It's Girl Scout cookie time!

Droves of Girl Scouts are descending upon the country selling those wonderful fresh cookies.

• Samoas. The Original. "The world's most deliciously different cookie." Tender vanilla cookies, covered with caramel on top and bottom, rolled in toasted coconut and striped with a rich, cocoa coating. Made exclusively for the Girl Scouts.
• Thin Mints. "A Girl Scout tradition." A thin wafer covered with smooth cocoa coating. EXTRA THIN, EXTRA CRISP! Made with natural peppermint.
• Do-si-dos. Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cremes. "Naturally Good!" Crisp 'n crunchy oatmeal cookies with creamy peanut butter filling. No artificial color. No artificial flavor.
• Tagalongs. Peanut Butter Patties. "Two great tastes in one!" Tasty cookies topped with creamy peanut butter and covered with a luscious chocolatey coating.
• Trefoils. "Lite and delicious." Short, tender, delicate tasting shortbread made with butter and eggs. Guaranteed to melt in your mouth.
• Aloha Chips. With Macadamia nuts. A distinctive and exotic taste that only chunky macadamia nuts and creamy white fudge chips can deliver. (These taste like souped up Trefoils - yum!)
• Olé Olé. New and reduced fat! The Little Cookies with the Big Taste! Bite-sized vanilla cookies with pecan chips, coconut, and covered in powdered sugar. These little cookies area fiesta of taste and fun!
• All Abouts. New! Cookies that Celebrate Girl Scouting! These beautifully designed shortbread cookies have a series of Girl Scout messages on top and a rich fudge coating on the bottom.

Why are the girls out selling the cookies? All of the money earned from the cookie sales stays in the local Girl Scout council that sponsored the sale, including a percentage that goes directly to the troop selling the cookies. Girl Scout councils use cookie sale proceeds to provide essential services to troops, groups, and individual girls, including program resources, adult training materials, communication support, and special events.

If you are a relative and you want to help your daughter/niece/cousin/granddaughter/etc. Girl Scout sell cookies, try these selling tips.

HOLD BOOTH SALES
Booth sales are a proven way to make up the difference between the number of packages sold to date and the number needed to reach your troop/group goals. Be sure to obtain permission before holding additional booth sales.
Having the girls hang out in front of Wal-mart opening up their trench coats accosting customers with Thin Mints might work, but having large eye-catching posters with the girls sitting and looking angelic is better.

TELEPHONE SALES
Call relatives, family friends, and last year's customers. Ask for referrals. If they decline to help, offer for Aunt Beulah to come over, bring her four sets of false teeth, and visit a while. (Aunt Beulah gets free cookies for this service.)

DOOR-TO-DOOR NEIGHBORHOOD SALES
Sell door-to-door when people are most likely to be home, and sell only in safe areas. Girls should always have adult supervision. Organize a Cookie Caravan. Hanging out in neighborhoods inhabited by gangs and political fundraising committees isn't safe.

GIFT OF CARING
Encourage customers to buy one extra package of cookies to be donated to a local charity of your troop/group's choice. No, the "Free the Enslaved Third Graders from Homework" trick won't work.

FAX ORDERS
Call local businesses and organizations and request permission to fax them an Order Card. Follow up later by phone to collect orders and set a delivery date. Having a fax is helpful before embarking on this type of marketing strategy. Attempting to insert rolls of toilet paper in the wall phone won't quite work.

COOKIES TO WORK
Girls who tag along with a family member to work can take their Order Card from office to office and ask workers to help their troop/group reach its goals. This only works if co-workers have kids themselves or if co-workers are suffering from chocolate or sweets withdrawal or live with someone who has these ailments. Other co-workers just want free food.

COOKIES BY MAIL
Create a mailing list of companies, and professional associations in your area. Make copies of the Order Card and mail them to each name on your list. If some girls have access to the Internet, suggest they use the E-mail system to contact relatives and friends quickly and ask for their orders. Remind girls to not sell to people outside your local Council's jurisdiction. This may cause other Councils to become angry and violent Girl Scout Gang Wars may break out.

Don't just buy one box! Buy a bunch! There are lots of things you can do with them.

• Freeze them for later.
• Use them for some new recipes! (Look below!)
• Give them as gifts.
• Tell yourself that they are the new food group and stack about four or five of them on your plate next to the mashed potatoes.
• Use them with peanut butter and/or marshmallow cream to make whimsical food art.
• Grind them up and use for potting soil.
• Did I mention giving them as gifts?
• Anoint yourself as the goodwill fairy and leave them in mailboxes throughout the neighborhood.
• Display cookies at work. 'Nuff said. Your co-workers eat anything, so this is a great opportunity!
• Store several of them in your bathroom to use as a diversionary tactic when you need some "space." This can also work for when you are on the telephone or at the computer.
• And there's always gift giving!

Now get out there and order some cookies!

If you have any suggestions that I missed, Contact Me!

Great links:

• The official Girl Scout website
• Epicurious Girl Scout Cookie Poll (with a link to a recipe page)
• Hot fudge Tagalong Cookie Sundae (Mmmmm)
• 16 Award-Winning Desserts Made With Girl Scout Cookies.
• 12 Clever Ways to Use Girl Scout Cookies.

Stay tuned for more SouthernAngel's fresh articles!