S’mores? What are they good for?

Today, June 20^th, is the first day of summer so happy Solstice. Because it is a leap year, it doesn’t fall on June 21, which was my grandmother’s birthday, but I digress.

Since it is now officially summer, the activities associated with summer are ramping up like picnics, cook-outs, biking, hiking, reading, camping out, and many more (all while staying safely socially distanced, of course).

Which brings this pedometer geek to the main point of this piece: in my opinion, s’mores are highly overrated, and frankly, not worth the hype (or the time and trouble to make). I may be the only person who has come to this conclusion, but before the stoning begins, let me explain.

Backing up a bit, this pedometer geek first experienced s’mores as a Girl Scout. I loved being a Girl Scout, and having a Girl Scout outing like a cookout or campfire often ended with s’mores, so named because it is a contraction of some more (as in I want some more). It was through the Girl Scouts that I first tasted one despite having heard about them from my older sister.

What’s not to like? S’mores are made up of three delicious all-by-themselves foods.  Graham crackers, especially dipped in milk, are a tasty after-school snack. Milk chocolate is melt in your mouth yummy whether it is a Hershey Kiss or the Hershey’s Chocolate bar (which is what most people use when making a s’more). Last, but not least, is the delicately toasted marshmallow. Not burnt, but lightly browned on all sides is just perfect all by itself.

The three ingredients are made into a sandwich of toasted marshmallow and a few squares of chocolate squished between two graham crackers. The problem is the chocolate doesn’t melt; the marshmallow, while toasted, isn’t warm enough to melt the chocolate. Biting into it tends to make the whole thing crumble and fall apart, and that is why s’mores don’t live up to their glowing reputation. Thus, I eat the components separately.

The secondary point to the s’mores issue, which gave me the idea for this post in the first place, is that this reader has recently noticed that whenever camping and cooking over an open fire occurs in a novel, s’mores are the perfect treat. Several recent novels played up the s’mores. It may be the beginning of another What-the-tuck trend; this reader will be watching.