grilled peppered-peach melba

     Friends of mine were moving into their new house over the weekend. I've moved in the sweltering summertime heat and remember what it's like, (miserable.) After a few hours, your strength is sapped... you feel limp as a dishrag.
     I wanted to somehow make the day easier for them... especially since they didn't ask for our help in moving;) So, we invited them over for a quiet dinner. No moving boxes. No chaos. Lot's of air conditioning.

     I wanted to serve something simple and cold for dessert... a sweet treat that's light, colorful and really screams, "summer."
     A basket full of ripe, juicy peaches on the counter provided inspiration... You can't get much more summer than that around these parts. This is the Peach State, after all.

     This is SO easy and delicious. You'll have to try it... Here's the how-to:
Ingredients
fresh freestone peaches, one half per person
1 T. canola oil
2 T. sugar
few turns of the peppermill
vanilla bean ice cream
raspberry sauce, purchased or homemade
lemon-thyme leaves (optional)
Directions
About an hour or so before dinnertime, preheat grill, slice the peaches in half and brush lightly with a bit of canola oil to prevent sticking to grill. Place them cut side up on low heat and leave them for about five minutes.
Next, sprinkle with a little sugar and a bit of freshly ground black pepper and turn cut-side down. I left them just until lightly caramelized... not too brown.
Remove from grill to a plate and set aside until dessert. (It was very difficult for me not to sample one right off the fire, oozing hot sticky-sweet juice... what amazing willpower!)
When time to serve, place each peach half in an individual dessert dish and top with a scoop of good quality vanilla bean ice cream. Next, drizzle some raspberry sauce over the top and sprinkle with a few lemon-thyme leaves. Look at those colors. So beautiful...

Prop your feet up on the coffee table, turn the ceiling fan on and enjoy!