The following release includes details about the upcoming Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey’s Great Cookie Cook-Off, for which Jersey Bites founder and executive editor, Deb Smith, will be on the judging panel. Tickets can be purchased online through Thursday, March 5.
Competition to Soar for Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey’s Great Cookie Cook-Off
NORTH BRANCH, NJ: Does a Thin Mint chocolate ganache cupcake or perhaps Samoa shrimp with a Do-Si-Do sauce sound appetizing?
If so, you’ll love the third annual Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey (GSHNJ) fundraiser. This holiday season, professional chefs are dreaming up their perfect recipe, while GSHNJ prepares for the upcoming Great Cookie Cook-off, to be held in Scotch Plains on Thursday, March 12.
The time is now to purchase your tickets to this unique event, to be held 7 to 9 p.m. at Shackamaxon Country Club, which will play host to more than 250 of the greatest connoisseurs of Girl Scout cookies. It will be the challenge of a lifetime to concoct the perfect dish, featuring one or two Girl Scout cookies, that will be memorable, attractive, and of course, lip-smacking good.
“We can’t wait to see how each chef will use his or her special culinary talents to transform Girl Scout cookies into a creative appetizer or dessert for all attendees to share, enjoy, and gush about,” said Mara Tolas, Director of Development for GSHNJ. “The various dishes that have been created over the past two years have been ingenious, and we can’t wait to see what our chefs have cooked up for 2020.”
Three esteemed experts in Girl Scout cookies will serve as judges, and name a lucky and talented chef the winner of the 2020 Great Cookie Cook-Off.
The Lineup
Competing chefs include Kiersten Gormeley of Shaka Bowl with two locations in Hoboken; Lauren Petrovski of the Tropicana in Atlantic City; Brian Walter, executive chef at Shackamaxon Country Club; Dell Da’e of Da’e Catering & Event Services in New York; Vonda McPherson, owner of Vonda’s Kitchen in Newark; Jose Gonzalez from The Coffee Box in Plainfield; Asia Bullock of Asia B’s Sweet Treats in Montclair; Jennifer Bridgeman, owner of Simply Delightful Treats in NJ; Alycia Matthews the Foodie Engineer in NJ; Renee Blackman, private chef and caterer in New York; Kizzy Banks of Kizzy’z Kitchen in Newark; and Caitlyn Glynn, a GSHNJ staff member and owner of Creations by Caitlin in Westfield.
“We would like to thank Nneka Nurse, owner of Best Dressed Plate, for being this year’s Golden Spatula Presenting Sponsor,” said Natasha Hemmings, CEO of Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey. “This fundraiser benefits so many girls; it helps to support all of our leadership programs, and so much more. Proceeds from the cook-off will help fund opportunities for girls to participate in the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.”
The fun-filled event will feature a silent auction, a tricky tray raffle full of great prizes, the ever-popular wine pull, passed hors d’oeuvres, gourmet food stations, a cash bar, and all the Girl Scout cookie creations you can handle. Tickets are $75 per person, or $130 for two. Ticket sales close Thursday, March 5.
Come hungry.
To register or learn more, visit www.gshnj.org/cookieevent.
About Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey
Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey (GSHNJ) believes in the power of every G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)™ to change the world. Providing nearly 18,000 New Jersey girls access to premier leadership programs and mentors throughout Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Somerset, Union, southern Warren, and parts of Middlesex counties, GSHNJ offers girls a chance to practice a lifetime of leadership, adventure, and success. GSHNJ has three service centers located in North Branch, Westfield, and Montclair, and operates three summer camps: Camp Hoover in Middleville, NJ, Camp DeWitt in Hillsborough, NJ, and The OVAL in Maplewood, NJ. To volunteer, reconnect, donate, or join, please visit www.gshnj.org.
Top photo: Creation by Chef Jennifer Bridgeman of Simply Delightful Treats (NJ).
All photos are courtesy of Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey (GSHNJ).
