It's that wonderful time of year where lovely little cookie sprites tempt us with colorful boxes of indulge-worthy and addictive cookie magic.
Hello, Girl Scouts and hello cookie joy!
And as we all pick up our favorites from our friendly local girl scouts, the boxes are torn open with one's teeth while driving away and partially or completely (depending on mood, but typically the latter) devoured. By the time one hits ones driveway, the box carcasses litter the backseat and crumbs imbed themselves in ones skin.
Well, that's how I roll anyway.
And while most of us eat their favorites just straight up, Tacoman Dave Lepore has other ideas.
A self-described newbie to the Girl Scout cookies craze (he only started buying them five years ago), he fell hard like most. And like many of us, he definitely has his favorites: Samoas® are number one (crisp cookies coated in caramel topped with toasted coconut and dark chocolate drizzle) and Lemonades® come in at number two (shortbread cookies with lemon icing).
But unlike most of us, Lepore takes the cookies to the next level, particularly his beloved Samoas®.
"A few years ago I was eating Samoas® and thought they would be great with peanut butter," says Lepore. "(I) topped one with peanut butter and it was good. Tossed another Samoas® on top of that, making a Samoas® peanut butter cookie sandwich thing and it was perfect."
He didn't stop there.
"I moved on to creating a home version of (Dairy Queen) Blizzards®, using Girl Scout cookies," explains Lepore. "My favorite Blizzard® creation is two Samoas® crushed, vanilla ice cream from Ice Cream Social, a scoop of peanut butter powder, PB2, and drizzle in a little chocolate syrup. I mix that in a small blender and it's perfect."
So, how the hell do you improve on perfection?
Enter Girl Scout cookies season 2015.
Lepore just unveiled his latest creation on social media.
"Last night, I decided that the Samoas® with peanut butter was missing something. Bacon," grins Lepore. "On a whim, I decided to top the Samoas® with peanut butter and bacon. It is amazing. It's a great mix of sweet, peanut buttery goodness with the salty crunch of bacon. My mother makes an apple pie with a bacon topped crust. Similar results.
"And no I am not pregnant. I know it looks like pregnant food."
Besides having to assure friends and family that he wasn't indeed with child, what was the reaction?
When Lepore uploaded the photo of his experiment on his Facebook page and Imgur, the responses flew fast and furious:
"Stoner cooking at its best",
"I hate you so bad",
"After eating that, I'd definitely want samoa".
He's not done either. He's got another experiment planned with the Lemonades®, but no solid plans.
Yet.