My family and I recently took some of our indoor life outside for a night of backyard tenting.

We pieced together our tent and stretched the poles to each their stakes as we aimed to stretch our summer, too.

Our hot summer nights were coming to a close, but we weren’t quite ready to close up our tent flaps just yet. Not when there were lonely idle fire pits to be brought alive, s’mores to be roasted, and starry night skies which we could Gogh and admire from far beneath.

And so while advertisements bursting with pumpkin-flavored everything taunt that there’s no more keeping mum that mums are, in fact, here, we’re headed for what’s really the pits – fire pits.

We pitched our two-person tent that’s since been proven to sleep four, in defiance to fall and regimented sleep schedules.

We set out to prove that sweet summer nights are good ‘til the last drop. Aside from our usual tenting fare, we decided to unearth an outdoor cooking gadget from our basement storage that’s laid dormant a summer season or two.

The pie iron.

We’d forgotten the variety of fresh goods that could be cooked straight over a campfire’s open flame. And as we were setting up shop outside, we were reminded of this useful cast iron tool when our 5-year-old inquired about a grilled cheese sandwich. Rather than grill one over the stovetop pre-tenting, my husband recalled that we had that heavy duty pie iron buried downstairs somewhere among 0-3 month onesies and Christmas lights.

We lay all sandwich fixings outside atop a small fireside table, making room among the Hershey bars and half-filled bags of jet-puffed marshmallows as the sun slowly sank deep within the trees behind us.

My husband fixed our sandwiches, placed them in the pie irons, and tucked them among the kindling to cook up our dinners.

The results were scrumptious, melt-in-your-mouth sandwiches. Perfectly toasted on the outside, divinely gooey cheese and hot ham fixings on the inside. We’d forgotten this simple pleasure, such a carefree way to cook up a camp mini-feast.

We’d used the cast iron dish before to make mini-dessert pies with apple pie or s’more filling, and we knew there were still endless other creations to try.

The official pie iron website boasts easy recipes for everything from sloppy joes to cornbread to pizzas, and oh the possibilities in between!

Amplified by the combined noise of nature and singing kiddos around us during our tent-out, our roughing-it dining experience was more than just plain grilled cheese.

The atmosphere truly served as a vehicle for story-telling, shadow puppets, spying an occasional distant jet plane, jokes and cheesy smiles.

And far fewer than average dirty dishes. That alone is worth smiling about.

So next time you’re debating an easy, hot meal over an open flame with your family when camping outdoors, consider the pie iron.

It truly makes camp meals as easy as pie.

— Michelle Cote is the creative director of the Journal Tribune and a nationally-syndicated columnist. She enjoys cooking, baking, and living room dance-offs with her husband, two boys and a dog. She can be contacted at mcote@journaltribune.com.