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Regretting St. Patrick’s Day – The Shamrock Shake

by · March 18th, 2009
Family & Kids, Holidays, Personal Story, Restaurants

Shamrock Shakes

Not all family traditions are things you carry with you all of your life. Although I have done my share of changing my practices as I have converted from my Christian childhood to my Jewish adulthood, there are simply some family traditions I have challenged for less obvious reasons.

Take for instance St. Patrick’s Day. Not a particularly religious holiday for my neither Irish nor Catholic family, but somehow it became the tradition for my father to bring home McDonalds’ cheeseburgers, french fries and the pièce de résistance – a Shamrock Shake. This chalky green, vaguely minty milkshake is seasonally available in various McDonalds locations around the country and was an annual treat for my sisters and I.

In college, while rebelling against everything, I omitted the annual ingesting of the sweet green drink. As a young working woman (and of legal drinking age) I adopted the traditions of my Irish-heritage co-workers – marching in parades in lousy weather and warming up with corned beef and whiskey. The Shamrock Shake didn’t much cross my mind until one St. Paddy’s Day my younger sister (in a fit of nostalgia) called and breathlessly reminded me of our family’s tradition. At this point I was living in New York City, which apparently has never heard of a Shamrock Shake.  After an embarrassing attempt at procuring this childhood treat from the indifferent teenaged McDonalds employee who had rightfully asked, “You want what? A green milkshake?” I had to admit to my failure.

But then I read Fast Food Nation.  Not that I really been a huge consumer of fast food (not since the scurvy I developed during a political campaign season when my diet pretty much was Dunkin’ Donuts, pizza and Chinese take-out) but after reading Eric Schlosser I became one of those people who (mostly) disavowed any participation in the consuming of big chain fast food.

But today I was confronted with choice – to McDonalds or not to McDonalds?  Knowing full well that the goal – the Shamrock Shake – would be utterly unavailable to me in Manhattan thus negating the actual nostalgia factor.  So would I still knowingly subject myself to the 1,360 calories of mainly fat, salt (80% of my daily fat intake 26.67% of my daily cholesterol and 73.75% of my sodium) and corn (yes, I’ve read Michael Pollan now too) just to simply recapture a moment in my childhood?

I’d like to say that in fact I did eat the organic spinach salad I had packed for lunch today. I’d like to say that despite all the compelling reasons of why I shouldn’t have eaten what I did – I did it anyway, for old times sake. The meal itself was wildly disappointing – rubbery, mostly congealed fat that continues to sit like a brick in my gut. Not at all like the blissful joy I remember from the treat from my youth. Sadly, afterwards I didn’t feel any more connected to my family than I did before eating that cheeseburger, fries and (sigh) vanilla milkshake. Although I did call my mom and most of my sisters today (not a very common occurrence) although next time perhaps I could find a catalyst to talk with them that conflicts less with my current culinary values.

*Photo by Sue Ellen Speicher

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16 Responses to “Regretting St. Patrick’s Day – The Shamrock Shake”

  1. Michael Makovi Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 6:47 am

    I remember we made those milkshakes in elementary school. Bananas and…mint ice cream? Lime? I forget, but it was green, and it tasted good.

    I remember in preschool, we made pancakes in class one day, and after we finished, everyone went outside to play. But after everyone else had left, and I was just about to walk outside myself, my teacher called me over.

    “Michael, you’re shorter than everyone else [I don't know how tall I was then, but by fourth grade, I was exactly 4 feet tall, 50 pounds]; you need to grow, and you deserve another pancake.”

  2. Michael Makovi Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 7:14 am

    But seriously, I have to get out of the yeshiva mess hall. Back in America, based on what I’d eat, I had 3/2 times the normal HDL and 2/3 the normal LDL; barring any unforeseen genetics and the like, my chances of arteriosclerosis would have been practically zero.

    But at yeshiva, they have the proclivity to cram as much oil into everything as they can get away with, and then a bit more beyond that, just for good measure. It’s disgusting.

    So a year ago, at the doctor’s, I was informed that while my LDL was not dangerously high, it was nevertheless higher than is desirable. This is after my HDL and LDL had previously been 1.5 and 0.666 times the normal, respectively!

    So I added tehina to my diet, specifically the whole-seed variety (Chinese Sesame Paste under a different name). It tastes like almond butter, and it’s got the fiber, protein, and unsaturated fat of peanut butter, plus iron and calcium! (9 mg iron and 600 mg calcium per 100 g – the RDI is approximately 10 and 500 mg respectively, assuming one does not consume meat overmuch, in which case the calcium RDI must be doubled due to ketosis.)

    Hopefully, when I go to the doctor in the next few weeks, my cholesterol will turn out to be better this time around. I’ve got to get the appurtenances to do my own cooking in my own domicile.

