Girl Scouts annual Cookie Gala

Features new, special creations by Weight Watchers, Treat Dreams and more

DETROIT – Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan announces its annual Cookie Gala, a celebration of one of America's most beloved sweet treats—Girl Scouts Cookies. The event is on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 from 5 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. at Detroit's Atheneum Suite Hotel. Tickets are $100.00 each or $170.00 for a pair until March 23. After March 23, tickets are $120.00 each or $190.00 per pair. Order tickets online at www.gssem.org. This year's event also includes a VIP reception before the tasting competition. Cupcake Station will serve its Mini-Station Samoa cupcake, a favorite on the Birmingham store's menu.

Cookie Gala will feature three new entrants in the gourmet Girl Scout cookie recipe competition. For the first time, Weight Watchers will compete with a recipe creation made with Tagalongs, which are tasty cookies topped with peanut butter and coated in chocolate. Other new entrants include Treat Dreams, a Ferndale, MI based ice cream and dessert shop, creating a confection from Thank U Berry Munch cookies, and cup.cake of Royal Oak, with its entry made from Dulce de Leche cookies.

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Cookie Gala features Girl Scout cookies kicked up a gourmet notch by some of metro Detroit's best chefs. Chefs create delectable desserts and appetizer recipes using Girl Scout cookies, and compete to have the best Cookie Gala recipes. This year, 13 restaurants and bakeries from throughout the metro area will compete.
2012 Cookie Gala participating restaurant/bakery and cookie assignments include:

· Atheneum Suite Hotel, Detroit (Thank U Berry Munch)

· cup.cake, Royal Oak (Dulce de Leche)

· Fifty One-O-One, Dearborn (Dulce de Leche)

· The Hill Seafood, and Chop House, Grosse Pointe (Trefoils)

· Holiday Market, Royal Oak (Do-Si-Dos)

· J. Baldwin's, Clinton Township (Thin Mints)

· The Lark, West Bloomfield (Tagalongs)

· Ocean Prime, Troy (Samoas)

· Small Plates, Detroit (Thin Mints)

· St. Clair Inn, Port Huron (Savannah Smiles)

· Sweet & Savory Bake Shop, Oxford (Samoas)

· Treat Dreams, Ferndale (Thank U Berry Munch)

· Weight Watchers Group, Farmington Hills (Tagalongs)

Chefs spend weeks creating, testing and re-testing their top secret Cookie Gala entries. Each is assigned a Girl Scout cookie from which they create their own recipe. During the gala, attendees including celebrity guest judges taste and rate each of the recipes and choose the best for 2012.

Chef Matt Kouri of The Hill Seafood and Chop House in Grosse Pointe is going for a "three-peat" of the Presenting Sponsor Award, which it won in 2010 and 2011. His top secret Trefoil recipe is part Italian, a little smoky, and very sweet. "We are aggressively pursuing that three peat award," said Matt Kouri, executive chef. "We are going to be making part of the dessert live at the event. Cookie Gala is fun to do with the Girl Scouts. We love it."

"This is our first opportunity to participate in Cookie Gala, and we are so excited," said Chef Isabella Nicoletti, Weight Watchers Group. "We are planning a great recipe made from Tagalongs, and we are thrilled to show that anyone who follows the Weight Watchers lifestyle can participate in fun events like this."
Chefs from each of the participating restaurants will compete to win any of the Cookie Gala awards: People's Choice, Presenting Sponsor, Judges' Choice, Girls' Choice, and CEO's Choice.

Ford Motor Company is the presenting sponsor of the 2012 Cookie Gala. Additional sponsors include; Motor City Electric, General Motors, Comerica Bank, Clark Hill PLC Attorneys at Law, DTE Energy, Hylant Group, Quicken Loans, Commonwealth Financial Network, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Delta Dental of Michigan, Budco, Elder Automotive Group, and Preferred Moving & Storage.

Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan (GSSEM) is the local council chartered by Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) to facilitate the Girl Scout Leadership Experience (GSLE), designed to help girls develop leadership skills through three key elements—Discover, Connect and Take Action. Each element has a set of five outcomes including girls develop a strong sense of self (Discover); girls develop healthy relationships (Connect); and girls can identify community needs (Take Action).
GSSEM serves nearly 42,000 girls and adult volunteers in Oakland, Macomb, Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, and parts of Wayne, Monroe and Livingston Counties. GSSEM provides a girl-led, girl-centered, fun-filled quality leadership experience.