Most people are familiar with the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts’ timeless motto, “Be prepared.” However, this month, local Girl Scouts troops are embracing another philosophy: “Dessert First.”
The latter is the title of Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio’s annual fundraiser. The 16th annual Dessert First chef’s “dessert-off” will be held on Saturday, October 22 at 6:30pm at the Great Lakes Science Center.
The event will celebrate the Girl Scouts’ 100th anniversary, and will take place about three months before the Scouts’ annual cookie drive. The young ladies have sold almost 3 million boxes of Thin Mints, Samoas, Do-Si-Dos, Trefoils and other crowd favorites this past season alone.
The event challenges area chefs to come up with imaginative desserts using Girl Scout cookies as an ingredient. Attendees can expect some surprisingly inventive creations and even some noteworthy concoctions. This year, 12 participating restaurants from throughout the regions will send their representatives including chefs Dante Boccuzzi of Dante, Kara Swortchek of Moxie and Red the Steakhouse, Chase Phillips of Bricco, Tony Fortner of Zanzibar Soul Fusion, William “Tom” Hurt of XO Prime and Brandt Evans and Scott Coffman of Pure Vida. The contestants will be judged based on taste, creativity and presentation.
Admission to the event includes a seated dinner–AFTER dessert–and entertainment as well as an awards ceremony. Emceeing will be WEWS Channel 5 anchorwoman and Girl Scouts alum Lee Jordan.
