By LYNNE ROSSETTO KASPER, Scripps Howard News Service

Dear Lynne: Dry chicken on the grill -- awful.My marinated grilled whole chicken falls down all the time. It's dry and unevenly cooked, and it is a big deal to do and doesn't taste like it is worth the effort. Should I stick to thighs? Like you said once, you can't kill chicken thighs. -- Ruining the Bird in New Jersey

Dear Lynne: What's the problem with recipe writers -- when they drop the booze in adult drinks, they up the sugar? Instead of getting drunk, you go into sugar shock! With heat indexes skimming over 100, overdosing on sweets does the same thing to us as drinking alcohol -- it's called a wipeout. Lynne, please, how about a drink without alcohol and without excessive sugar? Please?

Dear Lynne: Our Italian friends once made fried zucchini flowers. Do you have a recipe, and which flowers do you buy? -- Steven in Brooklyn

Dear Lynne: Do Italians ever make pasta with peas? Never have I seen a recipe, yet I'd like to give it a try. Any guidelines to know? -- Toby in Rochester

Dear Lynne: Which dishes are truly American and which aren't was the debate at our July Fourth table (evidently, all-American apple pie isn't American, for instance). Cobbler came up as being an American dessert. Do you know if this is true, and how do you make one? -- Andy from Fort Lee

Dear Lynne: Our watermelons are coming in so sweet right now. What does your imagination tell you about new ways to eat it? -- Tim and Friends in California NirvanaDear Tim and Friends in Nirvana: I know how sweet those melons are because I just tasted an organic beauty from your neighborhood and it was not only sugary but had lots of intriguing flavors behind the sweet.

Dear Lynne: We vacationed in the South for the first time and fell for grits in a big way, especially ones we had in Charleston, S.C., with peas and asparagus. So what is the difference between hominy grits, grits and cornmeal? Could we use supermarket cornmeal? If not, where do you find the right kind? -- Langer from South Dakota

Dear Lynne: My brother is home on leave, we're having a picnic and a recipe for a sensationAL sandwich with avocado would make him happy. Do you have something that isn't run of the mill? -- SisDear Sis: Do a wrap for how easy it is to tote and eat. Your brother should enjoy chunks of avocado with the basil/balsamic/mustard sauce.

Dear Lynne: With greens, how do you know which ones you have to boil first and which you can just saute, or quick-cook in some way? -- Jimmi Jo in BloomfieldDear Jimmi Jo: One rule is if the stems are more than 1/4-inch thick, the greens need a pre-steam or boil to tenderize them.

Dear Lynne: People politics intrigue me. How people relate to each other around a dinner table is a real study. Often someone ends up being ignored while everyone else talks. It is hurtful, yet is there a solution? -- Social Politician in Training