COOK OF THE WEEK - GIRL SCOUT TROOPS

Once again we are visiting with some Girl Scout Troops and learning what different ages of girls do in their different troops. I have found it interest-ing to learn that they all don’t do the same activities at the same times. The selling of Girl Scout cookies is one activity that all of the troops have in common however. Troop 217 – The Daisy Kin-dergarten Troop is the first year for all of these girls as a Girl Scout. The girls are working towards earning their flower petals. They meet once a month for about two hours. So far this year they have done various fun activities. Sep-tember was their first meeting so they learned who their friends were in their troop. In October they went on a nature walk around the Swan Pond. Novem-ber was spent making Christmas tree ornaments for the Girl Scout tree at the Methodist Church Tree Walk. They also worked on cutting and sewing pieces for a quilt the girls worked on for a family they sponsored for a Christmas basket. The quilt was done with the help of Rose Christensen. In December they went shopping for items for the Christmas basket and then came back and wrapped the purchased items and donated them for the basket. They also had a Christ-mas party at the Caribbean Cof-fee house in December. In January the girls started a scrapbook with pictures from previous month’s activities. Feb-ruary was spent learning about friendships and Girl Scouts in other countries. They also made cards to deliver to the care cen-ter in March. Their troop leaders are Alisha Steburg and Janessa Christensen. Troop 36 – They are a third grade Brownie Troop. The girls enjoy earning badges and mak-ing crafts. They most recently completed their Painting Badge, Global Action Badge and World Thinking Day Badge. In their picture they submitted, the girls in the back row are holding up puzzle pieces, which complete the activities for the World Thinking Day Badge. The 2016 focus for this badge was on Connections: self, friends, the world and the World Associa-tion of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides. Their troop leaders are Tiffany Mayall and Jessica Pri-or. The girls and their leaders hope you are enjoying the many recipes they have shared with you using their yummy Girl Scout cookies. Here are a few more for you to try out and en-joy.Do-Si-Do Snickers Bar CheesecakeCrust:2 boxes of Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies4 tablespoons butter Chop cookies and butter fine in a processor. Place in the bot-tom of a spring form pan 1/4 inch thick and refrigerate.Filling:(6) 8 ounces packages cream cheese1 pound sugar6 egg yolks12 eggs2 tablespoons vanilla1/2 pint heavy cream3 tablespoons lime juice2 Snicker Bars, chopped Mix the cream cheese, sugar and yolks together in a bowl and then add eggs one at a time. Add remaining ingredients and bake in water bath at 350 degrees for one hour.Mint Delight1 package Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies, crushed3 tablespoons butter, melted8 ounce package cream cheese, softened2 large packages instant chocolate pudding mix3 cups milk4 cups whipped topping Combine the crushed cookies, (reserve 1/4 cup for topping) with the butter. Press into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan. Chill. Combine cream cheese with 1 cup whipped topping. Spread over cookie mixture. Chill 15 to 20 minutes. Prepare the pudding according to direc-tions and pour over cream cheese mixture. Chill for an hour, or until ready to serve. Top with remaining whipped topping and crushed cookies.Peanut Butter Mousse Cups1 package Peanut Butter Patties1 muffin pan and 12 paper or foil cups28 large marshmallows12 ounce package peanut butter morsels1/3 cup water2 cups heavy cream Place muffin papers into muf-fin pan. Place one cookie in each cup and set aside. Crush remain-ing cookies and reserve for gar-nish. Place marshmallows in a heavy saucepan with the water. On medium heat, melt, stirring very often until you have a smooth, thick syrup. Remove from heat and stir in morsels. Let them sit for a minute to al-low them to melt, then stir until smooth. Cool to room tempera-ture. Stiffly whip the heavy cream, then fold the peanut but-ter mixture into the cream. You may spoon the mousse mixture over the prepared cookies, or for a more festive look, fill a pastry bag, fitted with a large star tip, and pipe the mousse over the cookies. Garnish with reserved crumbled Peanut Butter Patties, or a dollop of whipped cream chocolate sprinkles or chips. This dessert may also be served