Shattered Dreams and Smores!

All I wanna do is get the hell outta dodge. Instead I have been part of a weekly gathering called Beachwatch 2009 (dont even think of calling this a staycation). This week was a complete washout with a friend getting doored, wave after wave of thunderstorms impending doom upon the beach, and then that same person getting a flat on the way home in the middle of a torrential down pour. Shattered Dreams! This is all part of the game, apparently, we gotta take the good with the bad. Theres been a lot of bad though. Dont get me wrong, I love going to a different Chicago beach every weekend with friends. But sometimes you wanna REALLY get away to a far away land where you dont have to fantasize yr somewhere else.

Camping is the perfect summer trip. I know I dont have to sell you on that notion. Leave the city and all the techie shit behind for nature and wilderness, exploring, sleeping under the stars, campfires, and ultimate fun times. Every summer I go on at least one camping trip. This year time is running out! So, just in case I dont make it to this magical place (see right), I decided to make the tasty treat reserved just for camping. Yep thats right, smores! This is the best combo after a ruff day of hiking, biking, swimming, and whatnots. Why wouldnt you wanna settle down to sticky, gooey, melty deliciousness?

For the city slicker smore, I opted to test out some new fancy products and make my own grahm crackers. First off, the grahm crackers are a vegan, gluten free recipe that I used to make at The Balanced Kitchen. Whether or not you are vegan or gluten free these grahms are the best! So flavorful and a great texture/crumb. They are definitely a favorite. The dark chocolate bar I used was the Art Bar with quinoa crisp. Ithaca Fine Chocolates is Fair Trade Certified and organic. The Art Bars are all soy free and vegan. Bitchin! This chocolate is divine. Do yourself a favor and go buy some today (and no i didnt get any money to say that or free goods). Finally, the gooey gooeyness...marshies. I have never been a lover of marshmellows. Have you heard the werd? Dandies. Chicago Soy Dairy has developed an air puffed vegan marshmellow, which is pretty awesome. What better way to test out these babies than by making smores?! Duh. The outer texture seems a little strange at first bite, but when heated into a smore or cooked into a rice crispie bar! etc. this all melts away. The gooeyness is in full effect which is key. The taste is marshmellowy, as well as I can remember. Its been awhile since Ive had a real one.

All that is next is to assemble and wrap neatly like a little present in foil. Stick in the fire or if yr stuck at home, be a cheater and put it in the oven. If you want to be fancy like me and make yr own grahms, do it! Its worth the effort. Or contact me and I can whip you up a batch post haste. Seriously, its no trouble. This is what I do. Look at this shit.... You cant fuckin mess with these fuckin results.
(anyone else currently watching Deadwood?)