Rosemary Rice Krispie Treats, and a Weekend at Camp

Last weekend I was able to get out of town and head up to the San Bernardino Mountains for a few days.  

I attended Camp Blogaway - a getaway weekend for food bloggers, recipe developers, and photographers that is organized by the lovely Patti Londre.  The weekend serves as our time to enrich our sense of community and connect with one another and learn ways to improve and enhance what we love to do.  I truly enjoyed making new friends, catching up with old ones, and being surrounded by people who love and appreciate food (and all that good food stands for) as much as I do.  It was food for my soul (pun intended) to be in an environment surrounded by genuine people that have true passion.  And of course, the blue skies and clean air didn't hurt.          

Anytime I go out to the mountains in So Cal I always feel like I am going home; the real 'forests,' green grass, and birds chirping take me back to the Midwest where I grew up.  I definitely felt like that this past weekend, but I also felt a different sense of belonging that you can only really get when you are with a group of caring, like-minded people.  That sense of family was even further reinforced when we listened to Cheryl and Susan talk about their community of readers, and about how our online families extended beyond the connections we made with each other at camp to include each one of YOU that faithfully reads our blogs.  And for that I want to say thank you - for being part of my family - for supporting me when life is hard, for laughing with me when life is amazing, and for always appreciating good food and good friends.     

Making S'mores from Scratch: Homemade Marshmallows and Graham Crackers

I have great news!  I have advanced to the fourth round of Project Food Blog!!!  Thanks SO much for you all your votes, and I hope you will continue to support me during this round!  Voting is officially open, so check out my entry on Foodbuzz and vote here!  

This thrilling news means that I have another post for you this Sunday that is part of the competition.  I hope you all enjoyed my Luxury Dinner post from last week, but this time I wanted to focus on something a little more lighthearted and fun.  And honestly, can you think of anything more fun than s'mores?  I can.  S'mores made with homemade marshmallows and graham crackers.  Oh yeah.  These are the real thing, no jet puffed pillows or plastic enclosed crackers here.  

When I decided to go camping this weekend, I knew the trip could not be complete without sweet graham crackers, rich chocolate, and sticky, gooey marshmallows for s'mores.  So make sure you keep reading all the way until the end of this post, so you can check out some serious flames as we toasted the marshmallows over our campfire.  No plans to go camping anytime soon?  No worries, there is no shame in toasting these babies over your grill or gas burner on your stovetop.  In fact, I completely support any methods that allow you to enjoy a delicious s'more; just make sure you don't burn your house down in pursuit of marshmallow goodness. 

To tell you about my experience of making these marshmallows and graham crackers, I am going to do things a little differently this time.  While I usually regale you with kitchen tales and general ramblings, and then share my recipes  at the end of my posts, this time I will be walking you through step-by-step how to complete each recipe.  There are loads of photos and helpful tips, so making marshmallows and graham crackers on your own should be easy-peasy.  And let me tell you, the graham crackers were good, but the marshmallows were out-of-this-world.  Truly, they are nothing like the ones you can buy in the store, and I will definitely never buy them again!  If you want a printable recipe, I will be adding to this post by the end of next week.