frozen. Two hours in the freezer ought to do it.Peanut Butter Patty Éclair Dessert1 box Girl Scout Peanut Butter Patties, each cookie cut into 16 pieces18 whole graham crackers, halved3 cups cold milk2 packages (4 serving size) Jell-O vanilla instant pudding mix12 ounce tub Cool Whip, thawed16 ounce container ready-to-spread chocolate fudge frosting Arrange half of the crackers on the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch baking pan, breaking crackers to fit, if necessary. Pour milk into a large bowl. Add pudding mixes. Beat with a wire whisk for 2 minutes. Gently stir in whipped topping. Spread one-half of the pudding mixture over crackers. Sprinkle Peanut Butter Patty pieces over pudding; top with remaining pudding mixture and rest of crackers. Microwave frosting in container on high for 1 minute or until pourable. Spread evenly over crackers. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Cut into squares and serve.Cookies and Cream Parfaits1 envelope Knox unflavored gelatin1/4 cup cold water2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened1 cup whipped or heavy cream22 Peanut Butter Patties1 teaspoon vanilla In a small saucepan, sprinkle unflavored gelatin over cold water and let stand for one mi-nute. Stir over low heat until gelatin is completely dissolved, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand until luke-warm, about one minute. In a blender or food processor, pro-cess ice cream, whipped cream, 10 cookies and vanilla until blended. While processing, through feed cap, gradually add luke-warm gelatin mixture and pro-cess until blended. Let stand until mixture is slightly thick-ened, about 5 minutes. Mean-while, coarsely crush the re-maining 12 cookies. In parfait glasses or dessert dishes, alter-nately layer gelatin mixture with crushed cookies. Chill until set, about 2 hours. Garnish if de-sired, with whipped cream and additional cookie. Makes about 6 servings.Pie Surprise1 ready-made graham cracker pie-crust1 cup chocolate ice cream1 cup peanut butter1 cup vanilla ice cream8 Peanut Butter Patties, chopped Let chocolate ice cream stand at room temperature for five minutes. Spread chocolate ice cream over bottom of piecrust. Freeze. Spread peanut butter over chocolate ice cream. Freeze. Let vanilla ice cream stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Spread over peanut butter. Sprinkle Peanut Butter Patties on top. Wrap with foil and freeze.Peanut Butter PattiesDream Parfait3 boxes Peanut Butter Patties2 boxes SF/FF* instant chocolate pudding2 boxes SF/FF* instant butterscotch pudding6 envelopes Dream Whipcake or cookie sprinkles* SF/FF = Sugar Free and Fat Free Crush 1-1/2 boxes of Peanut Butter Patties and press in the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch pan. Prepare the instant chocolate pudding and 2 envelopes of Dream Whip according to pack-age directions for dream pie. Crumble and roll out other 1-1/2 boxes of Peanut Butter Pat-ties and sprinkle over top of chocolate layer. Mix the 2 boxes of butterscotch pudding and 2 envelopes of Dream Whip and prepare according to box for Dream pie. For the topping, take remaining 2 envelopes of Dream Whip and prepare according to whipped topping directions. Spread over top. Sprinkle with cake decorating sprinkled. Re-frigerate a minimum of 2 hours before serving. Keep refrigerat-ed.Caramel Delights Fudge1/2 cup crushed Caramel Delights2 cups sugar6 ounces heavy cream12 regular marshmallows1/2 cup butter1 teaspoon vanilla6 ounces chocolate chips Heat and boil the sugar, heavy cream, marshmallows and butter for five minutes. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and chocolate chips, mixing until the chips have melted. Add the Car-amel Delights and mix. Pour into an 8 by 8 inch buttered pan and cool.Caramel Delights KissBrownies1 box Devil’s Food cake mix1/3 cup evaporated milk3/4 cup melted butter1 cup mini Hershey’s Kisses3/4 cup melted caramel1/2 box crushed Caramel Delight cookies1 tablespoon toasted coconut melted mini Hershey’s Kisses Mix the first 3 ingredients together and pour half of the mixture into a 9 by 13 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 6 minutes. Sprinkle 1 cup mini Hershey’s Kisses over baked cake. Spread 3/4 cup melted caramel over kisses, then crushed cookie and 1 tablespoon of toasted coconut. Drop the remaining half of the cake batter on top and bake another 10 minutes. Drizzle with melted mini kisses and sprinkle toasted coconut over top. Makes 24 bars.Caramel DelightTurtle Cheesecake7 ounce package caramels1/4 cup