Vote with your taste buds
It’s that time of year again, and the big question this season is: Who will you endorse?
Maybe you like the smooth candidate (which might make you a Tagalong fan). Or perhaps you prefer one with zest (in which case you may belong to the Lemon Chalet Creme party).
Wherever your allegiances lie, this campaign — being run by the Girl Scouts — is bound to be a tasteful one.
Coinciding with what many pundits are calling the earliest and most-scrutinized presidential election cycle in years, the Girl Scouts have pit Tagalongs against Do-Si-Dos in a contest to determine Connecticut’s favorite cookie.
The state’s 55,000 Girl Scouts last week set out campaigning for all cookies, which they will peddle through March. Connecticut residents can vote for their favorite cookie online at www.cookievote.com through March 7. Connecticut’s choice will be announced March 12, along with the favorite cookies of each of the state’s eight counties.
Girl Scouts and sisters Alexandria Otlowski, 11, and Victoria, 8, predicted Thin Mints might do well, based on preferences of their previous customers. If it were up to them, their Cheshire family would be casting a split vote: Alexandria likes Thin Mints and Lemon Chalet Cremes best, while Victoria prefers Trefoils and Tagalongs.
One thing is certain, the girls agreed: few people need convincing to endorse buying a box.
Three days after Girl Scout cookie season officially launched, the girls had sold about 60 boxes, their mother said Monday. That included about 10 boxes designated as donations to be sent to those serving in the military.
“Everybody loves Girl Scout cookies,” said Alexandria, a Scout of two years.
An informal survey of the Republican-American’s cookie-eating crowd confirmed that sentiment, but also proved that competition could be close. Based on a query of a dozen-and-a-half pastry pundits-cum-reporters and editors, two leaders emerged by a crumb: Samoas (those O-shaped caramel, chocolate and coconut covered cookies) and Thin Mints.
Tagalongs tagged along just behind those two candidates, along with the simple shortbread Trefoils and those nutty Do-Si-Dos.
In fact, the only cookie whose early performance resembled the lackluster one of our own Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, who finished last among Democrats in the recent Iowa presidential caucus, were All Abouts. Despite uplifting and positive messages, the fudge-bottomed vanilla cookies with words like “courage” and “confidence” emblazoned on them just couldn’t cut it here.
So if you’re all about All Abouts, or have a strong support for another choice, loosen those belts, break out the milk and do your duty.
Those wanting to buy cookies who have not been approached by a Scout can call (800) 992-2770 or visit www.gsofct.org for information on how to get them. Also, troops will sell cookies at booths set up in locations around the state in March.