It's Hot!: {Making S'mores}

According to the Official Tucson Visitor website, my lovely city boasts an average of 350 sunny days per year and generally averages 100+ degrees each day during the months of June and July!  This year is right on target, maybe even a touch warmer than average!  That being said, it is yet ANOTHER hot and sunny day here in Arizona.

While yesterday's cookies were somewhat extreme, I know for a fact it can be accomplished in cooler temperatures.  Back in my past life I did marketing for shopping malls and we had an event where a vendor proved the effectiveness of sunshades by trying to bake cookies in 2 cars - one with a shade and one without - the one without was successful.  This event was in Sioux Falls, SD and it was just an average summer day likely in the 80s.  It may have taken longer, but it was successful. 

Today we made s'mores using the heat of the car.  If you have ever accidentally left a candy bar on the seat of your car on a warm, sunny day - you know this works.  Chocolate can easily become soup.

We assembled our s'mores by taking 2 squares of graham cracker, a marshmallow and a square of chocolate.

I started by placing a marshmallow on, however I felt it was a bit tall. 

So I cut it in half which offered much better coverage and a more manageable s'more.

We then wrapped our treats loosely in a piece of tin foil.  The tin foil created an oven effect as well as helping to keep the gooey mess contained.

We placed the treats on a tray in the front seat of the car while we went to story time at our favorite used bookstore.  (If you ever visit Tucson, you MUST visit Bookman's Used Book Store - it is by far the BEST used book store in the USA - ask anyone who has ever lived here!  Nothing compares!)

We opened up our treats and snacked away!  Yummy!  Just make sure you have some wet-wipes as they are very messy.

Here's my insight...

*  These were very tasty however nothing compares to the lightly toasted marshmallow's from a bonfire.  There is definitely a missing element of toastiness that makes a s'more a s'more.  The marshmallows, while soft, were not as gooey as I like them.  That being said, it is a fun treat no matter how you put it.

*  Next time I want to try these with some of the flavored marshmallows.  I have some fun chocolate and vanilla swirl marshmallow which I think would be a fun touch.  The new flat stacker's marshmallows (flat squares that fit perfectly on a square graham cracker) would be great for this project.

*  I also would like to try these using a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup in place of the chocolate candy bar.  Mmmmm, how I love me a Reese's!

*  If you eat these on the go as we did, bring a big box of wet wipes as they are quite messy.

*  While ours sat in the car for over an hour, they really only need about 15 minutes to reach a proper melt on the chocolate. 

*  A car parked in the sun on any 75-80 degree plus day would be more than adequate for this project.  Just make sure that your tin-foil pouch is in direct sunlight as well.

I believe this is the end of our "projects in the car" as I am fresh out of unique ideas.  I was hoping to do a shrinky dink type project however the car was not warm enough for that one. 

Stop back this weekend as I have a few more {non-car related} entries in the It's Hot! Hot! Hot! Summer Series.