It’s St. Patrick’s Day and along with the green beer and corned beef and cabbage served at bars and restaurants, Shamrock Shakes return to McDonald’s, a minty green concoction that most people either love or hate.
Shamrock shakes will always live in my memory a different way, through a somewhat funny incident shared with my older sister, many years ago.
When I was five, my sister Chris was nineteen, and had just gotten her first apartment. She had taken me out for the day as she often did, God bless her. We had stopped at McDonald’s after shopping/running around before going back to her apartment. I’d gotten a hamburger and a Shamrock Shake, which was probably my first. After lunch I was playing on her living room floor with some playing cards when apparently something didn’t agree with me and the next thing I knew, there was a greenish pukey puddle all over the cards and the carpet.
Horrified, I began to cry, not knowing how much trouble I’d be in. In fact, that may have been the first time I’d thrown up that I actually remembered, perhaps that is why I was so freaked out. I barely remember this, but in between sobs, I kept saying “I’M SO EMBARRASSED!!!” Chris thought it was hilarious, coming from a five year old. Perhaps it was.
Over the years, every March when the infamous shakes return to McDonald’s we still share a laugh over my grossly embarrassing memory.
Now, with girls of her own, she’ll send me a text:
Chris: “We just left McDonald’s and Kirsten (my niece) got a Shamrock Shake..”
Me: “Get ready to roll down a window.. hahaha..”
Chris: “LOL”
I’ve had them maybe only a handful of times over the years since then, and will text a photo to Chris, no words needed. Now that I’m older and my metabolism is a complete and utter joke, I make a healthier version at home in the blender:
- Skim milk
- Fat free vanilla pudding mix
- Ice
- Peppermint oil/extract
- Green food coloring
In fact, one year I re-enacted the scene (well, not completely) by making a shake and placing the glass on the carpet in the midst of some playing cards. Snapped a pic and off it went. Hahaha..
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!