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![milky way melt smores on a plate, smores bars piled high on a plate, smore parfait overflowing with berries, candy and marshmallows in a metal stand, alongside a baseball in a glove, bat, hat trophy and rusty chain, all on sand in front of a wood fence milky way melt smores on a plate, smores bars piled high on a plate, smore parfait overflowing with berries, candy and marshmallows in a metal stand, alongside a baseball in a glove, bat, hat trophy and rusty chain, all on sand in front of a wood fence](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/benefits-discounts/members-only-access/info-2023/sandlot-dinner-and-a-movie/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_body1/container_body_cf/container_image/articlecontentfragment/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/members-only/member-benefits/2023/05/1140-sandlot-article-main.jpg)
Welcome to our Dinner and a Movie series, where we feature nostalgic essays on some of our favorite films from the '80s and '90s, and share recipes inspired from movie moments.
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“Hey, you wanna s’more?” asks Hamilton “Ham” Porter, a stout, freckled redhead.
“S’more what?” asks our young hero, shy bookworm Scotty Smalls.
“No, no. You wanna s’more?” Ham repeats, slowing the pronunciation and pointing to his display of burning candles, marshmallows, stacks of graham crackers and bars of chocolate. Nervously and innocently Smalls says, “I haven’t had anything yet, so how can I have more of nothing?”
“You’re killing me, Smalls!” Ham cries out, giving us an often-repeated phrase for expressing exasperation.
![the boys from the movie sandlot all gathered around and holding a stick while facing the camera, some wearing hats and most looking tough, with a border meant to look like a 1990s-television the boys from the movie sandlot all gathered around and holding a stick while facing the camera, some wearing hats and most looking tough, with a border meant to look like a 1990s-television](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/benefits-discounts/members-only-access/info-2023/sandlot-dinner-and-a-movie/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_body1/container_body_cf/body_one_cf_one/par6/articlecontentfragme/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.png/content/dam/aarp/members-only/member-benefits/2023/05/1140-sandlot-promo-tv-border.png)
It’s 1962, and Smalls, Ham and the rowdy boys of The Sandlot crew are hanging out in the clubhouse, eating s’mores and making memories. And Ham is only too happy to initiate Smalls into the wonders of the perennial summertime treat: “First, you take the graham. You stick the chocolate on the graham. Then you roast the mallow,” Ham patiently explains, placing a puffy ball of marshmallow on a reshaped wire coat hanger and heating it over candles. “When the mallow’s flaming, you stick it on the chocolate. Then you cover it with the other end. Then you scarf.” And scarf he does, though not before sharing a gooey, sweet bite with Smalls — who relishes not only the s’more, but the friendly sign of inclusion that proves even more fulfilling.
‘The Sandlot’ Recipes
Honor this 1996 baseball classic by making some s’mores:
And that’s the joy of The Sandlot. It’s a movie about baseball, but it’s also a movie about lasting friendships and coming-of-age.
This year marks 30 years since the film’s debut, and it still charms today. By far the most heartwarming theme is seeing shy newcomer Smalls, who acts like a foreign exchange student in the land of American boys. He knows nothing about baseball — the neighborhood’s chosen sport — but he’s adopted into the group because he’s the needed ninth mitt-holder to fill out a team. He successfully catches a ball and that cinches it — he’s in. And there’s nothing better than acceptance, especially at this critical time in a person’s life.
The movie shows the boys are growing up in subtle ways, facing new and old challenges and learning what they’re made of. And somehow they squeeze a lifetime of adventure into one summer.
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