That annual wrecker of diets otherwise known as Girl Scout cookie season is once again upon us. Doesn't it seem as if this winter fun-fest is brilliantly timed – practically to the day – to cruelly materialize when dieters' New Year's resolutions have cracked and crumbled? After all, what better way to Just Say No To Kale, than by inhaling a couple dozen Samoas in a single sitting?
Better yet, a slice of Peanut Butter Patties pie.
For a limited time, the tons-o-fun Hi-Lo Diner is making that dream a reality. For those who have been looking for an excuse to visit the showy 1957 diner, lovingly restored to within an inch of its life by the skilled folks behind neighboring Forage Modern Workshop, then Girl Scout Cookie Mania just might be the event that does it.
Mary Vorndran, the Hi-Lo's pie-making whiz, is turning to Peanut Butter Patties for inspiration, and her handiwork (pictured, above) pretty much defines "doozy." Picture this: a crushed Oreo crust gets filled with a decadent chocolate/peanut butter custard that's peppered with crushed Peanut Butter Patties.
(By the way, remember when these crazily addictive cookies were called Tagalongs? Who snuffed out that poetry?)
The Hi-Top crew also embraces Samoas, aka Caramel deLites. Chef Heidi Marsh is giving the Samoas treatment to her signature Hi-Tops. Picture glazed doughnut-like sweet fried dough, filled with cookie crunch-infused whipped cream, then lavished with key Samoas ingredients: caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, toasted coconut and, for good measure, an actual Samoa cookie as a garnish.
Naturally, there are Thin Mints; what would February and March be without Thin Mints? Hi-Lo-ers are working the Girl Scout's top-selling cookie into malts and shakes, and the only improvement -- at least for those who don't favor Thin Mints -- would be a S'mores shake. Or a Samoas malt. Or a Peanut Butter Patties shake. You get the picture.
Bartender Simeon Priest is also getting into the act, embracing the wonder that is Peanut Butter Patties, pulling together an ice cream cocktail that marries bourbon, Crème de Mure (a blackberry liqueur) and Crème de Cassis.
That ice cream cocktail is $11. Hi-Tops, malts and shakes (served with the can, of course) are all $10. A slice of pie goes for $5.
By the way, Marsh & Co. didn't turn to their nearby Cub Foods store for their Girl Scout cookie supply (although you can). They kept it local, buying 100-plus boxes from a troop in their Longfellow neighborhood. Sweet, right?
The promotion runs through March 7. But consider going this weekend, because this freaky February heat wave means that the diner's picnic table-covered patio will be open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Dogs are welcome.
