You would pretty much have to be in a coma to be unaware of this season’s bumper peach crop. (My apologies to anyone who is actually in a coma — sadly, you are missing out on some good eating.)

At any rate, WFIR, WDBJ-7 and The Roanoke Times have all run stories this week about how last year’s dismal peach crop has been rejuvenated into a boom crop this year. Our friend Amy Hanek, a frequent reader of this blog and a blogger herself, has also posted a couple of entries about peaches this week.

After an early warm spell and late frosts nipped last year’s stone fruits in the bud, the stars aligned this year. Warm weather during pollination season, moderate rainfall during the fruits’ developmental stages and Mother Nature’s tendency to push for a comeback the year after a loss have put us in Peach Heaven.

You can find the best peaches, in my opinion, down at your local farmer’s market. My husband brought home one of the biggest peaches I’ve ever seen — it’s nearly the size of a softball — from Ikenberry Orchards this week.

If you’ve bought a big mess of peaches, it’s possible that you’ll get your fill of raw ones and need to cook a few up before they are overripe. Amy’s peach crisp recipe, my mom’s cobbler recipe and peach pie are all wonderful ideas. But I’ve been thinking about some less common recipes for peaches, too. Maybe something with a savory punch instead of dessert. I scoured a few cookbooks and located what I believe are some devilishly good-looking peach recipes.

A few of them are ridiculously easy, too. Take a look and see what you think. And, as always, if you’ve got a great recipe you can share, fire away!

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The Washington Post recently did an interesting story about the burgeoning food scene in Charlottesville.

If you haven’t had a chance to read it, click here.

After seeing the article, I can’t wait to check out Mas, a Spanish restaurant that supposedly serves up great tapas.

Anyone else have a favorite restaurant in Charlottesville? Or any thoughts on what makes the dining scene better than Roanoke’s, if anything?

While I’m sharing random tidbits, I’ll share a random recipe. I found this recipe for Mango Chicken Curry on Simply Recipes. Yellow curry…golden raisins…mangoes…heavy cream…what more could you want?

Since Swagat, one of downtown Roanoke’s Indian restaurants, has apparently closed down, maybe it’s time to perfect some Indian food at home. Enjoy!

Before I go, I wanted to let you all know that I’ll be in Florida this weekend and the first part of next week visiting my grandmother for Mother’s Day. When I get back, we can dish about grouper sandwiches and conch fritters and key lime pie.

Until then, please enjoy the guest blog entries on Monday and Tuesday by my colleague Nona Nelson, who can typically be found over at Happy Wag, the Roanoke Times pet blog.

Thanks, Nona!

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Tomorrow’s Front Burner column pays tribute to a lady who had her fingers in a lot of different pies around Roanoke.

I would say “literally,” but Lib Wilhelm’s granddaughter, Kristin Breakell, said her grandma wasn’t much for baking. She sure did know a lot about other kinds of cooking, though.

Lib, who died earlier this month at age 86, started catering out of her Roanoke home more than 40 decades ago. She didn’t stop catering until she was in her early 80s.

And in those early years, when her business was still getting started, she also worked at St. John’s Episcopal Church, The Shenandoah Club and the Patrick Henry Hotel.

But it didn’t take long for Lib to gain a reputation for her professionalism and her food. Her most famous recipe, a spicy cheese slaw, has been shared around Roanoke for years and will run with tomorrow’s story.

She was also the first caterer to start serving made-to-order shrimp and grits at parties.

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It’s another one of those National Food Days. Except this one makes a whole lot of sense: It’s National Egg Salad Week! What else are you going to do with all those leftover hard-boiled eggs you dyed for Easter?

When I was a kid, I got a hard-boiled egg in my lunch every day for a week after Easter. And I dutifully peeled it, sprinkled salt on it and ate it along with my sandwich. But I’ll bet it would’ve been a whole lot tastier blended with mayonnaise and salt and papper.

Better yet, why not spice up your salad a little bit with curry powder or horseradish? I’ve attached three egg salad recipes below the jump. One is for old-fashioned egg salad, one for curried egg salad and one for bacon-horseradish egg salad.

How do you jazz up your egg salad?

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Debbie’s wish is my command. She says masa is available in the Mexican food section of your local grocery store. I’m going looking this weekend, but I might have to head for a different Kroger than the one I usually shop.
Here’s the McCormick recipe for Red Curry Chicken with Masa Dumplings:

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