The Crucial Life Skill You’ll Learn From Making S’mores

I have a weakness for good desserts, and there’s something about sitting around a firepit that makes me want to roast marshmallows and eat s’mores.

S’mores are a classic campfire treat that can be perfection when you get it right: the warm marshmallow melts the chocolate and combines with it to create a gooey filling anchored by the sturdy crackers.

But when you don’t quite get it right, the ingredients don’t blend together and the sandwich can be dry and crumbly.

The success of a s’mores hinges on the marshmallow.

The key to a perfectly roasted marshmallow for s’mores is “low and slow.”

Hold the marshmallow over the embers — not the full flames — and slowly rotate it while it heats up so that it cooks evenly from the inside out.

When it gets that golden color and looks like it’s about to fall off the roasting stick, that’s your cue to assemble your s’mores.

If you try to rush the process by sticking the marshmallow into the flames, you’ll burn the outside while the inside stays cold and the chocolate won’t melt.

I tried to explain this to my 10-year-old nephew as we sat around the fire pit. He kept sticking the marshmallows into the flames to burn them.

By his own admission, he struggles with patience — the crucial skill for this task.

That’s ok — he’s ten. And he’s well-conditioned by a culture where instant gratification is the norm.

In the area where we live, it’s typical for Amazon to be delivered the next day — sometimes even same day.

Speed rarely translates to quality.
Nature has its own timeline.

The world he was born into is a world where you don’t have to wait a week for the next episode of your favorite show to air. Everything is instant.

Even adults who grew up without instant gratification have forgotten what it’s like to have to wait. We want what we want when we want it.

The problem is that speed rarely translates to quality. Nature has its own timeline.

Patience isn’t just a “virtue.” It’s a necessary life skill that makes for better results — no matter what you’re making.