Bake Sale and S'mores Fest

BAKE SALE
To kick off the school year, our principal allowed our troop to host a Bake Sale during Open House.  By holding the event prior to the the first day of school, we did not have to get permission from the School Board.  I did make sure to get permission from Council.  I was told they generally approve fundraisers if the girls are offering a product or service to the customers.  Our Council provided paperwork for us to distribute throughout the evening to girls interested in joining Girl Scouts.

Prior to the Bake Sale, we made some signs.  We also displayed photos from past troop events and activities on a large piece of poster board.  This allowed potential Girl Scouts to discover some opportunities they could have if they joined a troop. 

I asked the girls to each bake something to be sold at the Bake Sale (with an adult's supervision, of course).  If Brownies are working on the Snack badge, a Bake Sale easily satisfies Step 3: Try a Sweet Snack.  If Juniors are earning the Simple Meals badge, they can complete Step 4: Create a Delicious Dessert.  We had quite an array of sweet treats: Brookies, lemon bars, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, rice krispie treats, and M&M cookies.  My favorite baked good might have been the cupcake that was inspired by the school's mascot.  The "Cougar Cupcake" was a vanilla cupcake topped with buttercream, filled with strawberry jam, and baked in a red cupcake liner to match the school colors.  The cougar paw was made with a mini Oreo cookie and four chocolate chips.  Super cute!

The girls earned over $130 in two hours!  This money will be combined with a portion of the profits from the 2016 Cookie Sale, and the girls will plant a garden this spring for veterans and their families staying at the Fisher House in Cincinnati.  

S'MORES FEST 2015

In early September, a neighboring Service Unit hosted a FREE S'mores Fest event at a nearby state park.  Several years ago, our Daisy troop attended a Council-sponsored S'mores Fest Recruitment Event at one of the Girl Scout campgrounds.  We had fun, so I registered our girls for this event.

Upon our arrival, the girls gathered in a circle to play an ice breaker.  Each girl was asked to say her name and tell the group what she brought to the picnic.  The item had to begin with the first letter of her name:  "My name is Laurie, and I brought lemonade."  Because there were some younger girls in attendance, each girl was only asked to say her own name, what she brought, the name of the person to her right, and what she brought.  If older girls are playing, it's fun to try to repeat the name and item for each person in the circle.

The girls were divided into three groups by troop, and they rotated through three different stations:  s'mores, songs, and games.  The older girls hosting the event had lists of games and songs, and our girls were asked to choose between two games or songs, depending on the station.  They had enough time to play a couple of games and sing a few of songs at these stations.  There were enough ingredients available to allow each girl to make two s'mores.

Getting Girl Scouts together from across the community was the goal of this S'mores Fest, but what a fun way to recruit and register girls!  If you are hosting your own S'mores Fest, you may consider having a registration table and paperwork available for girls interested in joining a troop.  Based on my observations, the success of this event is highly dependent on the weather, available shelter, the number of girls in attendance, and the number of volunteers willing to help.  Looking forward, if enough help is available, it might be fun to include a craft station.  Years ago, our girls made God's Eyes with lollipop sticks and yarn.  This could be relatively inexpensive to try at S'mores Fest, especially if the event is held outdoors.  Two small sticks can replace the lollipop sticks, and the host only has to provide the yarn.   

When the weather doesn't cooperate, the event could be held at a local civic center or church.  While roasting marshmallows over an open fire would not be possible in this situation, you can still provide a s'mores-inspired treat.  I invite you to check out this post for s'more mini cupcakes that would be perfect for an indoor event.  

This month our troop will be learning all about the art of glassblowing.  Please check back soon to read about the experience!

S'more, anyone?

A s'more is a Girl Scout tradition.

While the origin of the dessert is unclear, the first recorded version of the recipe can be found in the publication "Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts" of 1927.

It is difficult to resist the delectable combination of crunchy graham cracker, silky dark chocolate, and gooey marshmallow.  Our family loves to add peanut butter to this tasty treat...Crazy good!

In late May, our Daisy Troop bridged to Brownies.  We invited families to attend the Bridging Ceremony followed by a picnic dinner.  We have a relatively small troop, but we have incredibly supportive and very involved families.  We were expecting a sizable turnout.  I wanted to make a dessert to share with our guests.  As I was bumping around Pinterest for some ideas,  I could not believe how many different desserts have been inspired by the s'more.  I decided to make mini s'more cupcakes for many different reasons.  For one, they are so cute!  I couldn't imagine a more appropriate treat for this special occasion.

I lined my mini muffin tray with blue liners with white polka dots.  The liners went well with our royal blue Daisy aprons.  I chose a dark chocolate cake mix and my daughters helped me prepare the batter according to the directions on the package.  We baked the mini cupcakes for about 9 or 10 minutes.  We knew they were finished baking when we inserted a toothpick into one, and it came out clean.  

