Catchy Smore Song Video

I recently bookmarked a video on YouTube- it’s a very catchy song about the GREATEST campfire food in the world- S’mores! It’s sung by Buck Howdy (Buck Howdy was recently awarded the 2010 Grammy Award for the Best Spoken Word Music Album for Children) and you can watch the video by clicking here- S’more Song Video.  If you like S’mores you’ll like this song!

My daughter and her friend made me a fire pit for my birthday this summer and we have tried a lot of S’more variations this summer. After a season of experimenting, I can honestly report that the best S’mores are the “Good Old Original” S’mores we’ve all been making for years- marshmallow, chocolate bar, graham crackers and a nice hot fire. Oh, and don’t forget friends and family because S’mores just aren’t any fun to eat if you are sitting by a campfire all alone.

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I do have just one question about S’more ingredients- where did all the marshmallow varieties come from? Have you tasted chocolate and vanilla swirl marshmallows (my son, Nic’s favorite) or the caramel and vanilla swirl cousin to chocolate swirl? I bought a bag of strawberry flavored marshmallows last month which my daughter says are, “fine” and the toasted coconut marshmallows have became a favorite of our friends, the Andersons.

Uncle Steven prefers Minty Indoor S’mores to campfire S’mores. Indoor S’mores are easy to make and you don’t need to build a campfire to make them. Uncle Steven likes to use mint chocolate chips when making Indoor S’mores, but if you can’t find mint chips just use regular chips (semi-sweet or milk) and add a few drops of mint extract.

You’ll find some of our favorite S’more recipes and variations below but if you’re looking for S’more mouthwatering fun, be sure and watch the S’more song from Buck Howdy on YouTube.  S’more Song Video

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Good Old Original S’mores

Hershey’s chocolate bar

Marshmallows

Graham crackers

Place half of a milk Chocolate bar onto a graham cracker half. Carefully toast a marshmallow over a grill or campfire. After the marshmallow is toasted a nice golden brown, place it on top of the chocolate bar half. Sandwich it with a second cracker half and gently press it together.

Try these variations- Substitute Andes Mints (Aunt
Mo’s favorite), white chocolate bar, peanut butter cups or crunch bar for the chocolate bar. We’ve also used cinnamon graham crackers and chocolate covered graham cookies.

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Tin Foil Pocket S’mores

Chocolate bar

Marshmallows

Graham crackers

Aluminum foil

Sandwich marshmallow and chocolate between 2 graham crackers. Wrap in tinfoil. Place on top of fire and let it melt together.

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Cookie S’more

1 package chocolate covered graham or fudge striped cookies

1 package large marshmallows

Roast marshmallow over the campfire on a stick. When marshmallow is done, place it between the two cookies and it’s ready to eat. Although not my favorite S’more variation, Cookie S’mores are great when you are on a tight budget and don’t want to spend the money for chocolate bars.

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Microwave Oven S’mores

1 graham cracker split in half

1 large marshmallow

4 sections chocolate bar

Assemble the S’more in this order: one graham cracker half, chocolate bar, marshmallow, and then top with the second graham cracker half. Place into a microwavable dish. Microwave for about 45 seconds, depending on your individual microwave oven.

Minty Indoor S’mores   

8 cups graham cracker cereal- I use Malt O Meal brand cereal

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6 cups (10-ounce bag) miniature marshmallows – divided

1 bag mint chocolate chips

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5 tablespoons butter or margarine

1/4 cup light corn syrup, (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  1. Grease 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Pour cereal into large bowl.
  2. Heat 5 cups marshmallows, morsels, butter and corn syrup in medium, heavy-duty saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla extract.
  3. Pour marshmallow mixture over cereal; stir until well coated. Stir in remaining marshmallows. Press mixture into prepared pan. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Cut into 24 bars.

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Microwave Method: Microwave 5 cups marshmallows, chips, butter and corn syrup in large, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH power for 2 to 3 1/2 minutes, stirring every minute, until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract. Pour marshmallow mixture over cereal; stir until well coated. Stir in remaining marshmallows. Press mixture into prepared pan. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Cut into 24 bars.

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When it comes to S’mores- everyone wants s’more!

Aunt MO

Musical Round Songs for Your Family Reunion

Family Reunion Helper

I love singing songs around the campfire and I’ve done it at family reunions, girls camps, scout camps and at workshops. There are so many fun and traditional songs that can be sung around a fire, but my favorite songs are rounds.

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This is how a round works. The first group begins singing the song. The second group waits and begins singing the first phrase of the song just as the pervious group starts to sing the second phrase of the song. Each group continues singing the song from start to finish. The song ends with the group who started last singing the last phrase of the song alone. It is very common to have three or four groups all singing the same round.

To be successful at singing rounds in a large group setting you have to start with a simple song to warm everyone up. A good example of a simple round song that everyone probably already knows how to sing is “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.

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If your group masters “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” challenge them with the “Sophisticated Row Row Row Your Boat” song. Be sure and make copies of the words or a large sign so that singers don’t get hung up on the lyrics.

Propel Propel Propel your craft
Placidly over the liquid solution
ecstatically ecstatically ecstatically ecstatically
existence is merely an illusion.

Other easy rounds are “Are You Sleeping” and “Kookaburra”

Kookaburra (new version)

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Eating all the gum drops he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!
Leave some there for me

Silly Version

Kookaburra sits on the electric wire,
Jumping up and down, with his pants on fire.
Ouch, Kookaburra, ouch! Kookaburra,
Hot your tail must be!

