National Marshmallow Toasting Day

National Marshmallow Toasting Day is celebrated every year on August 30th. The creator and origin of this observance are unknown.

By now, most kids are back in school or soon will be. Summer is winding down and so are the summertime activities, so if you haven't toasted marshmallows yet this season, now is the day to squeeze it in before summer dwindles away.

There is a fine art to toasting marshmallows, well, not really. Build a fire, and if you're patient enough, wait for it to die down a little and create some nice coals. Find a long stick and slide a marshmallow or two onto it. Hold the marshmallows over the hot coals long enough on each side to turn the marshmallow a nice golden brown. It will be slightly crisp on the outside and warm and gooey on the inside. That, to me, is a perfect toasted marshmallow.

You can toast a marshmallow over the flame of a gas oven burner too. When I was younger, I would stick a marshmallow on a fork and toast it over the burner of our electric stove top. Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures, my sweet tooth was calling! Kids, don't do this unless an adult is standing right by your side.

Go here to read the history of marshmallows and to see how marshmallows are made.