Chapter Eleven: Who Runs the World?

On my honor I will try to serve God and my country, to help people at all times, and live by the Girl Scout Law.  -Girl Scout Promise

At this very moment, my daughter is at a Girl Scout meeting. This is her first year and she rocks the blue Daisy smock like a pro. It was a little selfish on my part because Husband and I hunt for Girl Scout cookies every year at this time… but no longer! We have an insider now, and as a result, ordered so many more boxes of cookies than we need. But it does need to be said that I am proud of her initiative and excitement about scouting. Especially coming of the International Woman's Day high, I see the need for this organization to promote confidence in women of all ages and teach all kinds of skills.

Ever since we found out we were having a girl I’ve been imagining joining Girl Scouts. I spent so many happy summers at Girl Scout camp, learning how to canoe and sail, baking cobbler in a solar oven, and spending a lot of time in the infirmary (my allergies and asthma would get  out of control at camp.) Girl Scouting is what started my fascination with fire and taught me skills that I can still fall back on if I’m ever in the woods and need to know what that tree is. I loved being a Girl Scout, until pre-adolescence set in and it didn’t feel cool anymore.

So now She-Monkey is peddling cookies and earning patches. The cookie season is drawing to an end and I’m growing weary of having boxes of Thin Mints and Samoas hanging around the house, so I focused on making a Girl Scout inspired pie! I used thin mints to make the crust, then, honestly, struggled. I could have gone full-on grasshopper and filled it with mint, but then poor Husband couldn’t eat it because of a mint allergy. I could have filled it with Irish cream, which would have killed two birds, Girl Scouting and St. Patrick’s Day, but I wouldn’t have let my kids eat it, because, alcohol.

That's when I came across this awesome website about pairing flavors! I’ve bookmarked it in my browser so that I can use it often, especially when I’m stumped, like this week. They literally have good ideas for every flavor you might dream up! I’ve opted for a raspberry filling, which will hopefully work well with the cookies.

Additionally, if you’re like we were before the inside connection to cookies, searching in front of every grocery store and Target for a troop, worry no more. There is an app you can download to find where cookies are being sold in relation to your location. Just search your app store for "Girl Scout Cookie Finder." That’s a tip for this year only though. Next year you can get your cookies from my mini sales-girl.

Thin Mint Raspberry Cream Pie

1 box Thin Mint cookies
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 bar cream cheese
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
6 ounces raspberries

Crush the thin mints in a food processor until completely crumby. Then pour in the butter and mix well. Press the crumbs evenly in a pie pan and bake for 17 minutes at 375º F. Cool completely. (I even made mine a day ahead and put it in the refrigerator overnight.

Allow the cream cheese to get to room temperature. Slice the raspberries and set aside. Whip the cream with the sugar to stiff peaks and fold 1/3 of the cream into the cream cheese to make it fluffy. Incorporate the rest of the whipped cream and fold in the raspberries. Spread the filling into the prepared pie shell and decorate with raspberries. Refrigerate for an hour before serving.

What I learned from this pie: Unfortunately, the wonderful minty flavor from the cookies is so subtle that it gets lost in the other flavors. I’d probably suggest adding a little extra peppermint extract if you wanted to oomph that up a little. This pie was deliriously simple, though, which is great for… say… Girl Scouts to earn a patch or something.