Culinary Adventures with Camilla

There are certain thing we always have when we're camping. S'mores are one of those. A few years ago, I even served S'mores for Breakfast .  This year, on the last day of the trip, we had to use all the firewood...and eat all the s'mores ingredients. "Mom, we have to make all the s'mores. You never let us have s'mores at home." True. The boys decided to try a variation that their friend Trinity had made during one of our Halloween camping trips: marshmallows (roasted or not), dipped in melted chocolate, and rolled in crushed graham crackers. So, they called it 'The Trinity' - named for their friend...and because it's the holy trinity of camping foods. Here's the original! Her dad sent this to me! photo courtesy Paxton M. My boys fashioned a double boiler and melted the chocolate! This isn't so much a precise recipe as a process. Ingredients marshmallows chocolate, broken into chunks g...

"S'mores for breakfast, boysies!" I hollered from the picnic table about our last campsite of the trek. Silence descended and sticks stopped flying across the site. What did you say, Mommy?!?  both boys gaped. Actually, I think all three of my boys just stared at me. But after 10 days of cooking in the wild, and on the verge of heading home, I was done. Done, done, done, done, done. Done cooking on one burner. Done smelling like a campfire. Just plain done. And since we had skipped s'mores the night before, everything was ready to go. Jake did suggest that we hike up to pick fresh blackberries and stick them in there. That was slightly redeeming, nutritionally speaking. So, I strapped on running shoes and off we went. He whispered as we went, maybe even more excited than the boys about our breakfast prospect. "You got marshmallows, right?" Yes. "You have chocolate?" Yes.  "Dark?" Of course. "Annnnd you didn't ...

When I saw the call for recipes from the editors of Bacon S'mores - "The recipe has to be for some variant on the idea 'bacon s'mores,'" they instructed- this is exactly what I was envisioning. Sweet, salty, smoky, and über-chocolatey! This has a bacon shortbread crust at its base, a fleur de sel caramel-softened marshmallow swirled layer, and a chocolate ganache topped with more oven-crisped bacon.  'Decadent' doesn't even begin to describe this tart. Bacon Shortbread 2 C white flour 1/2 C powdered sugar 3/4 C organic butter 3 T cold water 3 T vodka 1 C oven-crisped bacon , diced (1/2 C for the shortbread, 1/2 C reserved for garnish) Mix the flour and sugar; rub in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in water and vodka with a fork until the mixture forms a ball. Roll out between two pieces of parchment paper. Press gently into a tart pan. Stick in the freezer while the oven heats. Bake for 25-30 minute...

Because I was stuffed from our dinner, I didn't try all of the s'more combinations. Both Pia and Jenn thoroughly enjoyed the Funky Monkey S'more: graham crackers, roasted marshmallow, dark chocolate, and slices of fresh banana.

Ever the culinary adventurer, I wanted to offer the gang a few s'more flavors that were a bit more exotic than honey graham crackers and plain chocolate. I love the bite of ginger, so here are some Snappy S'mores: roasted marshmallow with a square of dark chocolate and caramel sandwiched between two ginger snaps. Yum!

Despite my usual Nazi-esque attitude about my boys eating refined sugar, s'mores are a camping staple in my family. Dylan gets very grumpy if we neglect to make s'mores on a camping trip. So, in planning my 20th high school reunion camping trip, I decided to set up a s'mores bar for our first night around the campfire. I debated: the standard or some gourmet choices. Serendipitously yesterday was National S'mores Day. Click here to read my tirade about American National Food Holidays. I write 'serendipitously' because it meant lots and lots of creative recipes to tweak this camping favorite. I will, of course, offer the plain jane s'mores variety; but there will be ingredients on hand for Snappy S'mores and the Funky Monkey. Recipes and photos to follow.