S’mores

A childhood favorite, s’mores, a contraction of “some more.” Graham crackers, chocolate, and roasted marshmallows.

I brought the fire pit out this evening, the first time for the year. Our weather has been too cool and wet until now. Our fair opened today and with the fireworks they shoot off tonight, it seemed like good timing. We lit the fire when we lit the barbecue for burgers. By the time we were ready for dessert, the coals were ready for roasting marshmallows.

There’s always an “intellectual” discussion about the relative merits of coals versus flames. The girls are all for flames, not appreciating the slow roasting of the perfect marshmallow, tinted evenly brown, soft inside and slightly crisp outside. One girl is happy to catch her marshmallow on fire, letting it burn until the outside is blackened then blowing it out. Sometimes she eats the whole thing then and there. Other times, she eats only the outer cooked skin, peeling it off and popping it into her mouth, then roasting the new outer layer.

Me, I go for the slow roast, holding the skewered marshmallow over coals only (no flames!), turning it until it’s evenly browned on the outside and melted and soft on the inside. For the perfect S’more, don’t buy the big huge chocolate bars because the chocolate is too thick. Use the regular sized bars and break off a square and lay it on half a graham cracker. Take another cracker and lay the marshmallow in between the two crackers, pressing down and pulling out the skewer, leaving the marshmallow to partially melt the chocolate ad it’s pressed against it. Squeeze down a bit, to cause the marshmallow to spread out over the whole half cracker, hopefully taking a bit of chocolate with it.

Mmm….

If you’re not into graham crackers, you can always just eat the creme de la creme, sticking a bit of chocolate directly inside the roasted marshmallow and then popping the whole thing into your mouth. The taste of the sweet, hot, cold is great. Adding the crunch of the cracker to contrast against the smooth marshmallow is the ultimate for me–but your mileage may vary.