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It's Nona again. Lindsey will be back tomorrow.

Some of my favorite dishes are the simplest to make. And as much as I like to cook and bake, I also take a little store-bought help wherever I can find it.

I made one of my favorite desserts Sunday night. I started with a chocolate angel food cake from the Kroger bakery. I put the cake on a plate, poked holes in it with a fork and drizzled a big shot of Kahlua over it. I let the cake sit for an hour so it can soak up all the liquid. After about a half hour, I set two 8-ounce containers of mascarpone cheese out on the counter to get to room temperature.

To the softened cheese, I added another shot of Kahula, a quarter cup of powdered sugar and a couple of tablespoons of Hershey’s syrup. I whipped that all together into a smooth frosting and covered the cake with it. Then I put the cake in the fridge to chill until after dinner.

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Hello Fridge Magnet readers! I am Nona Nelson, the resident pet blogger here at roanoke.com, and I am honored to fill in for Lindsey today and tomorrow so she can enjoy a few days with her family.

Hope you all enjoyed the nice weather on Saturday before everything got all cold and drizzly. My husband and I enjoyed a cool, sunny afternoon on our deck and then fired up the grill to cook a flat iron steak for dinner.

If you have never had a flat iron steak, I recommend you try one. You can find them in a vacuum package in the grocery’s meat department. They vary in size from a little over a pound to almost two pounds each.

A flat iron steak is cut from the top of a roast. The end result is half-inch thick cut of meat that is often in a triangular shape that resembles the flat part of an iron.
It looks and cooks like a flank or skirt steak, but I think it’s much more tender. It should be sliced against the grain like a flank steak.

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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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Congratulations to Julie F., who submitted her mother's recipe for warm, soothing rice and raisins and won our Mother's Day recipe contest.
Julie's name was drawn today by my co-worker, Pete Dybdahl.
Julie wins a prize package consisting of a Pampered Chef apron, spatula, paring knife, measuring bowl and seasoning blend. She has also won Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Women.
Thanks to everyone who entered this contest. I like Julie's entry because it shows that even the simplest things our mothers made for us when we were growing up were made with love.
Julie, to claim your prize, please e-mail your full name and address to me at lindsey.nair@roanoke.com.
Happy Mother's Day to all the great moms who read this blog!

Have a look at this beautiful photo of shrimp pad thai, which was sent in by blog reader Angela.
Angela noticed the Thai cooking class mentioned in yesterday's blog entry and thought she'd send in this photo of a dish she mastered.

According to Angela, she was addicted to the shrimp pad thai at Thai Orchid, but when that restaurant closed, she tracked down a Thai cookbook and decided to master the recipe herself.
"I was surprised to find that my rendition was just as good," Angela wrote.

The first time I tried Thai food, I was hooked immediately. I adore the flavors of coconut milk, curry, kaffir lime, lemongrass, ginger and Thai basil. So like Angela, I decided to try and create two of my favorite dishes, pad thai and green curry, at home.

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