Although it was overcast here this morning, the sun has since come out, and will still be shining for many hours, but the day is cooler and will be great for sleeping tonight. I spent the day cleaning up after the painters and then trying to organize the basement, the lair of my oldest son this past year. He's off to Panama City for 6 weeks at the Navy Dive Research center, and having a fine time, he says. However, today I found the cups and glasses I thought had been lost for all time. He kept them in a neat row under his futon. After that adventure, I felt like going out for dinner, but it's a long haul into town, so settled for brown sugar chicken , grilled sweet potatoes, sourdough rolls, fresh sliced strawberries and for dessert, I later made nectarine cobbler, as I had 7 go ripe all at the same time.

Brown Sugar Chicken

2 1/2 lbs chicken pieces, rinsed and dried
1 cup dark brown sugar

Preheat grill till hot. If desired, microwave the larger pieces of chicken til partially cooked. Place chicken on grill and reduce heat to med. or spread coals a bit. Cover and cook 4-5 min., turn, cook 5 minutes more, turn, and reduce heat if too many spatters. Then lift grill and place a piece of foil directly on coals/briquettes, spreading brown sugar quickly over the foil. Replace the grill and chicken over the fire, cover, and don't lift cover for 5-15 minutes. I usually reduce the heat further at his point. The sugar caramelizes over the flames and glazes the chicken, giving it a great smoky sweet flavor. I've also done this with skinless split breasts to use in salads, and they're wonderful.

Grilled Sweet Potatoes

Before I cooked the chicken, I preheated the grill, and sprayed the rack with oil. I pared 3 sweet potatoes, and sliced them about 1/8 to 1/4 in thick (I'm not too accurate!)

In a small bowl, mix together:
3 tbsp. molasses
1 tbsp. oil
1 tbsp. lemon or orange juice
1/2 tsp. grated lemon peel
Salt and papper, to taste
Red pepper flakes, to taste
Dash cayenne pepper or hot pepper sauce

Grill the potatoes about 10 minutes, turning with a wide spatula, brushing the slices with the molasses sauce. Place in platter in low heat oven to keep warm while cooking chicken. Adapted from an AMA recipe.

Nectarine Cobbler

6-7 ripe nectarines (or peaches), washed and sliced, but not peeled
1/3 cup sugar, or to taste
2 tsp. cornstarch
1-2 tsp. lemon juice
Healthy sprinkle of cinnamon
1/4 tsp. almond extract

Preheat oven to 400F.
Mix together and pour into a glass 9 in pie plate.

Dough:
1 cup flour
3 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
Dash salt
2 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut up
Grated lemon peel, if desired
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp. canola (or any vegetable) oil

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in med. bowl. Rub butter in with fingers til crumbly. Stir in peel, if desired. Add in butter milk and oil, stir til dough forms. With spatula, plop onto fruit and smooth into a circle, leaving about one inch around the edge uncovered. Sprinkle with a tsp of sugar for a prettier top.

Bake about 25 minutes, til golden. Cool 10-15 minutes. This recipe is adapted from the AMA cookbook, too. We like it with a little milk over the cobbler, but, of course, ice cream is OK if there's absolutely no other choice.