It's Girl Scout Cookie Time

Bring on the milk! It's that time of year again... it's Girl Scout Cookie® time. These yummy cookies have really become an American tradition and are gobbled up by kids and cookie lovers, alike. So, sit back and grab a cookie and read on. You may just learn something new.

~ The #1 selling Girl Scout Cookie® is... (drum roll please) the Thin Mint. Samoas® are a close second.

~ It is documented that the first Girl Scout Cookie® sale was conducted in December 1917, in the town of Muskogee OK. Cookies were sold in the high school cafeteria, as part of a Girl Scout service project. (This was five years after Juliette Gordon Low founded Girl Scouting, in the U.S.)

~ In 1922, a cookie recipe was published in the official Girl Scout magazine, 'American Girl'. Florence Neil provided the recipe, which was distributed to over 2,000 girls. She estimated the cost to bake 6-7 dozen of these cookies, at roughly twenty-six to thirty-six cents. She went on to suggest that troops could re-sell these same cookies, for up to thirty cents a dozen.

~Yes, they are great just out of the box. But, when you feel the creative urge to bake, try one of the many recipes provided by ABC/Interbake Foods. YUM! (http://www.girlscoutcookiesabc.com/atc/recipes/default.asp)

~ It was during World War II that the Girl Scout calendar replaced the cookie, as a means to generate income. This was due to overwhelming shortages, of baking supplies.

~ In 1936, the Girl Scout Council licensed the first local baker to bake cookies, in bulk. By 1948, twenty-nine commercial bakers throughout the country were baking Girl Scout Cookies®.

~ For whatever reason, a Girl Scout troop can opt not to participate in cookies sales. But... come on! What Girl Scout doesn't want to sell cookies?

~ It's actually the licensed bakers who get the fun of submitting and choosing the variety of cookies that will be offered, each year. (Up to eight different cookies.) The national Girl Scout organization has the final vote.

~ Bakeries are allowed to name their own cookie creations. It is because of this that cookies may have different names, in different regions, in any given year. However thin mints, shortbread and peanut butter cookies are mandatory.

~ For safety reasons, Girl Scout Cookies® CANNOT be sold on the Internet.

Are you hungry yet? Ordering cookies is easy. Simply visit GirlScoutCookies.org (http://www.girlscoutcookies.org), to find the troop or council nearest you.