So there we were, my brood and I, whooping it up around the bonfire last weekend. Everyone has a different love of the fire: some of them coat my big metal serving spoons with bug spray, lighting them as torches; others are content to make smoke sticks and draw their names in the air. Me, I'm all about the marshmallows.

I can't tell you how many beautiful hours I've wasted trying to get the elevation to proximity ratio in the balanced proportion that would allow me a golden singed puff instead of a flaming black hell-spawned meteorite. Anyhoo. Last weekend the kids brought out the usual bowl of goodies for the toasting: bananas and chocolate chips for the banana boats, caramels for the shuttem' uppers, and the standard graham/Hershey's for the s'mores. That's when I noticed the six-year-old still sporting a healthy Oreo mustache. Inspiration, thy name is Jake.

I booked into the house and grabbed what was left of the Oreos, all the while wondering: should the cookies replace the grahams? should the chocolate be left off? should the marshmallow be wedged in-between the chocolate cookies in an effort to bring meltiness to the "double stuff?" I knew it would be foolish to attempt all versions. And yet, I stand foolish . . . but aware.

It turned out that my personal best s'moreo was achieved like so: 

1. split your graham
2. on one half place the chocolate, on the other place the Oreo
3. toast your marshmallow with a caramel on the end of the stick (when you remove it, the caramel will sneak inside the shmallow.
4. remove the marshmallow/caramel onto the chocolate half of graham
5. cover with the Oreo half of graham.

Yeah. By law you need to Scooby that snack, which means a smoosh and a crunch to make it mouth-ready. And the ooziness of everything is just one-fifth of the reward. The extra crunch you get with the Oreo is a lovely balance to the ooze, and the "stuff" just adds a slight, back door creaminess.

Now if I could just deep-fry the whole mess and jam it on a stick, I'd be rich.