I wanted to dip the cupcakes into ganache and then graham cracker crumbs before topping them with marshmallow.  I used the following ganache recipe:

4oz of bittersweet chocolate (this time I substituted with 1/2c dark chocolate chips)

1/2 cup of heavy cream

Place chocolate in a medium bowl and set aside.  Heat the cream in a small saucepan on the stove.  Watch the cream closely because it may burn.  Once it just comes to a boil, pour the cream over the chocolate.  Whisk until smooth.  Super simple.  Simply scrumptious! 

I let the ganache sit for a couple of minutes before allowing my daughters to dip the cupcakes into the chocolate sauce.  They immediately coated them with graham cracker crumbs and placed them on a cookie sheet.  I was so excited to top the cupcakes with marshmallow.  I envisioned a beautiful creation much like we see on Cupcake Wars each week.  I scooped marshmallow fluff into a sandwich-sized zippie bag.  I snipped the corner with the hopes of neatly piping a dollop on top of each cupcake.  I said neatly...

After making a terrible mess of my kitchen island, I bailed on the marshmallow fluff and vowed never to buy another tub.  Ever.  I spent the next 15 minutes muttering a few choice words under my breath as I washed my hands and cleaned up the sticky mess.  Thankfully I remembered there was a bag of large marshmallows in the pantry.  I cut each marshmallow in half (horizontally) and placed one on the top of each cupcake.  I placed the cookie sheet under the broiler for 1 minute until the marshmallows were the golden brown I desired.  I packed a healthy batch into my cupcake carrier, and we were off to the park for the ceremony. 

These mini s'more cupcakes were a hit.  They packed a big taste in a small bite with relatively little mess.  National S'more Day is August 10th.  Add this s'more-inspired cupcake to your celebration.  Thank you for reading!

Rally the Troop: A Note on Recruitment

Before I rush to outline our petal activities and service projects as I promised in previous posts, I should describe how we went about inviting girls to join the troop.

There is a woman who serves as a troop leader for older girls who attend our elementary school.  She also volunteers as a Recruitment Coordinator for our school.  Her responsibilities include but are not limited to:  marketing Girl Scouts to the female student body, planning and running a recruitment meeting in the fall (and possibly again in the spring), securing leaders for a troop at each grade level, and assisting interested girls in finding a troop to join.  She worked with our Girl Scout Council in the first few weeks of the school year.  A couple of weeks prior to the recruitment meeting date, each female student in the school was given a flyer to take home.  Detailed information about the meeting was printed on the flyers.  Council provided paper bracelets that listed the date and time of our school-wide Recruitment Meeting.  The Recruitment Coordinator's contact information was also included for those individuals unable to attend the meeting and for people interested in addressing questions and concerns prior to the meeting.  She and I met at school during lunch the day of the meeting.  We secured the bracelets on the wrists of girls interested in learning more about Girl Scouts.  The bracelets served as a reminder to families interested in attending the meeting.   

The Girl Scout year begins on October 1st.  The recruitment meeting was scheduled on a weekday evening in late September.  We convened in the elementary school multipurpose room.  While parents met with leaders and filled out registration paperwork, members of the older troops in our school took aside younger prospective Scouts and taught them different Girl Scout songs.  The girls also enjoyed coloring together while discussing what to expect once they join a Girl Scout troop.

In the spring of our first year, we had the opportunity to re-register our troop.  Early Bird registration allows leaders to re-register their current troops for the upcoming Girl Scout year.  We always ask that one adult register with the child.  This person can be a parent or guardian, a grandparent, aunt or uncle, or even a neighbor.  On occasion, this adult may be asked to transport girls or chaperone a special event, and he or she must be a member of Girl Scouts.  As incentive to participate in the Early Bird registration, our Council offers each troop a 15% coupon to use in the Council Shop.  Any girl who re-registered for the 2011-2012 year received a limited edition 100th Anniversary patch from our Council that was only available to those who took advantage of Early Bird registration.   

As the summer progressed, we were fortunate to be contacted by several families expressing interest in joining our troop.  Our Service Unit was invited to a S'mores Fest registration event in late September at a nearby camp.  The event was free.  Participating troops were asked to provide their own dinners and s'mores ingredients.  Upon arrival, leaders were asked to turn in the $12 membership fee with each registration form.  Then we were led on a hike through the camp to see the different lodges and tents we could one day reserve for a camping trip. Members of older troops planned games and built a fire for the younger girls attending the event.  Fun was had by all!

Please feel free to share any of your recruitment meeting and registration event ideas with us.  Thank you for reading!