Reason To Celebrate...

Girl Scout Cookies are here!

After one cookie. One.

"How Do I Get That Goodness In Me?!"

Dear Everyone Everywhere...but Especially Makers and Sellers of Ice Cream, and Those Individuals Who Call Themselves My Friends,

Yeah YOU. I think you KNOW what this post is about.
I wait all year long for Girl Scout Cookie season. Not just for the cookies (which I do love), but particularly for Edy's Special Edition Girl Scout Cookie Ice Cream. CHOCOLATE Thin Mint to be more specific.

I can't take it anymore. Will you please stop teasing me?
Last year I only had ONE carton of this delicacy. One. One carton is like an appetizer. I didn't even make it to the main course before it was once again whisked away from the shelves, not to be restocked for another 11 month hiatus. Not Cool Ice Cream People.

THIS year, I STILL have yet to get your goodness in me.

EVERY time I go to the market I check the freezer aisle first. The too-small section reserved for Edy's Special Edition Girl Scout Cookie Chocolate Thin Mint Ice Cream is ALWAYS empty. ALWAYS. It's killing me. I even have many of my friends on the watch for such ice cream to appear in stock. They are instructed to call me ASAP should my mystery ice cream make a brief appearance.

But now I am starting to think that my friends aren't actually FRIENDS at all. They like to call me 2 days AFTER they've returned from the store to say "Hey, they have that ice cream you like in" or "Oh I saw your girl scout ice cream, but it was the chocolate kind, so I wasn't sure if that's the kind you like" or "I bought some of that girl scout ice cream and we finished it off in two days! You were right, it IS good!"

NOT friends at all. Is this a joke?
Um. Doesn't the fact that I actually requested that my friends be on the look out for ice cream exhibit just how desperate I am? Do I really need to clarify that I'm not kidding around here?
I gotta get some ice cream in me!

So...IF you are a friend, PLEASE do not wait 2 days to call me. Just put a carton of the freaking ice cream in your cart and bring it to me. I will pay you for it. I might even give you a tip. I won't share the ice cream, but I will be forever grateful.

Caution:
DO NOT make the same mistake that Aaron did this weekend by saying, "Happy Valentine's Day, there is a surprise for you in the freezer"
Meg: You found it? Really? How many cartons did you buy?!
Aaron (beaming): Just one, it's in the freezer...go check it out.
Meg: Yay! I love you!
I was thrilled. Full of anticipation, I RAN to the kitchen and my fuzzy pink slippers skidded me to a stop in front of the freezer. My balloon of joy was immediately deflated when I opened the door to find Edy's Special Edition SLOW CHURNED VANILLA Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookie Ice Cream.

This is a CRITICAL mistake. Actually, several mistakes.

Mistake #1: Slow Churned ice cream is a JOKE.
Slow Churned = LOW FAT. Seriously. What's the point? Low Fat? REALLY? Don't bring that crap in my house.

Mistake #2: VANILLA. ONCE AGAIN let me tell EVERYONE that the ONLY Edy's Special Edition Girl Scout Cookie Ice Cream that is even worth paying for is the CHOCOLATE THIN MINT.

NOT Vanilla Thin Mint.
NOT LOW FAT.
NOT Slow Churned.
NOT Vanilla Tagalong-although CHOCOLATE tagalong might be yummy, if such a thing existed.
NOT disgusting.

Mistake #3: TELLING ME that my ice cream was in the freezer, when indeed IT WAS NOT. Not many things piss me off more (I know you are laughing right now) than thinking I am gonna get some REALLY good ice cream in me, and having to settle for something less than satisfactory.

I suppose I COULD go on and list intricate details of...
Mistakes #4: The Low Fat ice cream is SMALLER than avg. ice cream container size, and SERIOUSLY? LOW FAT? Come on!
Mistake #5: The cookies in the slow churned ice cream are all crumbled into powder. In the real deal they are broken into chunks of heaven.
and..
Mistake #6: Not being able to tell the difference between Edy's Special Edition Girl Scout Cookie Chocolate Thin Mint Ice Cream and ALL OTHER ice creams out there.

SO for those of you who consider yourself "friends"...Please help a sistah out, and if you're at the market and you see the CORRECT ice cream on the shelves, call me to clarify that you have a visual on our targeted product, and once we've established a accurate identity, take my order.
I'll wait anxiously by the door with an envelope of cash...after I throw out everything in my freezer to make room.

Eleven Words: Edy's Special Edition Girl Scout Cookie Chocolate Thin Mint Ice Cream.

