I once baked chocolate-chip cookies in my car on a hot summer day. Really! It was an experiment, albeit a slightly failed one.

I remembered this yesterday when I was driving on Caroline Street and saw kids playing in gushing water from an open fire hydrant. There was a police car with lights flashing and blocking the lane so the kids could dash around. In yesterday’s heat, I would like to have joined them.

Of course, the sizzling sidewalks brought to mind the old adage, “It’s so hot, you could fry an egg” on them. Years ago, when I was at The Sun, that same thought got the folks in the features department to thinking about other things you could cook outside minus a grill or an oven.

The next thing I knew, I was whipping up cookie dough, spooning tablespoons on a baking sheet, placing the tin on my car engine (not running), and closing the hood, in the sweltering noonday August heat.

Amazingly, the cookies baked, but in a crazy way. They were like thin shells with no insides. I don’t recommend it. There are better ways to get sweets.

Has anyone ever tried to fry an egg on the sidewalk?