Wednesday, May 23

The Perfect Hello To Summer! Eatin' S'mores And Mores!

                        
How to Make Smores


Camping just would not be complete without this simple, gooey dessert we so lovingly call s'mores. The whole experience of making s'mores is enjoyable: you sit around a campfire watching the flickering flames as you toast the pillowy sweet marshmallows at the end of your stick and when the marshmallow is golden and just about to melt right off the stick you make a marshmallow and chocolate graham cracker sandwich. Yum!

If you are over the age of 10 and live in the US, you have eaten a s'more. They are ingrained in our memories with loving fondness. Bringing back to mind summer camping trips, sitting by a bonfire in the cool crisp air of Fall or even on a Winter's day when the family is trapped indoors sitting around the fire keeping warm as it snows outside. Fond memories of family, friends, laughter, the smell of woodsmoke, hay and roasted marshmallows brings a smile to my face.

Camping was a tradition in our family. We began camping when my sister and I were 4 and 2 or somewhere very near then. Our parents drug us across America as kids, sometimes we loved it sometimes not so much. Our parents thought this was a good way to travel on a budget...and you know what? IT WAS GREAT! It taught us to love traveling and to always want to learn about new people and places.

Most nights Daddy would start a fire as my sister and I looked until we found the perfect sticks for marshmallow roasting. We all sat around the fire and proceeded to have a s'more feast. It's one of those treats you can't help yourself around. We would get a little giddy, oohing and aahing, licking our fingers and giggling like kids do. I'm sure we were one big ooey gooey mess! Mom taught us how to roast our marshmallows without roasting our arms! She LOVED, and still does, the burnt marshmallows. You know what......my sister and I do too, something we picked up from mom.

Our long summer vacations and weekend trips seem so wonderful as I look back now. I'm thankful to my parents for taking us out into the quiet serenity of the wilderness. I can still smell the pine trees and hear the babbling river and all of that abundant fresh air and a sky so big and full of stars that it never seemed to end. As we drove away from our campsite to head home we were always just a bit melancholy, but we knew there would be another weekend another summer to roam under the stars free and barefoot, eatin' s'mores and catching lightening bugs!
SUMMERTIME S'MORES

INGREDIENTS

  • Marshmallows
  • Sticks
  • Hershey Chocolate Bar
  • Graham Crackers
WHAT TO DO
  • Arrange two squares of graham cracker on a paper plate. Top one cracker with a good size square of Hershey's chocolate.
  • Roast the marshmallows by placing one on a skewer and gently rotating it over an open flame of a campfire.
  • When the marshmallow is golden and soft on the inside, remove it from the flames and place it on the chocolate cracker. Top it with the second cracker and SMASH IT GOOD! Let the chocolate  melt and warm the crackers, EAT while warm! ENJOY!


My youngest, Elizabeth and her boyfriend Bradley making S'mores last summer. A tradition which she has carried on for the family!
                                                                                
               
Place tablespoons of dough on each graham cracker square.
Here they are almost done...not quite all the way melted yet.

S'MORE BARS

I've seen these floating around the web, I'm sure you have as well. I just had to give 'em a try. These cookies have a graham cracker base with a chocolate chip cookie sprinkled with chocolate and marshmallows topping it. The crunch of the graham cracker with the gooey cookie is the perfect combination. They are the Perfect Hello to Summer.

INGREDIENTS

  • 11 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 ½ cups flour
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup mini marshmallows
  • 3 regular sized Hershey’s bars, broken into pieces
  • 1-2 packages graham crackers, broken into squares

WHAT TO DO

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt to combine. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter with white and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
  • Add the flour mixture to the butter mixer and combine on low speed.
  • Fold in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour to overnight (I did one batch right away and another after chilling overnight and found there was no difference.)
  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line baking pans with parchment paper. I used one 11x17 pan and one 9x13 pan but you can really use any sized pans you want.
  • Lay out graham crackers side by side on the pans as close as possible (they should be touching). I used 16 graham cracker squares on one pan and 10 squares on another. You may have to add or remove graham crackers according to how much dough you have. If you want your cookies thicker you will use more dough and less graham crackers.
  • Place tablespoons of dough on graham crackers about 1 – 1 ½ inches apart. I averaged about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough per graham cracker square as seen in the picture above. Press down slightly with fingertips.
  • Bake for 5 minutes then remove from oven to press Hershey’s bar pieces on to the top. You can place as many pieces or as little as you want depending how much chocolate flavor you want.
  • Bake for 5 – 7 more minutes or until dough is beginning to turn golden brown at the edges. Remove to a wire rack to cool. For clean cutting make sure cookies are completely cool and cut with a sharp knife.


THERE'S NOTHIN' BETTER THAN SUMMER S'MORES, ENJOY EATIN' THESE AND HAVE FUN WITH YOUR FAMILY THIS SUMMER. GO CAMPING...... TAKE THE KIDS AND START YOUR OWN SUMMER TRADITIONS. THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!
                                                   HELLO SUMMER,
WELCOME HOME OLD FRIEND!

ENJOY!
~THE DOMESTIC CURATOR~

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