It's Girl Scout Cookie Time!

No, they are not made out of real Girl Scouts.

But they are just as sweet and lovable.

Right now, in Summit, it's Girl Scout cookie time! Time for you to stock up on Thin Mints and feed your Samoa cravings. This month, you can find Brownies, Juniors and Cadettes selling cookies outside of Starbucks, the train station and the library.

The cookie sales are the main fundraising event for the troops, which can get anywhere from 70 cents to $1 per box depending on how many they sell. This money goes to pay for camping trips. It also pays for supplies to perform service projects and earn badges as well as pay for the actual badges themselves.

But first, a little history. The first Girl Scout cookie sale was held in December 1917 by the Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, OK. The cookies were sold in the school cafeteria as a service project. By 1922, simple sugar cookies were baked in homes and sold door to door for 30 cents a dozen. The recipe was provided by Florence E. Neil, a local director in Chicago. It wasn't until 1951 that the best selling Girl Scout cookie of all time, the Thin Mint, was introduced.

In Summit, several troops began selling cooking in January mostly to friends, family and neighbors over the phone or going door-to-door. Cookie order deliveries started in late February. The month of March starts the booth sales. 

As good as the cookies are, they're not without controversy. First, there is the voluntary recall of Lemon Chalet–a vanilla cookie sandwich with a lemon crème filling. While they are safe to eat, some boxes may have an 'off' taste or smell. The lot numbers in the recall are 7459402 and 7459403. Please contact your troop for a replacement should you have any of the recalled boxes.

Secondly, there's the price. They're $4 a box now in our area. In New York City and southern New Jersey, they're still $3.50 a box, for now. The upside is the troops get a bit more money. The downside? It's $4 per box.

Now for some fun girl scout cookie trivia.

The best selling cookie is Thin Mints. No surprise really. Thin Mints account for over 25 percent of total sales. Next up is Samoas with 19 percent of total sales. And the third most popular cookie is the peanut butter and chocolate Tagalongs with 13 percent of sales.

There are two authorized cookie bakers: Little Brownie Bakers have been baking Girl Scout cookies for about 30 years, and ABC Bakers have been churning them out since 1939.

There are over 28 varieties of cookies available–but only about eight varieties are offered for sale during the various sale periods. There are three mandatory flavors always available: Thin Mints, shortbread and the peanut butter sandwich cookie.

The cookies have different names depending on who makes them. Little Brownie Bakers make Do-si-dos, while ABC calls them Peanut Butter Sandwiches. Tagalongs are the same as Peanut Butter Patties. Samoas are Carmel deLights, and Trefoils are Shortbreads.

New cookies that have been introduced recently are Thank You Berry Munch for 2010 and Dulce de Leche in 2009. Some new cookies don't fare all that well. The sugar-free variety was dropped this year because of low sales.

Little Brownie Bakers make over 4,500,000 Thin Mints per day during peak baking periods.

The cookies are only available for a limited time–through the end of March in our area. So stock up. They freeze well!

Here's the schedule:

• Friday, March 12: Train Station, 4-7 p.m. – Troop 854
• Saturday, March 13: Library, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. – Troop 758
• Saturday, March 13: HSBC, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. – Troop 251
• Saturday, March 13: Starbucks, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.– Troop 1120
• Saturday, March 13: Little Kings, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. – Troop 780
• Sunday, March 14: Starbucks, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. – Troop 1120
• Friday, March 19: Train Station, 4-7 p.m.– Troop 185
• Friday, March 19: CVS, 3:30-6:30 p.m. – Troop 254
• Saturday, March 20: Starbucks, 9 a.m.-noon – Troop 325
• Saturday, March 20: Starbucks, Noon-4 p.m. – Troop 1120
• Sunday, March 21: Starbucks, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. – Troop 1120
• Friday, March 26: Train Station, 4-7 p.m. – Troop 185
• Saturday, March 27: Library, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. – Troop 1155
• Saturday, March 27: Liss Pharmacy, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. – Troop 1254
• Saturday, March 27: Summit Train Station, 10 a.m.-2 p.m -- Watchung Troop
• Sunday, March 28: Starbucks, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. – Troop 244