Dear Kid,

Happy Toasted Marshmallow Day! DearKidLoveMom.comYou are not going to believe what today is.

Today is National Marshmallow Toasting Day. Who knew?

You are already a World Class Marshmallow Toaster when it comes to campfires and backyard fire.

When you’re at college, however, campfires are few and far between.

If you’ve forgotten the history of marshmallow (and Oompa Loompas) you can read it here.

One year, we were hosting an evening of making s’mores. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t cooperating and there was no way to build a fire in a torrential downpour. Fortunately, we are not without imagination and we lit a bunch of candles for participants to toast over. Not perfect, but inventive!

Toasted marshmallows taste like s’mores which taste like summer. And who doesn’t like the taste of summer?

BTW, there is such a thing as beer marshmallow, but it involves ingredients and processes to make marshmallow from the beer and who needs to make their own marshmallows? Especially since the idea of combining beer and marshmallows seems like a waste of beer and marshmallows.

If you don’t have a handy campfire, here are a couple of apartment-friendly marshmallow recipes.

The Standard Microwave S’More

If you don’t feel like toasting a marshmallow over a candle, you can enjoy a modern microwave s’more.

Layer up the ingredients (graham cracker, chocolate, marshmallow, more chocolate because why not) and pop in the microwave for 15 seconds. Scrunch it all together with one more graham cracker. Yum.

The Standard Microwave S’More Peanut Butter Variety

Many people (like your sister) believe that the only thing better than a s’more is a peanut butter infused s’more.

Layer up the ingredients (graham cracker, Reece’s Cup, marshmallow) and zap in the microzapper for 15 seconds. Top with another piece of graham cracker. Yum, yum.

If waiting 15 seconds is too long enjoy a Reece’s Cup while you wait.

If (in the awful situation that) you don’t have a Reece’s Cup, slather pb straight from the jar onto the graham cracker. Also good as breakfast on the go.

Marshmallow Finger Taffy (no microwave required)

When I was a wee thing, we sometimes took a marshmallows and pulled them into taffy. Why? Because it was fun, and the result tasted somehow different from regular marshmallows. Also it was messy, and isn’t that half the point of toasting marshmallows?

Take a marshmallow and squish it a couple of times between your fingers. The proper technique is to use the thumb and forefinger of both hands to then pull the marshmallow until it is taffy. You’ll just know. Enjoy. Spend the next hour getting the rest of the taffy off your fingers. Enjoy that too.

Happy Toasted Marshmallow Day, kiddo.

Love, Mom