It's Girl Scout Cookie Time!

It's that time of year again! Girls dressed in their Brownie and Junior uniforms, standing out in the freezing cold in front of the local grocery stores with their smiling faces, "Would you like to buy some Girl Scout Cookies?" Your initial thought is "I really can't afford it." But knowing that they are the most delicious cookies on the face of the earth, you buy 6 boxes (or more) anyway.

I did my fair share of cookie selling.  I remember specifically standing in front of the local Food Lion with my best friend and fellow Girl Scout, Claire Bolton, in the cool rain chanting "Girl Scout Cookies $2 a box" as customers entered the building.  (Yes, they were a lot cheaper then!)  I was enrolled in Girl Scouts in 1988 in Brownie Troop 632.  I later was bridged to Junior Troop 1415, both of which were in Council 364 Pines of Carolina.

I was proud of my award!

In 1988, I was the top cookie seller in Person County.  My mom taped multiple Girl Scout Cookie order forms to the windows of her mini van for a "little" advertising.  We would get stopped everywhere we went.  She carried quite a few boxes in the back, and whenever we got stopped, all she had to do was open the hatch, and sell, sell, sell.  I also did my part at cookie booths, selling to friends, family members, fire departments, and schools.  My grandmother took an order form to work for me and sold quite a few.  I sold 500+ boxes that year, and won a free week to Girl Scout Camp, along with a sleeping bag.  That same year I was also featured on the front page of The Courier=Times.  In 1989, I sold 600+ boxes, and once again was the top seller in the county. 

Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies

Yeah...you know, the ones that you used to get on your green-tinted, sectional lunch tray in high school??   Those are the ones!  The traditional Halloween meal that was served in our public school usually consisted of brunswick stew, your choice of a grilled cheese or peanut butter sandwich, and then there were THESE...

...peanut butter no-bake cookies...

 They just seemed to fit this meal perfectly. They were sooooo good!

 My husband and I love making these at Christmas time too, at a time when we tend to crave the comforting foods we had as kids. We each grab 2 spoons and stand on opposite sides of the counter, piling up heaping teaspoons of warm, chocolaty, nutty, and just plain yummy cookies.  It somehow brightens our spirits during this magical, yet stressful time of year. 

Molasses Cookies

Charles, my beloved husband, kept saying to me, "You keep promising me you are going to make those, but you never do."  So I finally did.  I looked for recipes for molasses cookies, similar to the ones that I remember making in culinary school.  I remember being proud of myself, capable of producing these wonderful treats from scratch.  

Thick & cakey batch

And now I get to share them with my hubby. He took a bunch to work for their Thanksgiving feast, and I made a separate batch to take to our traditional Thanksgiving family meal. Both batches came out a little bit different.  One was flat and crunchy, and the other was thick, soft, and cakey.  Both were very tasty.  The difference very well could have been the temperature of the butter before it was put into the mixture, or the amount of time the mixer ran at each stage of mixing.