S'Mores Ice Cream for National S'Mores Day

So BAMBI says to me the other day "Wednesday is National S'mores day - we should do something to celebrate!" If you haven't figured out yet, this girl has a serious chocolate thing going on.

I wasn't sure, but I checked it out. Turns out she is right - today is National S'mores Day and you are welcome to celebrate along with us! We decided that since this summer has been really kind of extra hot and sticky we would try to keep things cool, so we decided on making a S'mores sundae!

We started with vanilla ice cream - because it is the perfect platform for building most sundaes. Then we got out our s'mores ingredients, marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers.

I put some graham crackers in a small plastic bag and broke them up until I had some crumbs, but some larger bits as well. I also kept out some larger quarters of cracker to use as a topper for the sundae. Then I chopped up some large marshmallows - which is trickier than it sounds. The outsides of marshmallows are easy to handle, but their insides can get really sticky really quickly. One trick when cutting something that can get really sticky is to coat the knife you are using in something like non-stick cooking spray or vegetable oil to keep the sticky stuff from sticking to your knife.

After that it was a matter of adding the marshmallow to the ice cream and then sprinkling on some chocolate chips.

These sundaes turned out great - and were a super-tasty to celebrate National S'mores Day. How you celebrate today! Did you go off the beaten path like we did, or did you stay to the tried and true method of toasting marshmallows and making the sandwich yourself? Let me know in the comments below or on Facebook!

Hey BAMBI, Gimme S'more!

Hi there! BAMBI here (That's "Bacon Acquiring Mama Bringing It" - hey I needed a cool acronym and quick) The DUDE is allowing me to write a post about a recent day in our home, since it was my idea and I thought it would be fun to be the one to write.

The other day I decided it was time to introduce our 6 year old to a summer and camp classic treat - S'mores! Okay, let's be honest, I was in the mood for the gooey goodness too. So, with honey graham crackers and marshmallows in the cabinet, we set off to the grocery store to purchase some chocolate.

Now, I had recently read an article on NPR's The Salt about how Millennials are idealists when it comes to what they want from food - sustainable, fair trade, organic, etc. - but research showed that it all falls apart around chocolate.

"In a survey of participants ages 18 to 35, millennials reported caring about ethical issues like environmental sustainability and social responsibility in chocolate production. But when choosing chocolate privately, these self-proclaimed ethical shoppers were all chocolate bark and no bite. (Sorry.) Most showed little preference for labels advertising ethical sourcing and instead preferred labels with ingredients they recognized — items like "chocolate" and "butter," rather than "tertiary butylhydroquinone." " 

So, of course now I couldn't just grab the Hershey's milk chocolate bars and be done with it. I had to spend something like 15 minutes in two aisles of the grocery store - (the candy aisle AND the "healthy foods" section - why don't they group all the chocolate bars in one spot? Is this point itself a flaw in the study? Guess I should actually read the full study instead of the news report.) - with a six year old poking at me trying to figure out what's taking me so long to pick a stinking bar of chocolate, as I tried to find the "best" chocolate option to match my ideals. Do you know how hard it is to stick to your ideals on a budget? Also, you have to choose between things like "Rainforest Alliance Certified" OR "Fair Trade" because the available options aren't both. 

On top of all that, the "ethical" chocolate bars are all thick and not the thinner style that works so well on a S'more. Right, S'mores, that's why I was at the store and what you're here for....

So, I came away with these. 

The Dove one is Rainforest Alliance Certified and dark chocolate for me. The milk chocolate Ghirardelli, for my son, is thin and the squares are the perfect size for s'mores, so to heck with the ideals. (See, they were right!)

At home I forgot about ethical food, because I am making S'mores after all. Since we have no means to start a fire in our suburban backyard, I decided to toast up our marshmallows the way we toast up our tortillas - on the gas stove. As a very important safety note, I'll say that I prepped ahead by soaking our toasting sticks in water for a half hour or so, to keep them from catching fire.

Then, we went to it - break the graham crackers in half, place the chocolate, cook up the marshmallow....

Blow out the fire...

Keep toasting until it's just right and then...

YUM!

I was very impressed with 6. He was careful and respectful around the stove. And happy as a clam to make and eat his own S'mores, and a few extra marshmallows besides. I think we'll be doing this again soon!

So, how about you all - how do you make your S'mores? Or is it against your healthy-eating ethics? Share in the comments or on Facebook!