The most fail proof way I’ve found to get family reunion groups singing rounds accurately is to be sure there is a strong singer in each group that can help lead their group. You may even want to give your leaders copies of the songs you would like to sing in a round before your reunion so they can become familiar with the music.

Once you have warmed everyone up you can move on to more challenging songs. I have found that adults and children love round singing because they can make a beautiful sound without being too talented musically. There are several songs, when sung in a round, which bring out the most beautiful harmonies.

Oh, How Lovely is the Evening

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There are a couple of songs that have actions that go along with the words to the song. “A Ram Sam Sam” is fun sing with actions and looks pretty impressive- especially if you’re the one standing in front of the group watching.

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What if your family is an advanced group of round singers? Try this wonderful song that is a bit more complicated and then check out the following round/cannon resources. http://roundz.tripod.com/ or “Rounds for Children” from http://sheetmusicplus.com

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Be sure and see the fun new family reunion games and family reunion planning helps at www.famillyreunionhelper.com/ 

Aunt MO

“The only thing better than singing, is more singing.”

My Top Ten Family Reunion Songs

I have a favorite family reunion song- it’s upbeat and fun and you feel good when you listen to it and even better when you sing it. It’s a little known song, you haven’t heard it on the radio and it’s never been on the top of the charts but it’s my favorite and I think that when you hear it you’ll like it too.

clip_image002[5]I spent a lot of time looking for my favorite family reunion song, I’ve searched the net and I’ve visited hundreds of family web pages. I found that the most used song on these family web pages is “Family Reunion” by the O’Jays”. I like the lyrics that say, “It’s so nice to see, all the folks you love together”. Not a bad song, really, the song’s only problem is that it is over used and, for my liking,  the tempo is a little slow.

There are some great family reunion songs that are regional in nature such as “Sweet Home Alabama” which would be a great reunion song if you roots were in Alabama or if Texas were your home state, “God Blessed Texas”, or "Louisiana Saturday Night" by Alabama. But you really need to be from one of those places to choose it as your favorite family reunion song.

My list of family reunion songs is quite an eclectic list, songs from many different genres. I think that a reunion song should be upbeat and fun and should make you feel good and if it meets that criterion, I don’t care who sings it or if it is considered country, rock or spiritual in nature.

Let’s start my list with a song that probably couldn’t be classified as “family reunion” music but it has a great tempo and some fun lyrics and to be perfectly honest, is just a guilty pleasure of mine. “The Boys Are Back in Town” is my number 10 choice. My number 9 choice is another fun song- one that you can use to get your “party started” but most people probably don’t think of it as a family reunion song.

Songs numbers two through eight can be considered more traditional family reunion songs and although they didn’t come immediately to my mind, seem to naturally belong on the list.

Song number one is in a class of it’s own but I want you to discover it for yourself. So read on, and when you get to song number one, prepare to be surprised.

 

#10 Boys Are Back In Town- Bruce Springstein

#9 Get the Party Started- Pink I’m comin’ up
So you better
Get this party started

#8 “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” – Bon Jovi & Sugarland Who says you can’t go home
theres only one place they call you one of their own
Just a hometown boy born a rolling stone
who says you cant go home

#7 Lights of My Hometown- Aaron Lines Don’t know how long I’ve been gone, All I know is it’s been too long

#6 Something To Be Proud Of- Montgomery Gentry That’s something to be proud of
That’s a life you can hang your hat on
That’s a chin held high as the tears fall down
A gut sucked in, a chest stuck out
Like a small town flag a-flyin’
Or a newborn baby cryin’
In the arms of the woman that you love
That’s something to be proud of

#5 Family Reunion- O’Jays It’s so nice to see, All the folks you love together

#4 Home- Chris Daughtry So I’m going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.

#3 These Are My People- Rodney Adkins These are my people
This is where I come from
Were givin’ this life everything we got and then some
It ain’t always pretty
But its real
It’s the way we were made
clip_image004[5]Wouldn’t have it any other way
These are my people

#2 We Are Family- Sister Sledge

All of the people around us they say
Can they be that close
Just let me state for the record
We’re giving love in a family dose

The above songs be downloaded for 99 cents at http://family-reunion-planner.fimark.net/family-reunion-songs.html

And now for MY number one family reunion song-

#1 Family Reunion- Plank Road Publishing

From the hills of California from the shores of Maine

We all come together with the same last name.

It’s our family reunion!

So many aunts and uncles

I’ll have to count again

And all these crazy cousins

I can’t believe we’re kin!

The lyrics are great but don’t mean as much until you put the fun music behind them. You can listen to this song at http://www.familyreunionhelper.com and you can download it http://www.mootoobmoosic.com

Our family has had a lot of fun with the reunion song. One year we assigned a few people from each family group to learn the song and then sing it at our family reunion. Many of the performers dressed up in Hill Billy attire and sang it with a twang. It was the highlight of the reunion and soon everyone at the reunion was singing along. It’s easy to learn and easy to sing but if you’re looking for a serious family reunion song this is not it.

“Family Reunion” is upbeat and fun but no one is going to get tears in their eyes when they listen to it- unless they’re tears of laughter!

Aunt MO

The house fly hums in the middle octave key of F.

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