Campfire cookin’ s’mores and more

By Celeste Edenloff | Alexandria Echo Press

If you have camped before, you’ve more than likely had a campfire. And if you’ve had a campfire, odds are you’ve toasted marshmallows for S’mores. But campfires can be used to make more than just S’mores.

And you don’t even need any pots and pans. There are other ways/methods of cooking over a campfire that include using aluminum foil, sticks or pie irons, which can be purchased in the camping section at your favorite outdoor store.

But first, here are some campfire cooking safety tips, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources: • Alway build the smallest campfire, building just what you need. • Please be careful when putting in, moving, stirring or taking food from a campfire as it will be hot. • Cook over coals, not the direct flame. Food can burn quickly over the flame. • Put your fire completely out when done.

Here are some recipes to try using the various methods.

Make sure to use heavy duty foil or double the sheets when cooking over a fire.

TOP TO BOTTOM: Belly-Busting Banana Boats can be made on a campfire using aluminum foil and are a chocolatey, banana gooey dessert for everyone.

Cast iron pie cookers are a great way to make sandwiches and pies in a camp fire.

Roasting sticks are a great way to cook hotdogs, marshmallows and other food items over a campfire. Shutterstock photos

You will need oranges and a brownie mix, preferably the kind that you only need to mix in water.

Cut the orange in half. If it won’t sit flat on the table, shave off the bottom until it does. Scoop out the orange pulp inside, making sure to eat it. Take two sheets of aluminum foil and wrap it around one-half of the orange, leaving the top open. Mix the brownie mix according to directions. Fill two-thirds of the orange up with prepared brownie mix. Place next to the coals in the campfire or on top of coals in a grill. Bake for 20 minutes or until the middle is done.

You will need bananas, chocolate chips and marshmallows. Do not take the peeling off of the banana. Make two rectangular slits on top of the banana. Then, cut one end and peel it back, making a flap. Scoop out the banana just below the flap and eat it. Put chocolate chips and marshmallows into the rectangular hole. Fold the flap back over the banana. Wrap in foil and set near warm coals for 5 minutes. Pull it off of the coals and let it cool. Just be careful, the banana boats will be hot. Unwrap the aluminum foil and enjoy the chocolate, banana gooey goodness.

Pie irons are a camping tool used to make stuffed sandwiches and desserts, especially pies.

You will need refrigerated pizza dough, canned pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, toppings such as precooked sausage or bacon, pepperoni, veggies chopped into small pieces (they will cook faster) and butter.

Butter the inside of the pie iron generously. Unroll pizza dough from the container, cut a piece of dough and spread it out inside one half of the pie iron, with an equal portion hanging over. You’ll fold the hanging portion back over the toppings before closing the pie iron. Spoon sauce evenly around the dough. Spread sauce on the overhanging flap of dough, too. Add your toppings. Now fold the overhanging flap of dough on top of the toppings. Pinch around the edge of the dough so a pocket is formed. Close the iron tightly and bake on each side for 5 minutes. Cook longer for a crispier crust.

Nothing says camp cooking more than roasting a marshmallow over the fire with an ol’ faithful roasting stick. But remember, do not cut any live tree to make your roasting stick.

You will need a large orange, egg, salt and pepper.

Cut a large orange in half and scrape out the fruit from both pieces. With a sharp knife, cut a small “x” on one orange half about 1/4 inch below the rim. Cut another “x” just below the opposite rim. Thread a roasting stick through the cuts so that the orange halves hang like a basket. While someone holds a half peel steady, crack a small egg into it. Grasp the end of the stick and hold the orange shell over low flames or embers of a campfire for about 10 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes and remove the orange from the stick. Add salt and pepper and enjoy your egg.

You will need hotdogs, cheese slices and refrigerated biscuit dough.

Spear hotdog onto roasting stick length-wise. Roll biscuit dough into a long rope-like structure. Wrap cheese around hotdog and secure with biscuit rope, pinching together at top and bottom so it stays on the hot dog and secures the cheese. Cook over indirect heat until hotdog is done, cheese is melted and biscuit is golden-brown.

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Email reporter Celeste Edenloff at cedenloff@echopress.com