s column and picked myself five pounds of strawberries. Well, that turned out to be not near enough because they are sooooooo naturally sweet and delicious.

I’m going to get some more before Saturday, and I’d like to come up with a dish that has a Mexican flair but incorporates strawberries. I’d love to do a from-scratch tres leches cake or something, but I’m afraid the schedule will not allow it. And as I said, I have this habit of committing to a difficult recipe when I know I don’t have the time to do it right.

A few trips around the Internet have resulted in a couple of worthy ideas: an easy tres leches cake that starts with a cake mix and could be garnished with berries, or a Mexican specialty, fruit water. The fruit water looks incredibly easy, calling only for water, ice, fresh fruit, a little sugar and some lime wedges for garnish.

If anyone else has an idea for an easy strawberry dish that would fit the theme, I’d love to hear it. And since Mexican food is one of my very favorite cuisines, this is always a great time of year to solicit your favorite Mexican recipe, whether it involves strawberries or not.

Last year, I ran a wonderful recipe for papas rellenos, or fried potato and meat dumplings, which I got from Roanoke Police Chief Joe Gaskins’ secretary, X Alvarez.

If you’d like a reminder of that recipe, click the link. I’ll share the two simple recipes that I’m considering below.

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According to faithful blog reader John C., the Melrose-Rugby Neighborhood Forum is holding their annual fish fry on Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The fish fry has become slightly famous among Roanoke city employees; in fact, many a dignitary, including Roanoke Police Chief Joe Gaskins and Assistant City Manager Jim Grigsby, have been spotted in line.

For $4.50, you get a freshly fried fish fillet sandwich and your choice of coleslaw or potato chips. Cold sodas cost 50 cents extra.

All of the proceeds from the fish fry go to the Melrose-Rugby Neighborhood Forum, which uses the money to maintain its community center at 1730 Orange Ave. NW. The group, which was founded in 1989, is one of the only neighborhood associations in Roanoke that has its own community center. That’s where they’ll be hosting the fish fry.

Lunch is dine in or carry-out. So perhaps you can organize an office outing on a fine Friday afternoon or bring back a few to-go boxes for your hungry co-workers.