The Girl Scouts recently added a locavore badge that girls can earn, and Grist joked that it was earned by "the cookies that your neighbor's kid sells." Yep, it's that time again. Girl Scout cookie time. As I learned when I posted recipes for Girl Scout Cookie clones, just the mention of Girl Scout cookies can elicit many responses — some positive, some negative and many stories of others' experiences in the scouting organization.

 

I got an earful about Girl Scout cookies from one of my best friends recently (who shall remain nameless — I wouldn't want any retribution from a rogue Girl Scout fanatic to fall on her or her daughter) about selling the cookies. Her daughter is in second grade; let's call her MM. The minimum amount MM needs to sell to earn her basic cookie badge is 26 boxes.

 

So MM and Mom went around the neighborhood taking orders (just like Mom did when she was a little girl) and sold 26 boxes. Mom was rather surprised to see that other girls, all in second grade, were able to sell hundreds of boxes — or rather their parents were able to sell hundreds of boxes at their workplace.

 

"That's not the way we play," said Mom. "If MM is going to earn something, she is going to earn it."

 

I'm with you, Mom.

 

I didn't think to ask Mom if her daughter had any success selling the newest cookie in the Girl Scouts' repertoire, the Savannah Smiles. These small, lemon-flavored cookies are dusted with powdered sugar. They were added this year to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts.

 

Girl Scout cookies are obviously not the healthiest choice around, but at the beginning of each new year, it's hard to avoid them. I actually did successfully avoid them last year, and I hope to again this year. (But it also wouldn't surprise me if my seventh-grader, who now has his own disposable income, brought a box or two of Thin Mints into the house.)

 

Have you had the opportunity to try the new Savannah Smiles? Thoughts? Do you look forward to indulging in a box of Girl Scout cookies each year or do you avoid the cookies (and the little girls who sell them outside the grocery store) as best you can?