Growing up, every so often, Mom would pull out the sleeping bags, air out the pop-up tent, gather a book of matches and tell us it was time to go camping. Although the locations varied, two things were always certain: first, a variety of hijinks, shenanigans and snafus would ensue (I’m recalling a bear outside of our tent at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park when I was 13 or so, and a rather unfortunate bout of food poisoning that afflicted us all when I was around 7 or 8), and second, there would most definitely always, always be s’mores.

As summer approaches and the likelihood for camping adventures increases exponentially, I figured it was time to talk about marshmallows and, naturally, s’mores. The ideal vehicle for that holy trinity of chocolate, cookie and marshmallow, there’s surely a s’more to satisfy every palate. Today I’m sharing a recipe for homemade marshmallows naturally flavored three different ways. After flavoring the marshmallows, I’ll offer three variations for rendering them into the s’mores of your dreams.

Whether you dust off your own air mattress and pull out the portable stove or simply pop these babies in the toaster oven, one thing is certain — you’ll love them. And if some hijinks and shenanigans should occur (hopefully no snafus, though!), well then, just do as Mom, my brother and I did: Fire up another marshmallow, gaze up at the starry night sky and remember that tomorrow is another day, life is long and sugar is sweet. — Ashley English