[mofromcheboygankalamazoo]

Originally Posted by MICoastieMom

One thing you did not mention in conjunction with bonfires is roating hotdogs and eating s'mores. I think Dearborn Brand are the best Michigan-made hot dog, and hands down, Campfire marshmallows the absolute best commercial marshmallow. Have you ever made gourmet s'mores? Try using cinnamon grahams with the chocolate bar and marshmallow for a Mexican flavor, or substitute mint flavored chocolate- tastes just like a grasshopper (when I can't find mint chocolate, I use an actually mint leaf from my garden).

Now you definitely need to stop in SE Michign. I want to go on this vacation, too! LOL You are going to have so much fun. I hope you will share some of the highlights with us.

Man!!! I LOVE cooking anything over a bonfire!!!! Now I have never tried gourmet s'mores-i've used cinnamon grahams (my requirement) but never mint chocolate-that sounds AMAZING!!!! I will def. have to try that- I always put the chocolate on the graham while i am roasting the marshmallow and set it on the brick or rock (whatever surrounds the fire pit) to let the chocolate pre-melt not all the way though

have you ever made a banana boat?
take a whole banana, slice it down the middle but keep the peel on and don't go all the way through the peel, stuff the open part with pieces of chocolate and marshmallow then hold it closed and wrap it really well with aluminum foil....pick a spot in your bonfire to put the wrapped banana in and leave it there for around five minutes-use some tools to take it out then open it up and eat with a spoon....yummmmm


I would love to take everyone up north with me! You have no idea how many people out east i have told are welcome to come to cheboygan-people don't think i am serious, but i am!!! i want to share what michigan has with EVERYONE!!!!

I know sing-alongs sound cheesy, but when you are singing rock music and folk music with acoustic guitars-and they are songs everyone knows that is the best when you are sitting around a bonfire-i really cannot wait!!!!!

of course i'll come back and write about it not while i'm there though! my mom has dial-up!

[mofromcheboygankalamazoo]

just found something else to look forward to!

* if we have time then we'll go see the youth theatre production at the famous Cheboygan Opera House Cheboygan Tribune

The Cheboygan Opera House

jeff daniels recently performed there he is a great michiganian!

[mofromcheboygankalamazoo]

someone in another thread made me think of another thing!!!!

* I'm looking forward to the longest days of the year in Michigan. It does not get dark until 10-10:30 whereas here it gets dark much earlier due to our lattitude!! i LOVE long summer days in MI

[momof11]

try a chocolate chip cookie smore! Get the cheapest choco chip cookies in the store. Pop a roasted marshmallow in between 2 cookies, you don't even need the chocolate bar.

[mofromcheboygankalamazoo]

Originally Posted by momof11

try a chocolate chip cookie smore! Get the cheapest choco chip cookies in the store. Pop a roasted marshmallow in between 2 cookies, you don't even need the chocolate bar.

Yumm!! we should have a whole thread devoted to treats to roast or make over an open fire

my friends and family are going to think i'm crazy when i show up at a bonfire with cookies, different kinds of graham crackers, and different kinds of chocolate...either that or they are going to love me!!!

[Iggs]

Mofromcheboygankalamazoo- Your post was SO refreshing! I was born and raised in the Great state of MI but moved away (Chicago)after college. I always look so forward to spending time at my parents in MW MI. I love that my daughter loves the lake as much as I did and doesn't care whether is freezing or warm. I love breezy nights. There is nothing like a MI sunset (while enjoying that Bell's : ) My husband ( a Chicago boy) had never seen lakes so clean in his life. I can't wait for a pie from The Cherry Hut and some Blue Moon ice cream!!!!!!

[MICoastieMom]

Mofromcheybogankalamazoo-

Don't forget Hobo Stew: Hamburger pattie, diced onion and celery, chopped potato and chopped carrots, salt, pepper, all rolled up in foil and cooked over hot coals. I like to add chopped rutabaga as well. Roasting sweetens it and it brings out all the bottom notes in the flavors, but it is hard to find as the end of summer. DH, who had never eaten hobo stew until we got married, loves it so much that we make it all year round, either in the grill or in the oven.

Speaking of rutagaba, don't forget pasties! And please inform your friend that pasty is pronounced with a short "a" sound. Pasty with a long "a" is what strippers used to cover their....... uh-hms! LOL

[mofromcheboygankalamazoo]

Originally Posted by Iggs

Mofromcheboygankalamazoo- Your post was SO refreshing! I was born and raised in the Great state of MI but moved away (Chicago)after college. I always look so forward to spending time at my parents in MW MI. I love that my daughter loves the lake as much as I did and doesn't care whether is freezing or warm. I love breezy nights. There is nothing like a MI sunset (while enjoying that Bell's : ) My husband ( a Chicago boy) had never seen lakes so clean in his life. I can't wait for a pie from The Cherry Hut and some Blue Moon ice cream!!!!!!

thanks for sharing Iggs!!!
the great lakes (whether michigan, huron or superior) are refreshing on a hot michigan day-that is great you get to share it with your daughter-i look forward to the day i have children i can share michigan with!!!

OMG!!! i just realized that blue moon is a strictly upper midwest ice cream...a few weeks ago i was asking my boyfriend if he ate it as a kid (like i did ALL the time) and he had no idea what i was talking about-it all makes sense now (i thought that maybe his childhood was just lacking..hehehe)

keep sharing

[mofromcheboygankalamazoo]

Originally Posted by MICoastieMom

Mofromcheybogankalamazoo-

Don't forget Hobo Stew: Hamburger pattie, diced onion and celery, chopped potato and chopped carrots, salt, pepper, all rolled up in foil and cooked over hot coals. I like to add chopped rutabaga as well. Roasting sweetens it and it brings out all the bottom notes in the flavors, but it is hard to find as the end of summer. DH, who had never eaten hobo stew until we got married, loves it so much that we make it all year round, either in the grill or in the oven.

Speaking of rutagaba, don't forget pasties! And please inform your friend that pasty is pronounced with a short "a" sound. Pasty with a long "a" is what strippers used to cover their....... uh-hms! LOL

mmmm i love hobo stew-and taht is exactly how i make it (although never tried rutabaga in it!) some people i know make it differently but i like this way the best

Pasties-the UP way (i've been to cornwall, england and had cornish pasties tot) when i was little and we'd drive through the UP to wisconsin all the time (where my mom is from) and i used to talk about all the Pastie shops but as a kid i said Paaastie long a...hehe i think my mom after trying to correct me informed me when i was younger what a pasty was...hehehehe i never said it like that again!!!

[Iggs]

Ha ha! I cracked up at the pasties comment. I went to college in da UP and had never even heard of one til I lived there. People use to butcher the pronunciation which was always good for a laugh. People in Chicagoland/NWIndiana have NO idea what Blue Moon ice cream is. They always assciate it w/ the beer...which is also tasty, I might add. I love MI lakes.....Crystal, Torch, Glen ect.... Too many to mention.