S’Makin’ S’mores

As the nights grow colder, campfire season is upon us, and the only thing that completes a bonfire more than an acoustic guitar and kumbaya are some roasted mallows.

When I was a child I used to make s’mores for my grandpa. He would always request a golden brown mallow. Since it is the hardest to prepare, I consider it the medium-rare of s’mores. I would try my hardest to keep the mallow at a constant roast, being careful not to ignite my mallow or bounce it off the embers.

I have seen many flaming mallows go airborne during careless attempts of extinguishing the flames by shaking the stick violently.

But besides being a childhood memory and a campfire ritual, s’mores are as tasty as they are fun to make, but the s’more should never be restricted to a graham cracker and Hershey’s chocolate square.

There are s’many more ways to prepare a s’more.

The mallow and the graham are pretty standard. Grahams do come in different flavors, honey, cinnamon and chocolate, but I believe the overall flavor of the s’more is vested in the choice of chocolate.

White chocolate with chocolate chips, Mr. Goodbar, chocolate chip cookies, Hershey’s with almonds, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, are all great substitutions to the plain Hershey’s chocolate bar.

Some may argue it isn’t a s’more without the graham and chocolate but sometimes a marshmallow, a stick and a flame is all that’s needed. Just roast the mallow over the fire and gently pull off the puff of roasted mallow skin and enjoy. There will still be a nice glob of mallow left on the stick to repeat the process again and again.

Although roasting over open flames is the ideal s’more setting, students residing in the dorms shouldn’t feel left out. The microwave is a quick and easy s’more roasting machine.

Place the chocolate of choice and marshmallow on the graham or try shoving the chocolate inside of the mallow for a gooey chocolate explosion, and cook it in microwave for about 15 seconds. Then place the other graham atop and enjoy your campfire creation.