  3. Leah Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 7:54 am

    Great post! It reminds of another great post that Eric wrote last year about allowing himself to drink shamrock shakes on Purim:

    http://jcarrot.org/236

  4. Sister of Mia Rut Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 11:52 am

    What wonderfully cute children. I think that one of the reasons this family tradition was remembered and still practiced is because it was fun. It was fun to do it together. The fries were always cold and trying to get the fake cheese of the burger was tricky too. But we laughed and ate together. Unfortunately we can’t do this anymore but even if you have an upset stomach once a year on St. Patrick’s Day, keep laughing and remember the fun. I think the stomach ache will feel much better.

  5. Mia Rut Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 12:08 pm

    Dear Sister, Yes, your children are ridiculously adorable. And I’m glad you carry on this family tradition with them (and not just so I could use this great picture for my blog piece!) I guess next year I should come and visit and have Shamrock Shakes with my nephews and niece!

  6. Michael Makovi Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 12:42 pm

    So that’s how you found this pic…I was wondering, were you stalking playgrounds for weeks, waiting for the perfect moment to catch children eating these shakes??!! So now I know…

  7. Mike Hawk Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 12:43 pm

    McDonalds is not kosher nor healthy. Do not support the Super Size me phenomenon. We must kill Micky D’s.

    Peace, Bye

    How can you support food and Mickey D’s? Shame.

    Mike

  8. Mia Rut Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 3:04 pm

    Dear Mike Hawk,

    While I agree that McDonalds is not necessarily the healthiest of food choices, there is value to family traditions. I grew up in a rural area (with no delivery) and the fast food brought into our home once a year was fun in part for the novelty of it. So I’m glad for the memories of time with my family and support my sister’s decision to pass the tradition of the silly, hard-to-find (apparently) green milkshakes onto her children (adorableness pictured above).

    Have your eating habits changed over the years? Does your family have any culinary traditions that you no longer abide by?

  9. Michael Makovi Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    Well, I miss my mother’s Chinese stir fry, and her Passover rolls. The former, she’ll stir fry beef/chicken, broccoli, and cabbage in a wok with sesame oil.

    The latter, she bakes ten thousand of these unleavened egg-rich rolls prior to Pesah, and sticks them in the freezer to last the week of Pesah.

    Unfortunately, since I now keep kosher, and she doesn’t, I cannot her cooking anymore. ;(

    But I can still eat her fruit salad. Apple, pear, pomegranate, honey, grape juice, cinnamon, sometimes oranges or clementines or the like, and anything else you can think of putting in.

    Random thought: last year, I discovered that matzah with feta cheese and Yemenite skhug tastes extremely good. The saltiness of the feta and the spiciness of the skhug make a good contrast. And you can put some tehina in there as well, for sweet creaminess.

  10. Michael Makovi Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 4:15 pm

    Random thought: now that I keep kosher, my family gets to bend over backwards to help feed me ;) . I remember at my (Christian) cousin’s Christmas party a few years ago, after we scoured her house, among the things we found were OU-certified Christmas-shapes cookies, lol.

  11. patti Says:
    March 19th, 2009 at 3:21 pm

    re michael #10, linked random thought: now that our daughter keeps kosher, it tickles me no end to discover that marshmallow peeps (and much other easter candy) are also kosher. not to mention morningstar farms vegetarian fake bacon; no end of cognitive dissonance there…

  12. Michael Makovi Says:
    March 20th, 2009 at 9:26 am

    Marshmallow peeps are kosher now??!! My brother and I used to eat those all the time, but I couldn’t anymore! Now, we can have brotherly togetherness again – thank you!

    As for the Morningstar fake bacon, yes, you fry that stuff right, and it looks and tastes just like the real thing.

  13. Michael Makovi Says:
    March 20th, 2009 at 9:28 am

    re: marshmallow peeps, see http://www.usnews.com/usnews/c.....002077.htm

  14. L. Staciokas Says:
    March 24th, 2009 at 4:45 pm

    This is a direct quote from the Peeps website, regarding Peeps as NOT kosher.

    “Are your candies Kosher?
    All of our jelly bean candies, such as: MIKE AND IKE® Brand Candies, HOT TAMALES® Brand Candies, TEENEE BEANEE® Jelly Beans and JUST BORN® Jelly Beans are kosher and pareve. PEANUT CHEWS® Brand Candies are designated as OU-D and are certified kosher dairy. They are manufactured under the supervision of the Kashruth Division of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. Our PEEPS® Marshmallow Candies are not kosher because they contain pork derived gelatin.”

  15. Michael Makovi Says:
    March 26th, 2009 at 3:29 pm

    Yeah, I just found out last night that Peeps are not kosher. I excitedly told my brother that they’re apparently kosher, and so, when he picked me up at the airport last night (I’ve been away for a year), he pulled out a box of Peeps for us to eat together. And sadly, I then saw there was no hechsher. ;(

  16. Michael Makovi Says:
    March 26th, 2009 at 3:30 pm

    Luckily, now that I’ve turned 21 since the last time I saw him, we have another culinary way to bond together ;)

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