Monday, March 12, 2012

One Box of Cookies

Day 12 of 31 at TWT!
Lately I guess I've been tasting my memories.  Food certainly can be a great way to remember the past' savoring certain flavors and scents just sends me flying backwards through time.

Last week our Girl Scout cookies arrived. I'm so excited for weeks of melt-in-my-mouth chocolate, peanut butter, coconut-and-caramel, mint, lemon...Ohhhhhh yummmmmm!  The first box is almost gone already!

For me, the best part of Girl Scout cookies isn't even the taste, despite how gloriously delicious they are!  It's the memories.  The box designs, the names of my old favorites, the shape and color of the cookies...

The familiar names roll happily off my tongue: Samoas, Tagalongs, Thin Mints.  I can picture each kind of cookie and each style of box as I say them.  I also know their names just by looking at the box color!  Suddenly I'm a scrawny little girl with my blonde hair pulled into a side ponytail braid, reviewing orders and sorting boxes with Daddy.  He loads up his orange dolly and I proudly put on my Brownie sash over my all-pink outfit. I slip my little hand into his giant one, hopping and skipping beside him as we head out into the neighborhood with our deliveries.

And of course, I can't eat a Thin Mint without laughing about Uncle Mike.  Known to my friends as "The Funny Uncle", he put me into innumerable giggle fits throughout my childhood.  (Ok, so he's just as silly now as he was then -- HE certainly hasn't grown up a bit!)  Every year, I'd ask for his Girl Scout cookie order, and every year, he'd tell me "1 box of Thin Mints".  A giggle fit would ensue, because Uncle Mike's "1 box" was really one case (TWELVE boxes)!  I got such a kick out of delivering his huuuuge "box" of cookies every year.  Plus, I knew Uncle Mike's order would put me well on the way to earning the next level of prize!  I honestly miss selling cookies just because I'd love to take his order again and have our special joke continue.

Instead, I'll just giggle the next time I bite into a Thin Mint.

5 comments:

  1. What a great memory. I remember the one year my mom was the cookie mom - our whole house was jam packed with cookies. This is a sweet story and you should share it with your Dad and your Funny Uncle.

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  2. Food does take us to places in our past. I laughed when I read the one box was really a case. Your description of yourself was so real. I could picture this little girl in all pink with that Brownie sash. Great memories!

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  3. Great memories...we never know where our senses will take us. A sight, sound, taste, touch, or a smell can be so powerful taking our brains back in time. Glad your trip was so delicious!

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  4. So great to hear. I was a Girl Scout too & guess I still am partly one because I certainly buy those cookies. My freezer is filled once again. My son, daughter-in-law are here now & going skiing the rest of the week, so I've let them have their pick of the stacks. They are excited. I loved your ending, Jennifer & the fact that you still remember the box colors, etc. I do think food memories are so special. No one could bite into a thin mint without recognizing what they are. (I once made a pie crust with them!) Keep smiling as you take bites!

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  5. I'm on a diet so I don't have any boxes of Thin Mints here this year. After reading your post I really wish I did... :(

    ENJOY!

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