Shamrock Shake

Who doesn't love a Shamrock shake? It's basically a St.Paddy's Day, month of March staple, thanks to McDonald's. When I moved down to the South 6 years ago, once March came around I went to McDonald's to get my annual Shamrock shake. When I ordered one, the employee is like,"A shamrock, what? What is a shamrock shake?" They had no idea what I was talking about. I was incredulous, how could this (and every other nearby McDonalds)not know what a Shamrock shake was? Determined to find one, I went to every McDonald's I could find, but none of them knew what I was talking about. I even called McDonald's headquarters to find out why the south didn't have shamrock shakes. They didn't give me a very satisfactory answer.

Imagine my surprise (and delight), when 2 weeks ago Mr.Surly calls me and tells me that he is enjoying a shamrock shake. I was so jealous. But then, a few days later, I was able to order one of my own while out on my weekly Target trip. It was a delicious as I remembered them. So, thank you McDonald's, for finally bringing the Shamrock shake to the South! *kisses* (Even though it ripped up my stomach later, it was worth it).

Having recently tasted an authentic shamrock shake, I went about recreating it myself. Looking around at other recipes, I noticed they use peppermint extract. But a Shamrock shake is mint flavored, not peppermint flavored. Don't be fooled by imitators.

Peppermint (Penguin) Patties

This week I really struggled for some reason. I picked out a chocolate mint candy recipe. But when I tried to make it, this is what I ended up with:



Fail.

This was supposed to be mint candy squares. But it failed to set up for me, even after hours in the fridge. Obviously, I left out something vitally important, I'm just not sure what. Oh well. I still haven’t decided what to do with it, maybe try to salvage it into mint truffles.

My second attempt was a recipe for peppermint patties. Things went well until I decided to add food coloring to make the filling a festive green color. After rummaging around the kitchen, I finally found my food coloring. I proceed to combine the red and blue dyes to achieve a jolly green hue. Did you catch that? Red and blue. As I mixed the colors, I was confused because I was getting purple not green. I thought my mistake was that I had too much blue, I needed to add more red. Nope, still not green. I go to grab the back of the box to see what I was doing wrong. I felt like an idiot when I realized that red+blue=purple and I should have done blue+yellow. And the real kicker is that I had a bottle of green food coloring in the box; I didn’t even need to mix colors. Here I am, the daughter of an artist/art teacher mother, and I couldn’t even remember the basic color wheel. I practically grew up in my mom's art studio. How embarrassing.

I do have an excuse, though. My GI doctor enrolled me in a clinical trial and the new medication I’m on is really affecting my mind. I thought I was crazy before, that was nothing compared to this. It’s a struggle for me to focus my mind on things. Perhaps this is why my first attempt at a minty dessert was a total disaster. Luckily, I’m only on this drug for 8 weeks. Then I can return to my original, slightly confused, state.

Finally, I attempted my third try at a mint treat; a new peppermint patty recipe that was simple; just a few ingredients. Third time’s the charm, right? Not quite for me. I wouldn’t call it a complete success, but at least this time it was my results were a bit more visually appealing. I used mini cookie cutters to make bite-sized mints. I haven’t had a peppermint pattie in years and found these surprisingly refreshing. I just wish they looked better. Oh well, maybe I’ll have better luck next week's treat.