Arts & Entertainment
IMAGE GALLERY: Cookie Creations
Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts hosted their annual fundraiser where top chefs competed to create dishes using everyone's favorite cookies.
The Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts annual “Cookie Creation” competition, fundraiser and general gastronomic event took place Wednesday night at the Danversport Yacht Club in Danvers.
Top chefs from the greater Boston area, including Marblehead, were invited to compete against one another to prepare the most delicious dish possible using the famous Girl Scout cookies as the special ingredient.
The featured chef contestants were, Shawn Bramble from Day to Remember Catering in Methuen, Kali Hislop from the Greenland Café in Salem, Dan Friley (who participated in absentia) from The Lyceum in Salem, Steve Reppucci from Mad Maggie’s Ice Cream in North Andover and finally, Steve James from in Marblehead.
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All the proceeds from the event went directly to the Girl Scouts to help keep program and camp fees affordable for families across Eastern Massachusetts.
Local celebrity judges included Laurie Lufkin, the host of Inspired Cooking with Laurie Lufkin, master pastry chef from The Cambridge School of Culinary Arts and former Marblehead bakery owner Delphin Gomes and Co-host of MAGIC 106.7’s Afternoon Drive Candy O’Terry.
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Steve James, became involved in the competition after he received a phone call from a Girl Scout representative asking him if he cared to participate.
Weeks prior to the contest when the Girl Scouts dropped off their cookie samples for James to begin work on his recipe experimentations, he says he immediately thought of preparing a savory dish but then thought better of it. He said, “I figured a lot of other people would [do that]. So I went back to dessert.”
James created two items for the contest. First was a Strawberry Shortcake Tartlette which utilized the Shortbread Girl Scout cookies and his second creation was a Chocolate Coconut Pecan Pie which utilized Caramel deLites for the filling. James said of his Tartlette, “everyone likes strawberry shortcake."
The winners of the contest were separated into three categories: savory, sweet and the crowd favorite. Shawn Bramble won the savory category for his Lemonades Encrusted Shrimp and Jeanne Topham won the sweet category for her Girl Scout Cookie Cheesecake Pops. Shawn Bramble also won the crowd favorite for his Thai Coconut Curry Soup.
