Free Republic

On Friday, even the hosts of NBC’s Today had enough of Michelle Obama’s effort to micro-manage people’s food choices as they mocked the First Lady’s attempt to create a healthy version of s’mores. At the top of the 9 a.m. ET hour, co-host Willie Geist explained: “So the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, and the USDA have teamed up for this program called ChooseMyPlate.gov. It's an initiative proposing a makeover, for among other things, this classic campfire treat. So instead of graham crackers with chocolate and marshmallow, they propose graham crackers with, want-wa, strawberries and low-fat yogurt.”...

Pearls Before Swine is one of my favorite comic strips. While I normally read it for the daily laugh, today's strip did the immense public service of reminding me how silly our government can be:

Writer Jamilah Lemieux posted this pic to her feed yesterday of what she says was a “cute gift” from her friends at Planned Parenthood: A customized s’more kit with the Planned Parenthood logo on the marshmallow. Ummm … thank you? According to the graphic above, the company who made the s’more kit says it will donate $5 to Planned Parenthood for each “unique hash tagged photo” using #PPsmoresupport, but as of this post, there is only one photo for this hashtag and it’s the one we’ve posted above. Although we were able to find a few more pics on social...

It seems the U.S. Forest Service recently published a 700-word guide on how to safely roast marshmallows. (The publication was released in time for Aug.30, which was officially, I kid you not, “National Roasted Marshmallow Day.” Your tax dollars at work.) This comprehensive article suggests that a 10-foot buffer between children and a fire is a good rule of thumb. Roasting sticks should be at least 30 inches in length. (Do the math for how long a kid’s arm will have to be to roast marshmallows from 10 feet away with a 30-inch stick.) Oh, and don’t eat too many...

“This perfectly captures what is wrong with our government. Hard-earned tax dollars supporting bureaucrats who can’t pass up an opportunity to tell us how to live our lives,” [House Majority Leader, Kevin] McCarthy wrote. “For the things that government is supposed to do – like confront terrorist groups – we don’t have a strategy, but for things Americans are supposed to be able to do for themselves – like figuring out the best ingredients for s’mores – government bureaucrats have that figured out.”

The U.S. Forest Service celebrated National Roasted Marshmallow Day the only way a government agency knows how — by telling people how not to roast smores.“Never start a campfire when there are fire restrictions in place,” the jovial blog post says. “Be sure you are at least 15 feet from tent walls, trees or other flammable objects.” It also recommends keeping children at least 10 feet from the campfire, ensuring that they take no part in dangerous marshmallow melting.Once minors have been safely sequestered out of sight, “let’s get to the marshmallow basics. Use a roasting stick of at least...

The gooey three-part treat shows up in surprising spots.While the oven or stove top is the route we traditionally go to make colder foods hotter, there've been other heat-it-up candidates through the modern age: hot plates, microwave ovens, the fireplace, even running a packet of something under the hot water tap. (We've all tried it.) But the small, outdoor fire preceded all of these by eons. And that there's only one contemporary dish associated with the original stove seems unlikely, and yet it stands: the s'more. Yep yep: Hot dogs and beans and coffee in a vintage pot all have...