I supposed I should confess this now: during the 1990s, I had serious addiction.

Luckily, it wasn't to heroin, crack, or even cigarettes. But it was just as insidious. I had an addiction to Samoas. Those are the round-ish Girl Scout cookies that have toasted coconut and caramel, covered in chocolate (they're called Caramel deLites in some areas). Oh, I could easily - easily - polish off a whole box of these while watching TV. They're spectacular. I found a version that's pretty similar, from Little Debbie, called German Chocolate Rings, but my local supermarkets haven't carried them in months.

But now you can find out all about the cookies online! You can find out about the Girl Scout Cookie Program, visit the Girl Scout Cookie MySpace page (of course), and check for troops that sell the cookies by zip code.

It's that time of year again: Girl Scout cookie season. This year all Girl Scout cookies are trans-fat free so you can eat them with slightly less guilt than before.

There are two bakeries that produce Girl Scout Cookies, Little Brownie Bakers and ABC Bakers . Both produce some of the classic cookies, including Thin Mints, Samoas, Trefoils and Tagalongs (a.k.a. Peanut Butter Patties), but each of the bakeries make several cookies that the other does not. Little Brownie Bakers has three original creations this year. Sugar Free Little Brownies are little chewy chocolate squares "packed with chocolate chips" that are diabetic friendly and All-Abouts are all about "Enjoying life as a true Girl Scout" and appear to have a chocolate-flavored coating on one side.

ABC Bakers has Reduced Fat Cartwheels, which are "oatmeal rounds with a cinnamon burst in every bite" and lemon-iced shortbread Lemonades in their lineup this spring, as well as cookies with the odd name Thanks-a-Lot appear to be the same as the All-Abouts from LBB, although they have the words for "thanks" in five different languages written on them.

I'm planning on passing on both the All-Abouts and Thanks-a-Lots, but I'll consider getting a box of Lemonades with my Samoas, Tagalongs and Trefoils this year.

As if we didn't really need more reason to buy an extra box or two of your favorite Girl Scout cookies, I have just stumbled across the website for one of two companies that bake the Girl Scout cookies that send us into a thin, minty frenzy every Spring. The website is obviously geared toward their happy little salesgirls, but they also list recipes, not for the cookies, themselves, but that use the cookies as ingredients.

Samoas by themselves are pretty rich (I consider them candy, myself), but they can be used to make Mocha Samoa Zuccoto, a chocolate cake-like base with a mascarpone and chocolate filling and crushed Samoas as a topping.

Sound too rich? Then what about Levitating Layers, alternating layers of Samoas, sweetened cream cheese, and chocolate pudding. And it's not just Samoas. You can use Tagalongs, Thin Mints, and Trefoils to make a Peanut Butter Mint Bombe.

I'll just take my Cafe cookies with a cup of coffee.

Dreyers/Edys is putting out its seasonal, special-edition Girl Scout Cookie flavored ice creams this month. The flavors include Thin Mints, a chocolate mint concoction with cookie chunks based on the best-selling flavor, and Samoas Cookies, a creamy caramel ice cream with fudge swirls and chunks of Samoas cookies. Both of these flavors are available in regular and light varieties. The final limited-edition flavor is based on Tagalongs and is vanilla ice cream with peanut butter and fudge swirls as well as pieces of the famous peanut butter patty cookies mixed in. The flavors will be available in supermarkets through April.

On their website, the company is hosting a Junior Chef recipe contest. Kids 8-12 can enter their favorite dessert or snack recipes that use the Girl Scout ice creams for a chance to win a prize pack including a year’s supply of Dreyer’s ice cream. The grand-prize winner will also receive a $500 savings bond and have their recipe featured on cartons of ice cream. To get inspired, check out last year’s winning recipes.