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In my old place we had a fireplace and we also talked about it, but never got around to it... we even bought roasting sticks. I wish we would have tried.

While touring Shelbourne Village in Vermont years ago, the guide noticed our interest in one of the huge fireplaces there. She remarked that next to childbirth, death from burns sustained while cooking at the fireplace was the most common way for a woman to die - their long skirts and aprons - many times saturated here and there with cooking grease or oils - could be deadly. We were surprised to hear it, and it sure gave us a renewed appreciation for the difficulties life posed then.

...As well as an appreciation for the ease with which we cook today. Now using a fireplace to cook in is more entertainment, as such, instead of need. Even so, it is fun to cook that way, a perfect winter evening's diversion! Try baked apples, hot dogs on one of those iron rod things, or whatever you'd do in an open campfire - just don't wear a long greasy skirt!

I am writing this on my daughters account (I am a smallblondemom)--just so you don't get confused.
When I was kid one of my favorite things was when my parents would grill steaks over the fire in our fireplace. This was in the 1950's. We would make dip for chips which was a big deal. Clam dip made from cream cheese, horseradish, worchester sauce and canned clams (this was the 1950's remember). The stuff childhood dreams are made of!

Never.

We had a house when we were first married that had a cast iron wood burning stove/fireplace. I used to bring out the lodge dutch oven and make some things. Also cornbread in the cast iron skillet. Popcorn. Get a toast-tite. Cheese sandwiches.

My boyfirend has done hamburgers and sausages before, and once at a party we roasted marshmallows in the fireplace. Just, you know, because we could.

The only time we ever cooked in the fireplace was when I was a child and the electricity in our suburban Baltimore home was out during snowstorms. Us five kids considered it an adventure but I'm sure at the time my mom considered it a pain in the derriere. I remember her frying eggs, making toast and heating up milk for hot chocolate. We also crowded around the fireplace trying to keep warm. So like ride&cook this remains a fond childhood memory. Perhaps one that should never be duplicated.

When I was three or four, my parents invited some guests over for a rather debaucherous session of roasting hot dogs in the fireplace. After much pleading I was allowed to stay up past my bedtime to enjoy the grown-up festivities. For the occasion, I chose to wear my brand-new corduroy Oshkosh B'gosh overalls over my pajamas.
One by one, guests arrived and gathered by the fire. A few bottles of screw-top wine later, one of the adults decided that chili dogs were in order. Luckily, canned chili comes packaged in its own pot suitable for cooking in a fire. After all, why dirty a sauce pan when you could just put the unopened can of chili into the fireplace and wait for it to heat up enough to explode all over an unsuspecting, hot dog roasting four year old wearing his favorite corduroy overalls?
I remember inaudible, red-faced screams as my dad scooped me up and raced up the stairs followed by several concerned party-goers to douse me, clothing and all, in the kitchen sink.
He finally got me calmed down enough to convey that I wasn't hurt at all; in fact, I was screaming because the front of my beloved Oshkosh B'gosh's were completely covered in Hormel chili and now soaking in tepid tap water!
I was allowed to stay up a little while longer to calm down. As he toweled me off and changed me into clean, dry pajamas, my father assured me that we wouldn't have to throw away my overalls, and when we woke up in the morning, he would show me how our washer and dryer worked.

Please don't let this story deter you from enjoying a meal cooked over seasoned hardwood; to this day it's my favorite way to cook. But if you do decide on chili dogs, have the forethought to poke a hole in the top of the can!

Thanks for sharing fond memories & some helpful insight into what not to cook in your fireplace :) I'm almost hoping for another snow storm to set the stage for this fireplace meal! Especially like the pie idea.

I do it all the time when I visit my folks in Colorado. We usually do steaks, but have also done chickens, veggies, etc. We have one of these handy grills to put in your fireplace: http://www.surlatable.com/product/cookware/grills+%26+griddles/beach-side+grill.do?kwid=
Great tool that we have had for numerous years and continue to use.