Growing up we had some interesting dinners in my house. I'd love to report that my mom was a great cook, but she miraculously didn't acquire her culinary skills until after my brother and I left the house! I remember one time we had strawberry rhubarb pie. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? And I'm sure it would have been if the rhubarb had been cooked down and not left in its celery like form! Have you ever had your mouth set for a delicious piece of hot, sweet strawberry rhubarb pie topped with vanilla ice cream, and instead cut into a stringy hot mess of what looks like strawberry mush and celery? That kind of experience will scar a child! To this day, my brother claims he is allergic to rhubarb! Another time, my mom served cheesecake. I grabbed the plates to help her serve it, and she clinked the pieces onto the plates. Yes, you read that right. They clinked. I said "Mom, these are frozen!" and her reply was, "Well, it says keep frozen until ready to serve, and by God, I'm ready to serve it!" I kid you not...
So you can imagine the horrible things that went through my mind when mom told us that we were going to be eating Girl Scout Surprises for dinner. I thought most of our dinners took a horrible turn and ended up surprises, so surely this couldn't be good. I will never forget the first time she placed that hot, aluminum package on my plate. It smelled so good! My brother and I took turns opening ours up, much like presents on Christmas morning. Inside we found a hamburger patty, onions, potatoes and carrots all bathed in this wonderful au jus. They were incredible!
From then on anything that had great ingredients and the possibility to turn out unexpectedly fabulous became known as "A Girl Scout Surprise". This applied not only to dinners, but life in general. There is something very comforting about approaching things with the idea that even if things look bad, they may just end up being a Girl Scout Surprise. Here are the ingredients for my version of a mixed media Girl Scout Surprise. It takes about a week to cook, so you will have to come back next week to see the end result.
Start with great paper
Mix in these ingredients
Top with beads
Until next time, gather your supplies and don't forget the Samoas!
