Utahn's new 'Peach 101' cookbook shows the golden, velvety fresh fruit can be used for far more than cobblers

They're here — fresh peaches picked off your backyard tree or piled in baskets at farmers markets and produce stands.

Their golden, velvety looks, fruity fragrance and sweet flavor inspire many figures of "peach-speech" — "Pretty as a peach," "peaches-and-cream complexion," "peachy keen" or "just peachy."

If you've made your fill of pies, crisps and cobblers already this year, there are still plenty of ways to use fresh peaches, says Lori Nawyn, author of a new cookbook called "Peach 101: Recipes Your Mother Never Told You About" (O. Halverson & Co. Publishing, $9.95).

Nawyn grew up in Brigham City, where the annual Peach Days festival (held last weekend) has been a tradition since 1904. Her father had an orchard, like many Box Elder County families. This is her first cookbook.

"My main emphasis was to prove that you could do a lot more with peaches than just stick them in a pie or a cobbler," she said. "You can use them in all kinds of soups and salads, and main dishes and desserts."

For proof she offers dishes such as Grilled Shrimp and Peaches with Coconut Sauce, Peach Salsa, Sausage Peach Scramble, Glazed Peaches and Pork, Fruity Hash Browns and Creamy Chilled Peach Soup. There's even a Peach Facial Scrub, so people literally can feed their faces. In her book Nawyn explains that peaches contain alpha hydroxy acids, which are used in many beauty products to exfoliate the skin.

"About 80 of the recipes are mine that I developed over the years, and the remaining 21 came from friends and family," she said.

One of those is Fran's Peach Pie, which came from her mother-in-law, Fran Nawyn. "She's an excellent cook, and I knew I had to have it in there," she said.

The book has been out three weeks in Barnes and Noble, Borders, Deseret Book and Seagull Book. Nawyn has also started a blog for the book at lorinawyn.com, to provide updates, answers to questions, corrections and comments.

"Sometimes, when you're using a cookbook, you need clarification on a recipe or want to know if you can substitute something, and you never get the opportunity to ask these sorts of questions," she said. "During the year we plan to interview chefs throughout the country who use peaches, and talk to peach growers and get their tips as well. Some ladies told me they wanted a recipe for pickled peaches, so we will be featuring that on the blog. That's one recipe I had never thought of."

A 5-ounce peach is 50 calories, with less than one gram of fat or protein. Peaches offer potassium, fiber and vitamins A and C, according to the California Tree Fruit Agreement (a group of commercial peach, nectarine and plum growers). The CTFA also provided some peach history.