Who Gets the Marshmallow?

This past weekend, I returned for the 20th time to the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. I've gone with various configurations of people over the years, but at this point the diehards of my circle who are still attending regularly are me, my sister, and one close friend. My niece and nephew are along for the ride.

The festival is held on a farm, and most attendees camp there all weekend. The first few years, it bothered me that we weren't allowed to have ground fires, though the rule makes sense because a) we're on somebody's farm and b) there are too many tents too close together. Now I've gotten used to eating cold food all weekend, but I always feel like on principle there should be smores when one is camping. So lately I've tried making smores bars or smores cupcakes to bring with me. Last year my friend and I both brought smores bars, so we had a contest. Mine were a little bit healthy, and hers were not, so she won. We were almost tied, though, until somebody who had voted for both decided to eat seconds of only hers!

This year we coordinated a little better, and we only had one kind of smores dish. It was also a little healthy, but still plenty chocolatey. And aesthetically pleasing:

 

And yummy ... if you're a grown-up. The chocolate layer is date-sweetened and doesn't have any sugar, so it's the sort of subtle flavor that tastes great if you're taking the time to savor it, but could be disappointing if you are expecting sugar, or if you are seven and a half.

My nephew only wanted to eat the marshmallows off the top of the pie, which we told him he couldn't do. At first this seemed like an obvious lesson in manners. Of course you don't get to just eat the marshmallows off the top and leave the rest of the pie! But when I thought a little more, I could see why he was frustrated. It's not as if I'd brought extra, standalone marshmallows, so basically I was putting marshmallows in front of him and saying he couldn't eat them unless he also ate a dessert he didn't like. No one has yet commented on my blog, but I'll put a question out there anyway. Should we have let him eat just one marshmallow off the top of the pie? Is that a rude thing to do?

On the last day of the festival there was one piece of pie left, and he'd been asking for more than a day if he could eat the marshmallow. So I told him if nobody ate the last piece by 4 pm, he could eat the marshmallow and we'd throw away the rest. A few minutes later, the wind blew by, and this happened:

 

Sadness!

So my sister bought her son some ice cream instead. He's probably over it, but I feel kind of bad. I guess if I were a mom I'd be practiced at saying no, but I'm just an auntie who doesn't see him very often, and he's a helpful and kind boy. (Who did get to eat cookies and ice cream, even if not pie, so maybe I shouldn't feel so bad.) I'm going to see him again this coming week, so I was thinking I'd buy him this pre-packaged smore that I like. There's a corner store near me that sells them, so I stopped there yesterday ... no smores. So I went to the website and looked up other stores that sell them. It listed my local health food store, a bit further from my house, but I went there today after work and ... no smores. There's one more place I might try tomorrow, but I may be stuck buying a marshmallow on a stick from the 7-Eleven. I'm sure it would be sugary, unhealthy, and familiar, just like he wanted.

Smores Pie

9" Graham cracker crust

filling

1 1/4 cups dates
1/2 cup cashews
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup cocoa powder

marshmallows for the top (lots of small ones are easier to deal with than big ones when slicing the pie)

Soak the dates and cashews for half an hour or more. Drain, but hold onto the water in case you need to add liquid to the filling. Put in a blender and blend until very smooth. Add just enough liquid to make it wet enough for the blender to handle it. Add the coconut oil, vanilla, and salt and blend again. Then add the cocoa powder and blend until mixed. It should be just thin enough to pour, but not liquid. Pour into the pie crust and smooth with a spatula. Sprinkle marshmallows evenly over the top so it is covered. Broil for just a few minutes, until starting to blacken. (In my kitchen, this is when the smoke detector goes off.)
I didn't try eating it warm, but I think it would be good either warm or slightly chilled.