I’ll admit it: I’m a 4th of July nut.
I can’t wait for warm weather to arrive so I can bust out my extensive collection of retired Old Navy flag t-shirts and plaster the back of my suburban with every God Bless America / Don’t Mess With Texas / These Colors Don’t Run / Land of the FREE because of the BRAVE bumper sticker I can find.
Because I love it all: the red-white-and-blue everything … the patriotic music … the hometown parades with a million little flags waving … watching veterans of all ages march behind a color guard … the sense of community as friends and neighbors light fireworks in driveways or gather for a big display … and that extra lump in my throat every time I see a soldier in uniform or hear the roar of fighters overhead.
And this year those feelings are hitting me twice as hard because those soldiers our family pray for each night now have a familiar face among their ranks—my amazing sister who returns home to her family on Saturday after months away training.
So in honor of her return, those flags for the front of the house are coming out now, baby … the kids are all getting {new} flag t-shirts … extra sparklers are going into that shopping cart … and I’m plotting how to turn all of my favorite summer desserts-salads-pastas-sandwiches-bbq-drinks into platefuls of patriotic deliciousness.
So I proudly present the first recipe to get into the holiday spirit:
Star-Spangled S’mores
done four ways of course to keep my picky half dozen happy.
And before you start—I know, I know, I know.
S’mores are the perfect summer dessert and don’t need any tweaking.
But if you happen to have some left over white candy melts … and food coloring … and designer marshmallows … and an afternoon to kill with a certain I’ve-only-been-out-of-school-for-two-weeks-and-am-already-bored-ten-year-old, you start playing around.
No. 1: Graham crackers + Hershey bars + Kraft Jet-Puffed Star Marshmallows
Behold the open-faced goodness. Perfect for rocking S’mores Indoors.
Or c’mon–how cute are these marshmallow kabobs?
Yum.
No. 2: Short bread cookies + tinted candy melts + regular marshmallows
No need to add any extra chocolate to these lovelies.
No. 3: Graham crackers + tinted candy melts + regular marshmallows
Dee-lish. And finally …
No. 4: Graham crackers + tinted candy melts + 3rd grade art skills + regular marshmallows
Awesome with or without extra Hershey bars.
See?
Yup. Really good.
So there you go …
Star-Spangled S’mores four way new ways. Enjoy!
16 Comments
I'd love to be a kid at your house. so glad your sister will be home soon with her family. have a splendid holiday chica.
The best was the third grade art skills one! I love it when it is kid friendly!
Love these s'mores! Enjoy your sister's visit home!
Those are too fun! I love the one with the shortbread cookies:)
Awesome! My critters would love these!
How do you have all these family pictures I didn't know exist? Cute S'mores! Wish I actually liked them…..hmm.
wow, these are awesome! came over from Tidy Mom!
How fun are these!!!
I hope you'll stop by and share your recipe with Sweet Tooth Friday. http://alli-n-son.com/2011/06/16/midnight-craving-cupcakes/
What a great idea!!
Love the candy melt idea!
I'd love for you to share these at Fun For Kids Friday! They look great.
http://smilemonsters.blogspot.com/2011/06/fun-for-kids-friday_16.html
Jo @ SmileMonsters
These are all great and look SO yummy!!!
Thanks for sharing!
Kristine
http://jandmseyecandy.blogspot.com/2011/06/4th-of-july-punch-art-tutorial.html
looks great! Thanks for sharing the idea!!
Love these. My mom and I recently Toasted Them on a stick and followed the cake pop trend: http://bestfriendsforfrosting.com/2011/05/how-to-make-toasted-campfire-smore-pops/
These are cute. We've been roasting rabbit marshmallows left over from Easter. We actually roasted some last night at the neighbor's, I never came back home to get the chocolate and graham crackers. lol
S'mores are a weekly (or more!) event at our house, so I LOVE these ideas! Great job! Glad your sister will be home soon! Blessings!
S'mores are one of our favorite treats! I would love to try some of these variations. Maybe I could make it a 4th of July tradition.