Bondage, my reason and will are locked in a jail cell leaving my decisions and actions free to fly wherever the wind might take them. It’s an addiction, I know, but the Bible says nothing specifically about the sinful combination of fluffy, white sugar, rich melted cocoa beans with sugar and crispy baked grains (and sugar I’m sure). Then again, maybe it does. We don’t really know for sure what “manna” is, do we? Could not s’mores be the heavenly bread given by God himself to sustain the Israelites through those long wilderness years? No doubt, they cooked on campfires which limits the choices down to hobo dinners and, well, s’mores. Hmmm…that could make a good dissertation topic if I ever get talked into a PhD program. Maybe I’ll start researching now.
Thankfully, I married a woman who can not only enjoy a nice evening under the stars serenaded by the crackle of a campfire (yes Derek, a “crackle” not a ROAR!), but she also enjoys a good s’more along with me. Granted she doesn’t keep pace to see who gets the sugar-saturated stomach ache first, but she also doesn’t daintily stop after one, claiming to not want anymore (like I ever believe that hogwash!).
Now, back in the States, we were introduced to the best thing since sliced bread – s’mores with Reese’s PB Cups instead of Hershey Chocolate. Are you with me? Anytime you add peanut butter to chocolate you have a winning combination! Now, unfortunately, we can’t buy Reese’s here in Ethiopia, but then again we can’t buy marshmallows or graham crackers here either, so we are entirely dependent on the outside world for satisfaction of our addiction. Micah has given us a great excuse for receiving graham crackers as they are surely sandwiched in between Cheerios and Goldfish as the three most popular kids’ snacks! So we’ve been well-stocked with “graham” after both of Micah’s grandparents’ visits in 2010 and 2011. Reese’s? Once again care packages and visitors have given us this crucial ingredient in making the ultimate S’more. But marshmallows, well, at times, we’ve been scraping bottom in this category. Recently, at our last campfire on New Year’s Day, we had to break out the brown, orange and white marshmallows shaped like little ghosts. Then, there was the chocolate and mint swirl marshmallows brought to us this past summer. Believe me, there’s a reason why Reese’s never came out with a “Mint Peanut Butter Cup.” The most memorable was shortly after Easter last year, when a care package arrived with some bright yellow “Peeps.” Sure, as a kid, Peeps are good and fun to eat. But, as our taste buds mature into the ability to discern the finer sweets in life, Peeps quickly fall by the wayside. But, when we are all out of marshmallows on a campfire night – what else could we do?
Impaling that little bunny head onto my clothes hanger, I extended its ears into the flame, watching closely as the smiling face began to lose definition. The crystallized sugar on the outside soon melted to form a shell, protecting the fluffy sugar on the inside from expanding as in regular s’more roasting. Given enough time in close proximity to the flame, I felt my Peep was properly toasted and, with the help of my lovely assistant, carefully constructed a picture perfect s’more (well, apart from the yellow ears sticking out). When the masterpiece finally hit my tongue, my taste buds immediately set up a protest. Whew! A s’more probably twice as sweet as the average one; I can’t say that I preferred it, although I did manage to eat a second before the sweetness got the better of me.
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