Monday, July 10, 2017

S'mores

For Girl Scouts, and now most campers, s'mores are THE summer campfire treat.  And no, you can't eat just one.  From the 1965 official GS calendar - "'S'mores'... that favorite campfire dessert."  The recipe "Some More" is from a 1927 GS book, and "S'mores" started appearing by the 1940s.  


Interestingly, the 1927 recipe calls for moderation (impossible!) - "Though it tastes like "some more" one is really enough."  The 1946 warning is more realistic - "You can't resist it if you have a sweet tooth."

The sticks in the photo-shoot have prongs like a fork at the top. Most folks simply made them by whittling with a knife to make a pointed end on a green twig.  All the marshmallows that day were cooked over a gas stove - horrors!! - but still tasted good. (I'm on the right). However after eating so many in one day for the photos, I almost said never more.

Haven't tried them, but there are gadgets available to make them in the microwave.
Now-a-days you can buy a box of the fixin's and even a box of sticks.  Last year I tried some with some folks who got the boxes.  I thought that the current grahams were too thick and overpowered the marshmallows. (ah, memories are always better!) But the toasting was still fun - everyone seems to have their own technique over the fire to get 'golden' rather than black/burned marshmallows.

1927  Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts



1946  Rural Recreation
S'Mores. Marshmallows — Milk chocolate bars — Graham or soda crackers. Toast a marshmallow until it looks like a golden puff ball (patience is a necessary ingredient), and put it on a cracker. Cover it with a half of a chocolate bar, add a top cracker and squeeze gently.  You can’t resist it if you have a sweet tooth.

©2017 Patricia Bixler Reber
Researching Food History HOME

1 comment:

  1. Just for the record, some of my fellow girl scouts (vintage 1960s) preferred their marshmallows blackened, even charred, on the outside. I preferred the golden brown specified in the second recipe.

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