evaporated milk1/2 cup chopped pecans1-1/2 cups Caramel Delight cookies, crushed(2) 3 ounce packages cream cheese, softened1/2 cup sour cream3.9 ounce package chocolate instant pudding mix1/2 cup fudge topping Reserve 2 or 3 cookies for topping. Mix crushed Caramel Delight cookies with 3 table-spoons melted butter. Press into a 9 by 9 inch pan or 9 inch pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes. Place caramels and evaporated milk in a heavy saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring continually, until smooth, about 5 minutes. Stir in chopped pecans. Pour onto crust. Combine cream cheese, sour cream and milk with mixer until smooth. Add pudding mix; stir until mixed in, about 30 seconds. Pour pudding mixture over car-amel layer covering evenly. Chill, loosely covered, until set, (about 15 minutes). Drizzle fudge topping over pudding lay-er in a decorative pattern. Sprin-kle top with remaining crushed cookies. Chill until serving time.Angelic Surprise1 angel food cake mix1 pint cream1/2 box Shortbreads, crushed or any other favorite Girl Scout cookie1 tablespoon powdered sugar Bake cake according to direc-tions. Whip cream with pow-dered sugar. Fold in crushed cookies. Split cake in two. Spread cream mixture on bottom layer and top layer. Sprinkle extra crushed cookies on top.Pumpkin Angel Food1 angel food cake mix1 cup water1 small can pumpkin1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice1 tube Short Bread Cookies, crushed1 carton fat-free topping Mix angel food cake with water, pumpkin and spice. Bake in a 9 x 13 inch pan at 350 de-grees for 1/2 hours. Reserve some crushed cookies to garnish top. Mix remaining crushed cookies with topping. Spread topping mixture over cooled cake. Sprinkle crushed cookies over top.Short Bread CookieFruit Pizza8 ounce package cream cheese, softened1/3 cup sugarShort Bread Girl Scout Cookiesassorted fruit, cut into small piecesHershey’s chocolate syrup Combine cream cheese and sugar in a medium size bowl. Mix well. Spread a small amount evenly over each cookie. Top with fruit and add a small amount of chocolate syrup.Lemon Banana Delight2 packages Short Bread Cookies1 can sweetened condensed milk, not evaporated5-1/4 ounce package vanilla pudding mix, prepared1 cup milk1/2 cup lemon juice2 bananas, sliced and tossed in juice of one lemon Crush one package of Short Bread Cookies in a good proces-sor. Cook the vanilla pudding according to directions on the package. Beat sweetened con-densed milk well, add lemon juice. Line a greased 9 by 13 by 2 inch glass dish with crushed cookies. Place a layer of whole cookies, which have been dipped in milk on top of crushed cookies. Add pudding, add layer of sliced bananas. Add a layer of whole cookies, which have been lightly dipped into milk. Add another layer of pudding, add a layer of sweetened condensed milk/lemon juice mixture. Top with remaining crushed cookies. Repeat layers.Strawberry Short BreadTruffle1 strawberry cake mix3 ounce box strawberry pudding (or vanilla)2 cups milk12 ounce container Cool Whip1 bag of frozen whole strawberries (or fresh if in season)1 sleeve of crushed Short Bread Cookies Bake cake as directed on box, in a 9 by 13 inch cake pan. Let cool. Cut into 1 inch squares. Mix pudding with 2 cups cold milk and fold in 12 ounces Cool Whip. In truffle bowl, put in 1 layer of cake. On top of cake layer, add cool whip/pudding mixture, on that layer, add strawberries and cookie crumbs. Repeat layers twice more. Final layer should be crumbs. NOTE: This can be put in any pan or bowl (Clear is best). Any kind of cookie, cake, pud-ding or fruit can be used for variations. If you are reading this, then you probably enjoy new recipes. If you would like to share some of your recipes with the com-munity, YOU could be Cook of the Week. Please contact me, Sally Redenius, if you would like to be in this column some week. I can be reached by phone at 515-373-6346 or email me at sacuthbe@msn.com. I will be happy to email or send you my short questionnaire and set up a time to come and visit you at your convenience. I’m always looking for NEW Cooks of the Week. Also, if you are new in town, this is a good way to introduce yourself to the Humboldt community and sur-rounding communities. I look forward to visiting with you. The COOK OF THE WEEK 3rd Edition Cookbook is available. Cost per copy is $10.70, plus $4.80 shipping/handling. Order a copy today by sending a check or money order, along with name and shipping address, to: Humboldt Independent, 512 Sumner Ave., Humboldt, IA 50548.