Summer food

I don’t have one particular favourite food, lots of things taste so good, but I really enjoy cooking over a fire. Especially in the summer. My family and I eat outside and enjoy our meal under the setting sun.

Everyone roasts hotdogs and smokies(a kind of sausage) over the flames. Once they are crispy we put them in buns and slather them with condiments. The ketchup is a favourite and always well used. With a side of caesar salad on our plates our meal is complete.

For dessert we have s’mores! With the crunchy graham cracker, the melted chocolate and gooey marshmallows what’s not to like? You are guaranteed a mess, especially if you use the jumbo marshmallows, but it’s so much fun to watch others try to eat them cleanly. They never succeed. Having a s’more yourself is always worth the sticky face and fingers. The three ingredients are an amazing combo and melt in your bazoo. It’s like having a party in your mouth.

Another great thing about this meal is that you don’t need to be a gourmet chef to make it. All you do is take the hotdogs right from the package, jab them on the point of a stick and make sure they don't turn to charcoal.(Unless you like it that way.) Same thing goes with the s’mores. Wrap the ingredients in tin foil and check in on them so they don’t burn. Really there isn’t much labour involved in making these provisions. Go to the store, buy the things you want and warm them up. I suppose you could use a stove, but it’s so much better cooking it over a fire, it adds a certain flavour that makes it so scrumptious. Roasting hotdogs are my favourite way of making them.

It also smells way more appealing using the fire. Food particles enter my nose as it sizzles over the flame and the smoky scent of the fire mixed with the fresh air, is intoxicating and makes you drool a little.

You can also set up anywhere that doesn’t have a fire ban. On a sandy beach, in the green forest or even in the comforts of your own backyard. Wherever you choose is perfect because it doesn’t affect the taste, it just sets the mood.

This campfire cookout can last for hours, even into the night. It’s magical if the sky is clear. One glance up and you can see a million shining stars against a ginormous wall of black. It sets the tone along with the warm, fiery flame you're sitting by, and having a full, happy belly makes it complete. Once I even saw a shooting star with my dad. I don’t remember if I made a wish, but I remember how the moment was as perfect as perfect could be. It was so cool! I know I will remember that forever because it was pure magic.

I know that hotdogs and s’mores are a little simple but it’s still special and delicious. Everyone sits together cooking their own food while they chat and with my little sisters around we often start laughing hysterically.

I believe that food always tastes better over the fire, but maybe it’s just the atmosphere we create that makes it taste so good. The smiles on everyone’s faces makes you feel warm. I gladly listen to all the jokes and stories my family tell about their week. You can feel the love and let your worries melt away. You enter a bubble separate from reality where everything feels like it’s going to be ok. Another thing about this bubble is that everything inside of it happens to taste completely heavenly.

It’s like they say, love is the secret ingredient.