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This is one sweet and salty combo that we'd never imagined.Stacey Leasca is an award-winning journalist with nearly two decades of newsroom experience. She is also the co-founder of Be a Travel Writer, an online course for the next generation of travel journalists. Longer days and shorter nights are finally here, and the warmer weather is creeping in. Yes, my winter-weary friends, summer is just around the corner. And with all the campfires we'll enjoy once we can actually sit outside, s'more season will have finally arrived. But this year, rather than biting into the traditional combination of marshmallow, Hershey's...

A family attempting to make s’mores in their backyard accidentally sparked several brush fires that burned hundreds of acres on Long Island, authorities said. An aerial view of a wildfire burning on Long Island on Saturday, March 8. NYS Department of Environmental ConservationAn investigation by Suffolk County Police Arson Section detectives determined that high winds spread embers from a Manorville backyard on Cozine Road after the family attempted to start a fire for s’mores, the agency announced Monday, March 10. “It’s believed strong winds spurred additional fires from embers leading to the brush fires,” Suffolk County Police said. Detectives are...

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) issued a state of emergency as several brush fires were reported as having broken out in Long Island on Saturday. In a post on X, Hochul revealed that the New York National Guard’s helicopters were “providing air support.” Hochul added that “multiple state agencies” were also assisting with on the ground efforts. “I am issuing a State of Emergency as Suffolk County fights brush fires in the Pine Barrens,” Hochul wrote, adding that she spoke with Suffolk County Executive Edward Romaine and “offered any necessary State resources.”

A massive fire broke out in New York’s Long Island in the United States, after which large plumes of smoke were seen rising into the air. On Saturday, New York Governor Kathey Hochul declared a state of emergency after the fire broke out. The fires have led to the closure of a section of Sunrise Highway, the New York Department of Transportation reported. According to a CNN report, the fire fighters in Suffolk County responded to at least three major brush fires on East End, County Executive Ed Romaine said. Later, the New York Department of Transportation said the fires...

Massive brush fires that raged across Long Island over the weekend may have been caused by someone trying to cook s’mores for breakfast. Residents in Center Moriches/Manorville tried to start a fire in their backyard around 9 a.m. Saturday to cook up the treat despite heavy winds, officials told ABC 7. The cardboard ignited and the flames spread to the backyard – and although the blaze was extinguished, embers sparked three other fires near Sunrise Highway, the outlet reported. The fires tore through the area through Sunday before they were knocked down by emergency responders from more than 90 fire...

Dec. 9 (UPI) -- A California highway was left in a sweet and sticky state after a truck fire caused the roadway to become covered in more than 30,000 pounds of melted chocolate. The California Highway Patrol said firefighters were summoned to the scene on westbound Interstate 580, near Grant Line Road in the Dublin area. Crews were able to extinguish the flames engulfing the truck, but firefighters soon discovered the vehicle's cargo -- 30,000-40,000 pounds of chocolate -- had melted and was spreading across the road. The resulting clean-up operation lasted for several hours. Initial investigations indicated the cause...

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...