Eat

It is Girl Scout Cookie time and I had been patiently awaiting my boxes for some time. Co-workers had been flaunting their boxes for weeks, it seems my resident Girl Scout was not quite on the ball.

Eventually, my four boxes did show on Sunday. Today is Wednesday and the Thank you Berry Much cookies (new to 2010) and Samoas are already demolished. I have since moved on to Thin Mints which thankfully have only a minor dent in them.

I am saving my personal favorite- the Trefoils for last. For those of you who do not know what the Trefoil is, it is also known as a shortbread cookie. I know it seems an unlikely choice, unpopular at the very least- only 9% of sales went to the Trefoil in 2005.

Most pick the flamboyant Samoa or the sophisticated Thin Mint. It may be that it is only myself and the over 75 crowd who appreciate the simple design and engineering that goes into the shortbread cookie, but I stand by my choice. That and every bite tastes like I am eating flaky, crispy butter.

I recommend that you re-visit the Trefoil in 2010 because it is time to get back to basics and simplify life.

What could be more uncomplicated than waiting four weeks for home delivery of a box of shortbread cookies from a delinquent pre-teen and then writing a check for $14 to pay for them?

The following facts were taken from an article by Teresa Wu:

1. Girl Scout cookie sales began in 1917 in Muskogee, Okla., when the Mistletoe troop began baking and selling cookies in its high school cafeteria as a service project.
2. In 1942, Girl Scouts sold calendars in lieu of cookies due to sugar, flour and butter shortages during World War II.
3. Cookie variety was limited to the Sandwich, Shortbread and Chocolate Mints in 1951 (now renamed the Peanut Butter Sandwich/Do-si-dos, Shortbread/Trefoils and Thin Mints, respectively).
4. Thin Mints are the biggest seller, making up 25 percent of all sales, followed by Samoas/Caramel deLites at 19 percent.
5. As of 2005, 71.5 percent of women in the U.S. Senate and 67.1 percent of women in the House of Representatives are Girl Scouts alumnae.
6. Jennifer Sharpe, age 15, of Dearborn, Mich., holds the record for most cookies ever sold, with 17,328 boxes in 2008. Of the $21,000 her troop raised to go on a 10-day tour of Europe, $14,000 was due to Sharpe.
7. Different types of cookies are sold in different regions at varying prices set by individual Girl Scout councils. And sometimes even the same cookies have different names.
8. For example, Do-Si-Dos, formerly called Gauchos, are also called Peanut Butter Sandwiches in other areas. Confusing, right? This is because there are two licensed bakers, ABC and Little Brownie, that get to propose and name the cookies that they bake.
9. About 200 million boxes are sold every cookie season; the Girl Scout cookie program has generated about $700 million per year since 1999.
10. New cookies pop up every once in awhile and are continued based on their success. 2010's newest addition is Thank U Berry Munch, described as "hearty cookies with real premium cranberries, sweetened with creamy, white fudge chips."