The Great S'mores Experiment

Wheeew, child!  It has been hot around here!  With temperatures varying between 102F and 104F this week, I have been acting like a hermit and staying locked up in my air-conditioned home.  (Geez!  Where do I live?  The surface of the sun?  How do you Arizona peeps do it!?)  It is "melt-your-eyebrows-off" hot out there.  It is "I-can-feel-sweat-running-down-my-back" hot out there.  It is "why-is-my-hair-shriveling-like-steamed-spinach" hot out there.  (I think you get the idea.)

I always chuckle to myself when the temperatures rise because meteorologists on the news start engaging in kooky "experiments."  Like frying eyes on the sidewalk.  (That's gross.)  Or baking cookies in a parked car.  One glorious day, while tuned into the local news at noon, I watched a delightful anchorwoman make s'mores outside.  In the studio's parking lot.  With nothing but a little aluminum foil and the hot, July sun.

I thought, "She.  Is.  Brilliant."

Naturally, my second though was, "I MUST try that."

Today, Lilly and I participated in "Mama Leisha's Great S'mores Experiment."  If you'd like to give it a whirl, all you need is aluminum foil, mallows, graham crackers, chocolate, hot pavement, and sunshine.

Build your s'mores on a small piece of aluminum foil.  Gently wrap it up into a compact, square package.  (I say gently because the crackers break easily.)  Find a REALLY hot place outside--like a driveway, parking lot, front porch, etc.  Just as long as it is a hard, paved surface that never sees the shade.  Lay those babies down and let them cook.

 
Here's the tricky part:  Knowing how long to "cook" them for.  Answer:  I have NO idea!  I thought surely, with as blazing hot as it's been, they'd cook in under fifteen minutes.  Not true!  That marshmallow takes a while to melt down!  (Plus, there were a couple of factors to consider.  First of all, it was a little overcast today.  It seemed our sun was playing "hide n' seek" with our gloomy, gray clouds.  Second, we conducted our experiment later in the day.  If/when we do this again, it will be on a clear, blue sky kind of day.  And we'll do it under a toasty, noon-time sun.)

The best advice I can give is to check your s'mores often.  We checked ours every twenty to thirty minutes.  They sat outside for about two hours.  Seems painfully long, doesn't it?

IT WAS WORTH IT!

 

Warning:  They are an ooey, gooey mess.  And they're positively divine!

I think we'll make s'more s'mores tomorrow! 

A couple of handy Mama Leisha tips:

1.  Don't use heavy duty aluminum foil.  The regular kind works best.  (Our "heavy duty foil" s'mores took even longer to goo-ify.)

2.  May be placed on a BBQ grill for faster cooking.

3.  Next time we make these, I'm considering omitting the chocolate until the marshmallow melts down.  The chocolate melts the fastest.  Perhaps adding it "late in the game" will make it less syrupy.  Worth a try!