As a child, I always loved to roast marshmallows over the dying embers of the outdoor  grill after a barbecue. My brother, sister and I would stand for hours with our sticks, waiting for the marshmallows to toast to our individual specifications. My sister’s were always evenly roasted, with just the right amount of burnt crunch. My brother impatiently set his aflame.  And I, of course, was mainly concerned with merely eating as many as I could before my parents took the bag of marshmallows away.  I wish I’d had the foresight to invent what we now call S’mores.  It was pure genius.  Kids love marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers, and once put all together, it’s pure heaven.

Do we need a recipe for this?  Well, my granddaughter, Erica, has put an enormous effort into making the “perfect S’more.”  She has it down to a science, and let me just say, she turns out a scrumptious piece of sweet perfection every time.  Now her male counterparts (brothers and cousins) make their S’mores is rough haste, slapping it all together in reckless abandon.  Their object is to get as many S’mores as possible into their tummies in no time at all.   You will see from her recipe, that she has each move down to the second.  She is patient and precise, and also enjoys every bite.

My first experience making S’mores was only a few years ago.  This is when our grandchildren were old enough to realize that an outdoor fire pit was the perfect cooking mechanism needed.  We all love to sit outside and gather around the fire at our mountain house in the Catskills.  And you know what that leads to…..roasting marshmallows and making S’mores. I must say, if you can overlook all that sugar, this is a wonderful way to get to know your grandchildren. You can learn a lot about someone’s personality by the manner in which they make and eat S’mores.  Also, since no one can sleep after this sugar consumption, we end up huddling around the fire telling stories or perhaps a dance party will ensue.  Either way, S’mores have contributed greatly to the many happy memories I have of my grandchildren.  It’s back to the basics……..which is a wonderful thing in this electronic day and age.

I hope we are all gathered around the fire pit for many, many more years.  You can never get enough of the grandkids….or S’mores!

RECIPE:  (by Erica)

Graham Crackers

Hershey’s “Symphony” milk chocolate bar***See note below

Marshmallows

1.  Prepare your graham cracker by breaking it neatly into 2 squares.

2.  Place the chocolate on top of one of the squares, covering it from corner to corner.

3.  Place one marshmallow securely on a long twig (you don’t want to get too close to the fire).

4.  Place marshmallow into the fire, rotating for approximately 10 seconds.  Then find a nice flame and let it catch on fire for only 2 seconds.  Pull it quickly out of the fire and blow on it to put out the flame.

5.  Place the charred marshmallow on top of the chocolate.  Using you other hand, put the other graham cracker square on top.  Gently pull out the stick, while using you hand to keep it neatly together.

6.  Give it one last, light press of the hand to smoosh it altogether.

7.  Be careful to let it cool a bit before taking that first delicious bite.

***Note:  Hershey’s Symphony Milk Chocolate Bar is Erica’s chocolate choice.  We have used others, even dark chocolate and they are all good, but this is heaven.  She also feels that the thickness of a large bar adds to the flavor…..more chocolate.