TJ Hirst

While I love the toasty taste of marshmallows lightly browned over a campfire, I am not the biggest fan of s’mores. They are tradition more than a temptation and make a mess of already messy campfire cooking. Still, each time we camp, we indulge.

I’ve determined that my biggest qualm is that the chocolate does not melt around the marshmallow, even when I prepare it all ahead. So, this time I decided that I would create a new combination. My husband calls it s’more heresy.

First, prepare the graham crackers. Break a large square in half and spread peanut butter on one side. Lay Hershey chocolate squares on the other side. If you are in a precarious spot, you may wish to lay the Hershey chocolate directly on the peanut butter, to secure it from slipping off the side.

Second, toast the marshmallows to a golden color. Make sure to slowly turn the marshmallows over low coals to heat slowly and provide enough melting power.

Third, assemble the marshmallows in the middle. You can choose the goo of two or just one for a cleaner eat. But plop the desired number directly in the middle and pull off.

Fourth, press the s’more togther for a minute. This ensures that the chocolate, marshmallows peanut butter will melt and the flavors meld.

Finally, enjoy with a snack of napkins nearby. Eat slowly without thinking of trying to make another. Your appetite for s’mores will have been satisfied for the night and the whole year.

Try-It With-Me Tuesday, an interactive weekly time and place to foster connections that challenge and encourage the process to become a well-rounded person.

We awoke to temperatures in the 40’s or 50’s the last few mornings, and the sumac is turning red. Our summer is changing to fall and the children are going back to school. The change of season brings relief from the feeling of always being on the go, but I will miss the summer help from my children and reading Watership Down after lunch, the garden flowers, sleeping in later, and easier routines. This week’s challenge to anyone who wants to try it with me:

Preserve a piece of summer for the future.

I’m making salsa with my children from all those peppers in our garden. Preserving isn’t just about canning vegetables or making jam. To preserve is to maintain or keep intact or prepare for future use.

Take a picture of a flower in your yard or a scene along a walk that you take. Write a journal entry to preserve a memory. Spend an hour with your child talking about what they liked doing this summer. Tell a story from your own childhood.

What are you doing to preserve this summer?

Join in by trying the challenges with me, commenting, linking, or suggesting a challenge. If you want to write a post on your blog about what happened when you took the challenge, I will publish your link. Just link to my website in your post and send me your link. Feel free to use the TIWMT image in your post.

The first time I made my mom’s traditional crumb coffeecake, my husband did an impersonation of the Swedish chef and called it “Ka Hoo Fee Cake.” We don’t drink coffee, so the name stuck, and our kids can’t say it any other way. When I was growing up, this cake was a special birthday breakfast cake we often ordered from Mom’s kitchen. Whatever we call it—mom’s coffee cake, breakfast cake, crumb cake or “Ka Hoo Fee Cake”, it’s worth it whenever we get to indulge in this food memory on Saturday mornings. We can never wait long enough for it to cool.

Cinnamon Crumb Coffeecake

½ cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup milk

Topping:

8 tablespoons sugar
8 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large jelly-roll pan with shortening or non-stick spray. Make the topping first by combining the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut the butter or margarine into large chunks and cut into the cinnamon mixture with a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

Cream shortening and sugar in an electric mixer. Add eggs and beat. Measure dry ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk to combine. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture, alternating with the milk, until all has been combined. Beat well. Evenly spread batter in the pan. Sprinkle the topping over the batter.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool slightly and serve.

In the summer, especially, I like to serve easy make-your-own-sandwiches for dinner. This week we’re making our first BLT’s with garden fresh tomatoes. Last week I laid out a variety of fixings for hoagie or submarine sandwiches. No one complains because they get to choose what they put on it. Whatever we are putting on the inside, the freshest, crustiest bread available makes the sandwich perfect.

Since I like to bake, starting a batch of Italian bread at lunchtime doesn’t take more than 15 minutes. Then I let it rise and bake it fresh for dinner. The small of amount of time is worth it for bread that looks like this and makes a sandwich taste like it’s from a bakery. This is a recipe my mother found years ago from Fleischmann’s Yeast.

Italian Bread

4 ½ to 5½ cups all-purpose or bread flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 pkgs. Fleischmann’s active dry yeast
1 tablespoon softened margarine
1 ¾ cup very warm tap water (about 120 degrees)
Cornmeal
Oil
1 egg white
1 tablespoon cold water

First, in a large bowl, thoroughly mix 1 ½ cups flour, sugar, salt and undissolved yeast. Add margarine.

Second, gradually add tap water to dry ingredients and beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Add ¾ cup flour. Beat at high speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in enough additional flour to make a stiff dough.

Third, turn out onto lightly floured board or counter and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap, then a towel. Lest rise about 40 minutes.

Fourth, to make hoagie rolls, divide dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece into an oblong 8 x 5 inches. Beginning at wide side, roll up tightly; pinch seams to seal. Taper ends.

Or to make loaves, divide dough in half, roll each half into an oblong 15 x 10 inches. Beginning at wide side, roll up tightly; pinch seams to seal. Taper ends by rolling gently back and forth.

Fifth, place on greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal. Brush dough with oil. Cover with a towel and let rise until almost double, about 30 minutes. When ready to bake, you may make 3 - 4 diagonal cuts on top of each with a sharp knife.

Finally, bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes for rolls and 20 minutes for loaves. Remove from oven and brush with egg white mixed with cold water. Return to oven; bake 5 - 10 minutes longer, until golden brown.

Makes 2 loaves or 6 hoagie- or sub-sized rolls.

It’s summertime and my staple ingredients now come from my roof—instead of my pantry—where beautiful lettuce grows in our garden. I made a favorite salad to share at a friend’s house last weekend and received so many compliments and requests that my friend Julie asked me to post the recipe here.

I cannot receive credit for this clever combination of ingredients since I copied it from another friend at a similar gathering more than a decade ago who had copied it from her friend. That’s how all the good recipes get passed around anyway, right? I did personalize it with our own garden lettuce, though. If you’ve never had jicama, this fresh summer salad will introduce you to its crisp and slightly sweet character.

Glazed Almond and Orange Salad

4 ounces slivered almonds
3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon dry Italian dressing mix
½ tablespoon grated orange rind
2 teaspoons sugar
1/3 cup orange juice concentrate
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil

2 heads dark lettuce (I used garden lettuce mixed with green leaf lettuce)
1 jicama, julienned
1-2 cans mandarin oranges, drained

First. Heat the almonds and the sugar in a small skillet over medium-high heat until carmelized. Spread out on wax paper to cool.

Second. Make the dressing by mixing the dry Italian dressing mix, the orange rind and the sugar. Add the red wine vinegar first and then the orange juice concentrate. Whisk in the olive oil or shake until combined.

Third. Wash, dry and break up the lettuce into bite-sized pieces and add to a large salad bowl. (I use my big Tupperware one with a lid to mix the salad and then pour it into a pretty bowl afterwards.) Julienne the jicama and add to the salad. Drain and add the mandarin oranges.

Finally, break apart the glazed almonds and sprinkle over the top of the salad. Just before serving, pour on all the dressing and toss the salad with tongs or cover the bowl with a lid and shake.