Summers to Remember

Everyone has fond memories of certain things that will forever leave a lasting impact on them throughout their life. One such instance for me is something so simple, but life changing in and essence. I was raised up in Oregon state and when I went into foster care, a family I was placed with would always take us on road trips and camping trips. One staple always stood out to me....the Smore. Epically delicious, fun, cozy, sweet and always dependable. Smores are a favorite for almost everyone, unless you don't like chocolate or marshmallows. In the case of chocolate, there are new innovative things that you can incorporate into a smore. We will touch base with that later. Back to where I was. Trips that would run all along the California-Washington coast. I was about ten years old when I was placed in this family. Life hadn't actually been particularly kind to me up to this point, so when I was placed in this family and learned that they ACTUALLY cared about the kids in their care, as well as their own children. I wasn't used to that. Being with this family was amazing. The foster mom was a nurse and the dad a cop. They loved nature and history and learning new things and exploring. We would often go on day trips and camping trips. When we went camping, we would go hiking, swimming and learn about nature. In the evenings we would eat, and then after we would get a special treat. Smores!!! We always ate them the traditional way with the graham crackers, marshmallow, and chocolate. They were always so melty, sticky, gooey and amazing. They tasted like campfire and dreams. Anything was possible when your a kid sitting next to a fire roasting a marshmallow. The fire even became magical, and the forest around us suddenly became so much more intriguing. I loved sitting next to the warm fire, eating smore and just talking, singing, having fun. Literally some of the best memories in my life have came from sitting next to a campfire, roasting marshmallows, eating smores. I learned around that campfire, I bonded, I grew up, I came to respect nature more and life more around that campfire. Such fond memories. Now I'm a mother passing on the tradition to my kids. My 6 year old little boy just loves it when we gather around the fire, just him, my husband and I. I pull out the smores items, and his little face just lights up. Something about them will always be magical. Now, we have never really deviated away from the traditional way of eating them, with one minor exception. I have tried with Reese's peanut butter cups and they are truly EPIC!!! I am now learning that you can make them with Samoa cookies, any candy bar or candy really, fruit, other types of cookies, brownies, ice cream, and even make a smores dip!!! NO way man!!! I'm sure that would be delicious as all get out. My challenge to myself is to try a few new ways of eating this yummy treat. Strawberries, Andes mints, Samoa cookies, and brownies all sound pretty yummy to me. I'm going to be doing some research and finding out some other ways as well. I know my home bakery makes a smores flavor of cookie and fudge. They are delicious. I look forward to passing on these traditions to my children and making lifelong memories with them, getting them to be a little more adventurous in trying new things, and just having a blast. Life is too short and it's only what you make it. Why not choose to make it just as sweet as the treat we've all grown up with? So get out there, grab life by the marshmallow and go make some sweet memories!!! Take care.