One of my Dad's traditions at the lake house is to build a campfire outside almost every night. My dad likes to eat popcorn around the fire, but when the grandkids visit, it's time to break out the good ol' traditional smores! After all, what kid can resist melted chocolate and gooey marshmallows smooshed between graham crackers?
For a change of pace for the kids' campfire sweet treats, one night my sister-in-law introduced us all to Hobo Pies. If you've never had a Hobo Pie, you're in for, well, something different from smores. :) First of all, to make a Hobo Pie over a campfire, you need an iron pie maker, available in camping departments. Then, you'll need bread and some fillings. In the tradition of "pie", my sister-in-law brought apple pie filling and cherry pie filling. First, we lined up all of our ingredients on our Lifetime picnic table so everyone could easily see the flavor choices available for Hobo Pies. Next, you simply butter two pieces of bread on the outside and put your filling on the inside, making a sandwich. Place the sandwich in your pie maker and place in the campfire for about 5 minutes. Be sure to flip your pie maker to get both pieces of bread toasted! 
Now let me warn you, Hobo Pies do NOT taste like Granny's apple pie or even a McDonald's hot apple pie. When you look at them, they look a bit like a grilled cheese sandwich, and they kind of taste like one too...with the exception of a fruit taste instead of a cheese taste, of course! I don't really like regular apple pie or even apple cobbler, so a Hobo Apple Pie didn't sound much better to me. But, on the inside of the pie maker box label there were other recipe ideas. It turns out you can use the pie maker to make just about any meal over a campfire...sandwiches, eggs, you name it. Anyway, there were several dessert suggestions, too, including some with chocolate! So, I improvised and whipped up my own favorite Hobo Pie creation:
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Hobo Pie
1. Spread peanut butter on each slice of bread
2. Place thin slices of banana on one slice of bread
3. Place 3 rows of Hershey Bar chocolate on top of banana
4. Put other slice of bread on top
5. Butter outsides of both pieces of bread
6. Place in pie maker and cook over fire about 5 minutes
Mmmmmmm. Now that was yummy! If you like marshmallows, I think a marshmallow in the middle of my creation would also be pretty good. If you're having a campfire cookout sometime this Fall, why not try something new and give Hobo Pies a try. Get creative and let me know your favorite concoction!