S'Mores Indoors!

A few days ago my great-niece Elizabeth came over to visit after school. We had a nice fire going in the fireplace, so we decided to make S'Mores.

My sister, Jan (Elizabeth's grandmother), and I have fond memories of making S'Mores from our childhood. Our mom, Mary, started a tradition that has lasted for decades in our family. Our family farm extends down to the river where we have had many happy hot dog roasts on the sandbar over several generations. All we needed to do there was build a fire, cut a stick off a bush and we were ready to roast and toast. In the wintertime, Jan and I would put our marshmallow on a fork and toast them over the electric burner on the stove. At my house, we toast them over the fire in the fireplace!

We don't know why or how it happened, perhaps it was born of necessity one day when she didn't have all of the ingredients, but mom always made S'Mores with Ritz crackers instead of graham crackers. Now, before you run screaming from the room at the very thought of S'Mores without graham crackers, consider how good a golden, flaky, lightly salted Ritz could be with a piece of melting chocolate and a warm, toasted marshmallow. Oh yes!! This you just have to try. Friends who have tried our S'Mores over the years were quickly converted to "our" way, so it will probably work for you as well. The combination of the lightly salted not-so-sweet cracker with the chocolate is unbeatable!!
                                                               The important ingredients

Lay out the crackers, marshmallows and chocolate pieces on a sturdy plate. Have a lot of napkins close by as well! I selected Hershey's milk chocolate bars for the sake of tradition, but whatever your favorite kind of chocolate is will do. I did not pick a thick candy bar because I've found that the pieces are too thick to melt and too hard to bite into. The thinner piece will melt as soon as the hot marshmallow is placed on top of it which makes it better.
Elizabeth tried out the long fork and learned to hold the marshmallows over the hot coals instead of the flames.
Watch them very carefully so they do not get burned, which is not healthy for us to eat.
Just perfect, Lizzie!! Hot, puffy, and lightly toasted.
Lay those marshmallows on the chocolate, put on the top cracker, and take a bite of your S'More. I asked Lizzie if she had ever tasted anything more wonderful in her life, and she said, "Oh, wonderful world!"
What fun, what fun. Thanks, Mom, for the memories!

Note: Did you notice a little Christmas tree on the fireplace bench behind Elizabeth? That is my angel ornament tree, the last little bit of Christmas decorations left up in our home. I can't bear to take it all down at once, so I leave the little tree up for awhile in January!