Sun Oven Chicken with... One Lemon

It was a pretty uneventful solar cooking day. Chicken with Two Lemons was on the menu, except I only had one lemon. It's been non stop sun for the past few days so I waited until after lunch to get started. Everything was going along just fine when I went out to run some errands. I don't know where they came from, but by the time I got home it was getting pretty cloudy. Luckily the Sun Oven was still hot and the chicken was ready. It was also close enough to dinnertime to go ahead and eat.

Solar Potluck Update

Note to self: After spending eight hours in the Arizona sun at a solar potluck it is not a good idea to drive two hours to Phoenix, get up the next morning at 4:30a.m, fly to L.A., and drive back to Phoenix the following day. It's exhausting! The solar potluck part, however, was a lot of fun. I had two Sun Ovens going all day. For starters we had biscuits, eggs, banana muffins, and oatmeal coconut raspberry bars. Around noon I got a pot of chicken thighs with rice and vegetables, and a loaf of peasant bread going. At 5:00p.m. everyone brought their dishes to the picnic tables, and by 5:30 everything was gone.

Normally sitting outside in the heat is not my idea of fun, but I was so busy cooking and talking to people about solar cooking that I hardly noticed the sun beating down on me. I enjoyed myself so much that I can't wait until the solar cook-off in Bisbee, AZ in June. I only wish I'd taken more pictures. I've designated Martin as our official photographer for any future events. I tend to get so caught up in the food preparation that I forget about anything else.

Pictures can probably tell the story better than I can, so here they are:

There was a wide variety of solar cookers, many homemade, but I'd have to say the most popular was the Sun Oven.

Many people ask me how long a Sun Oven will last, this one has to be one of the first ones ever made and it's still working fine.

Here I am putting the final touches on the rice and chicken before serving it. I'm still working on perfecting the bread. The texture is still not right. The interior has improved from my first attempts, but the crust is not how I want it. It's hard to explain, but it almost seems like it's glazed and it's too crunchy. I'm not quite sure what other adjustments I can make. I'm putting it on a back burner for now. 

Oh, and just for the record, I did get something in the Sun Oven today too. Martin's favorite - Chicken with Two Lemons. It's always a good idea to stick to a tried and true dish after such a hectic few days.