Spring is around the corner and that means it's Girl Scout cookie time! For the next few magical weeks I'll gorge myself on Samoas, Thin Mints and several others. I don't know any Girl Scouts personally so I don't preorder the cookies. I rely on sleuthing around to find some troop selling them in front of a store. Publix on the weekend is usually a good bet. In an emergency I cheat and go the local Girl Scout HQ on 8th ave and load up.
I'm glad that you can't just walk into Wal-Mart and buy them off the shelf. The challenge of finding them and their seasonal availability is a big part of what gets me pumped about the experience. It doesn't hurt that they are crack in cookie form. Samoas are my favorite. So rich with the carmel, toasted coconut and chocolate stripes. Next is the miracle that are Thin Mints.
The cookie money goes to fund girl scout activities obviously. I've always wondered how the Boy Scouts function without a similarly successful fund raiser. After some research I discovered that Boy Scouts sell popcorn. Popcorn? Are you kidding me? Now I realize that parents will buy whatever kids are forced to sell, but why hamstring these kids with a terrible product? The fact that I didn't even know they sold popcorn in the first place speaks volumes about the success of this program. When I was a cub scout I made my money in a much more sensible fashion. I went to a store that carried scout accessories, bought a bunch of merit badges and sold them to the rest of the troop so they wouldn't have to complete a bunch of tiresome activities like tying knots. Of course that resulted in me being expelled from the Cub Scouts and today I wouldn't last 5 minutes alone in the wilderness, but that's a story for another time.
The point is these Girl Scouts know what they're doing. They might not be able to give you back correct change without their parents help but it doesn't matter because they still have the game on lock. They're only like 8 years old but they see that crazed, strung out look in my eyes and realize that I'm a cookie fiend and they're my pusher.
Edy's makes awesome Girl Scout cookie flavored tie-in ice creams. I combine the Samoa and Thin Mint flavored ice cream in a bowl. Then I break up a handful Trefoils (the short bread GS cookies) and mix them in as well.
In my lifelong quest to concoct the ultimate cereal I crumbled several flavors of GS cookies and in a bowl and added milk. It was hardly a disaster, but the cookie bits either absorbed zero milk or become ultra soggy to the point of disintegration. So back to the drawing board on that.
Ok, so it's a couple weeks later since a started this blog entry. The GS cookie sales are winding down. I've eaten roughly 14 boxes. Someone from the headquarters is supposed to hook me up with any troops that have left over cookies. After that it will be over for another year. I know what your saying, just get Keebler Grasshopper Mint cookies or print off the Samoa recipe online. First off Grasshoppers are ok but they aren't in Thin Mints league. Secondly, bake my own Samoa cookies? We both know that's a recipe for disaster.
Until next time!
