The tranquility of a fire

I love a campfire any time of year, but cooler autumn evenings spark a particular sense of campfire nostalgia that strokes the flames of the soul.  Perhaps it is the forced snuggles or the hypnotic dance of the flame.  Whatever the reason, a good campfire is a quick way to my heart and soul.

While campfires are amazing, with littles, it can be a bit challenging to manage the unending s'more requests and the stickiness and the simple fact that you have an open flame with small children around.  Inasmuch we try to do a few things that help me get the fire going while the kiddos prepare campfire treats.

S'more Cones.
Difficulty Level: Prop your feet up, honey.

You read it correctly, a s'more cone.  It contains all of the fan favorites of a s'more but with a fraction of the mess AND some extra love for those feeling more adventurous.

To achieve, I prepare diced bananas, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, marshmallows, nutella, peanut butter... all the things.  You can add all of the salty-sweet combinations your heart desires.  The kiddos each get a cone to fill with their desired treats.  All of these things (less the bananas really) can be prepared beforehand with 8"x 8" tinfoil sheets.  When the kids have filled their treats to their desired excessive fullness, wrap the cones in tin foil, and write names in a sharpie marker on the outside.

Place the wrapped cones over the campfire (or grill works also) and turn every so often until the contents of the cone are melty and ooey gooey - this is the scientific term; like Drosophila except not fruit fly.


Campfire Crackers
Difficulty Level: Meh....

As the kids grow, they can absolutely help with some of the prep here.  Haakon halved the grapes without a problem but the "fire" cheese proved a bit difficult for him, so I made that.   What you'll need:

Butter Crackers - name your brand
American Cheese
Pretzels
Red Grapes
Nut Butter

To achieve, spread nut butter on the cracker.  Place the halved grapes around the outside of the cracker.  Break the pretzels into appropriate log-sized bites.   Cut the American cheese into three-peaked slices.  I found it most successful to place the cheese slices pressing into the nut butter to help stay upright.  The pretzels can be used to "prop up" the cheese slices if necessary.

The coup de grace:  French Toast one the Fire.
Difficulty Level: Prep - easy breasy.  Maintaining the appropriate heat on the fire... a bit more challenging.

I snatched this recipe from a Pinterest find:

Campfire French Toast

The kids absolutely love this recipe.  It combines so many favorites: helping, campfire cooking, and breakfast.  Wins all around.

Some easy staples to add to campfire cooking are always veggie foil packs.  We add farmers market favorites, add some salt, garlic, and pepper for seasoning, and cook over the fire until the veggies are tender and delicious.  We typically add broccoli, zucchini, carrots, onion and bell pepper.  simply place the veggies with a small amount of oil to prevent sticking in foil, wrap tightly and place over the fire.   Again, an easy activity for the kids to complete! 

 In the summer, we made s'more ice pops, and I dabbled in cake making.  I have included the links to those recipes as well.



S'more Frozen Pops
S'more Pie Pops
Campfire Cake -  I used this as an inspiration but rather than melting hard candy, I made the hard-ball candy and used this for the fire.  (Hardball Candy).  When making this cake, the candy shards do not last very long (a day or two max) before starting to melt due to the moisture of the cake.  Still delicious, but in the event you are looking to prepare ahead of time, I would hold off on making the candy until you are ready to serve!

Whatever your incentive for hosting a campfire, I approve.  Enjoy the snuggles.  Enjoy the treats.  Because there is nothing quite like either in life.  Snuggles are the sweets of the soul.  Take a moment to slow down and warm by a fire.