S'mores Brownies | If There's No Tomorrow

Remember when you were 17 and invincible? I do. Plus, I have children that are just on either side of that age. I'm also very sensitive and empathetic, which is probably why I cried my way through a good portion of If There's No Tomorrow, the latest YA novel by author Jennifer Armentrout. It touched me, to say the least.

Campfire Root Beer Floats

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of A&W®. The opinions and texts are all mine.

When I think summertime, it conjures up all sorts of happy memories of days spent outdoors in the swimming pool or at the lake and nights spent chasing fireflies or laughing around the firepit. We never took "fancy" vacations, instead we would pile into the car, arm-crank those windows down, and set out on roadtrips. We wound up anywhere from the fishing pond to a drive-in movie theater.

For us, summer was a time for the simple things and small indulgences like an impromptu trip to the beach or pulling up to the speaker of the root beer stand. These are all experiences that I try to replicate with my own kids now that I'm an adult. Instead of worrying about expensive trips and getting time off of work, my husband and I aim for easy solutions to keep the family entertained.

Boozy Raspberry Marshmallows (Chambord Marshmallows)

If you look very closely, you'll see a faint, dusty rose tinge to these marshmallows. That, my friends, is the boozy portion of this homemade marshmallows recipe. I've been meaning to try my hand at boozy marshmallows for a while now. I was aiming for a somewhat delicate flavor; maybe something a bit floral or perhaps fruity.  After a quick liquor cabinet inventory, Chambord was the winner.

Chambord is a beautiful reddish-purple raspberry liqueur, so at the thought of using it, visions of deep pink marshmallows danced in my head. Imagine my surprise when the color was beaten into submission. I watched as the whisk gradually worked in the molten sugar and erased all but a faint trace of color I'd imagined.

Homemade Graham Crackers

Homemade crackers taste so much better than storebought crackers. It's a fact. No matter how many times I make them, the level of goodness never ceases to amaze me. Not to mention, if you've never made crackers at home, it's so much easier than you may think.

Crackers are a popular snacking choice in my house. I won't claim to make all of the ones we eat from scratch. But, I try. I've tried many sort-of copycat kid-pleasers such as cheese crackers, club crackers, sociables, homemade goldfish crackers, and butter crackers. But the type that I make most often are more of the "pinkies up" varieties. The type that are seemingly more sophisticated (yet the kids still devour them). Crackers that fall into this category are usually thin and crisp, and often have seeds of some sort studded throughout, and sometimes they include yeast or sourdough, such as flaxseed and black pepper, olive oil and seed, or crunchy seeded crackers.

Raspberry-laced S'mores

So, I've kinda-sorta taken over Food Fanatic today. But for totally good reason! It's a twofer, complete with boozy, melty, raspberry liqueur-laced homemade marshmallows and the homemade graham crackers to go along with them! And you know as well as I do what marshmallows + graham crackers means, right?

Chocolate and fire are nearby!

In this instance, it's dark chocolate studded with little bits of raspberry, perfectly playing up the Chambord in the marshmallows. They're not just good S'mores, they're CRAZY GOOD S'MORES!

Wordless Wednesday: Fire Pit Cookin' - Corn on the Cob, Hotdogs, & S'mores

bonus "cool-cat" shot:

Moses wears his sunglasses at night...the future's so bright, he's gotta wear shades...