Not Low Fat.
Not Vanilla.
Not Slow Churned.

This is a very important time of year. When I see the girls in brown and green romping around in their little uniforms I make a run for the grocery store.
Thank You Girl Scouts of America for connecting with the good people at Edy's (Dreyers) and creating one of the greatest mergers in the American Food Industry happen.
Shame on you, WalMart for not making more of it available for all the angry/hungry (in our house, those words are synonamous) pregnant women in America to purchase. If you are going to lay off 800 people in one day, you really should replenish your comfort food shelves.

'cuz when it comes to ice cream, I don't mess around.

Good Eats 2009

I'm thinking I might include a recipe once in awhile on the blog. Who doesn't love to try something new? Especially when it comes highly recommended by someone with such great taste as myself.
Ok, I took pictures, and probably shouldn't have, because I'm no fancy photographer and my photos probably will only end up making the food look less appetizing. When I look in a cookbook, I like to see pictures. When I go out to eat, I look at people's faces, and when I see people who are smiling and happy, I look at what's on their plate (or what's left of it), and ask a nearby server what the happy people ordered. (because in my twisted head it MUST be the food that made them smile? Really, I don't know why I use this method for food selection, but I do nearly every time I eat someplace new.) I also like a visual to see if I am making the recipe correctly, because I don't always read the directions thoroughly.

Tonight's Main Dish:
Chicken and Black Bean Empanadas
My friend, Erin, has a GREAT recipe for this, complete with pineapple salsa fresca. Unfortunately, I was missing a few ingredients (like onions and cumin) and added cheese to meet our need to make everything even more fattening. I was also missing the desire and energy to make fresh salsa tonight that only I would eat. Here is the mock up version we ate tonight. Fresh salsa aside, they were pretty fabulous!

1 pkg puff pastry-thaw (it takes about an hour)

Mix together in a frying pan:
1/3 green bell pepper, diced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp minced garlic (or 2 pressed fresh garlic cloves if that's how you roll)
3 TBS olive oil
salt and pepper
sautee about 4 min

add:
1 1/2 c shredded chicken (I diced a grilled chicken breast leftover from last night)
15 oz can drained and rinsed black beans
2 TBS salsa
heat through

add:
1/4 c fresh cilantro leaves

Roll out puff pastry and use a pizza cutter to cut into 9 squares.
fill each square with 1-2 TBS chicken & black bean filling
top with a pinch of pepper jack
Use a little water on your fingers to fold over into triangles and pinch closed
brush with olive oil

Bake at 375* for 11-13 minutes
I topped them with Pace medium salsa (yep, from a jar), and delicious avocado dip

1 ripe avocado (smash)
1/2 c low fat sour cream
1 TBS Mexican seasoning
dash garlic salt

sO gOoD! The pepper jack was the perfect touch.

Puff pastry comes in a two pack, which I forgot about until I had already let it thaw, so I cut the other sheet into 6 squares and filled them with cherry pie filling and a dollop of cream cheese.
Brush with vegetable oil, sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake 375* for 15 minutes (I think they took longer because they were bigger than the empanadas)
Dust with powdered sugar.
Top with fat free, sugar free, flavor free vanilla ice cream
Tell husband you are (surprised, yet) proud of his decision to purchase "healthy" ice cream this year.
Listen to husband (also surprised) whine and complain for 10 minutes because he is pissed that he accidentally bought fat free, sugar free ice cream..and that this was in no way a "healthy decision" but rather the devastating result of yesterday's late night ice cream run oversight.

Agree that the ice cream is totally disgusting, but at least the cherry turnovers are good.
Resolve to use up the leftover gross ice cream in root beer floats at a football party later in the week.
Hopefully, the "fake" ice cream will not ruin the floats. He did purchase a good, non-diet root beer, so hopefully the two will create a happy, low calorie balance.
While we're (sort of) on the topic (ok, not at all) of "healthy":
"Healthy" ice cream should be kept in an entirely different freezer. That way, the people that DO purchase it don't have to look at all the really good stuff mocking them through the glass doors while they make their lousy low-fat selection. Knowing that you are going home with Creamies and Skinny Cow bars should be a happy time. But once you pass by the Chunky Snicker Chocolate Delight, Chocolate Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookie, and Peanut Butter Iditterod Ice Cream Selections...well Skinny Cow just starts looking kind of sad. Sad like maybe he needs some Chocolate Fudge Brownie Swirl to cheer him up.