Campfire cooking: The flames add flavor

The last time my Boy Scout troop went on a campout, we ate steak. I was startled. I was shocked. I didn’t know you could do that on a campout. Before that, most of our previous experiences around a campfire somehow involved Spam. We also had a memorable night in which we ate hamburgers with the ground beef stretched by adding bread, which our troop leader informed us was to add flavor.

Our troop leader’s name, incidentally, was Norman Bates. Despite sharing a name with the notorious psycho in “Psycho,” he was a nice guy. He was so nice, he bought steak for our last campout.

So perhaps my concept of eating around a campfire has been skewed. I always thought it meant Spam, with occasional sightings of hamburger and, on the rarest of occasions, steak.

But apparently things have changed in 50 years. Now, some people drive to a campsite in campers equipped with all the comforts of a four-star hotel.

TNS Savory S’mores, mushrooms with bacon and blue cheese, made on the grill.