This is the story of how growing your own organic food all day sometimes leads directly to eating dinner out of a paper sack in a parking lot. Balance.
I think the biggest misconception about anyone who eats well or grows their own food is that they ALWAYS, ONLY, FOREVER AND EVER eat well. That they would rather eat a fist full of scabs than let anything processed or unhealthy pass their lips. I’m here to tell you that is not true. I don’t think. God, I hope not it’s not true. Gross.
To quote a well known, almost 90 year old, world champion food eater (my mother, Betty),
“If a person can’t eat french fries whenever they want, then life just isn’t worth living.”
~ betty
Betty has a flare for the dramatic. I told her I was thinking of changing my brand of dish soap once. She gasped so hard she swallowed a tiny piece of lung and to this day you can read about the episode in the Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum in Niagara Falls.
Obviously I got my love of french fries from her. From my father I got my love of vegetable gardening.
So I’ve inherited two very different food philosophies:
- Grow your own.
- Life isn't worth living if you can't eat french fries whenever you want. (Which is always)
I live with a balance of both. Because growing and cooking your own healthy food really is satisfying. And so are french fries.
Every summer when I’m killing myself working up at my community garden, there’s always a day of weed pulling and sweating that’s so long, so tiring, so calorie depleting that I stop at my local McDonalds drive through on the way home for a Big Mac, large fries, 6 Chicken McNuggets and a drink.
I not only enjoy it, I love it and look forward to it. There’s no guilt from eating the crappy food because I’ve worked myself in the garden until I’m delirious. That delirium only adds to the deliciousness of the junk food.
Could I make fries? Yes. And I do. I even make my own frozen french fries.
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I really do love McDonalds – their french fries are the BEST – but I think the main reason I go there is because it’s a drive through. Can you imagine anything more luxurious than screaming at a metal box and then someone handing you a bag of food through your car window? I can’t. Every time I do it I feel like royalty.
It is the only drive through food in town unless you count Tim Hortons which I don’t because they don’t have special sauce (or McDonald’s french fries.) I also love Harvey’s hamburgers (I don’t think you have been blessed with Harvey’s in the United States) but that would require driving out of my way. Tacos? I don’t even know if there’s a Taco drive through around but again, I do like them. Submarines are delicious but I don’t get that McDonald’s satisfaction out of them. Plus there’s no sub drive through. Not here anyway.
So McDonald’s it is, every time I’m having a “Yeah, I grow all my own vegetables, but life isn’t worth living if you can’t eat french fries when you want” moment.
In fact I see one of those moments in my very near future.
We’ve become a society of absolutes. I blame social media. Everyone should blame social media. And the trolls lurking there, waiting to pounce like they’re on some kind of unpaid morality SWAT team.
Apparently, you’re either a beacon of virtue or human garbage with ketchup on your shirt.
But here’s the truth:
You can’t do the right thing all the time.
You don’t have to do the right thing all the time.
Sometimes, you get to do the wrong thing.
On purpose.
With fries. And maybe a milkshake if it’s been that kind of day.
Because perfection is exhausting. And frankly, a little 2020.
What about you? What’s your go-to fast food? And will you be going-to, this weekend? ;)
Have a good weekend!
RACHEL RIOS
Please turn in your honorary Wisconsin cheese hat because Culver's has, HANDS DOWN , thee best fast food fries available. I once made the grotesque mistake of ordering, " The largest fries you have." I think it started life as a 10 lb bag of russets.
Mary W
I adore McDonald's french fries - the very best ever. But not when they speed me through the car line and don't cook them until crunchy outside and warm, buttery inside. Even Julia Child agreed before she passed and I think everyone agrees she knew her stuff. But unlike you, I don't eat the fries with catsup, katsup, catchup or anything - just to feel the crunch. YUM
Mary W
I do think that Five Guys restaurant has the best hamburgers! Just like they used to make them 70 years ago - delicious. I also used to eat ground beef raw with salt on top. My Dad did, also. When I butchered my own beef, I did the same but not anymore. I believe they have too many noses ground up in the meat!
Mary W
I wish your comments had an option to add to or correct stuff after hitting the dang post button!
Lynda
No McDonald's up here, but I have 5 Casse Croutes to choose from. Those fries in your pictures are classic roadside casse croute fries. The dark ones with a little bit of wet look twist are the best ones. Salty on the outside, sweet and smooth on the inside like they were butter.
Vive la Quebec!
Marie
This article confirms it. We were separated at birth. Which reminds me, I need to go toss out all the empty McD's French Fry take out bags that I hide under my car seat.
Jody
Hallelujah Betty
Dwight
I agree with Betty. But McD fries have to be hot. Once they start cooling off then I’m done.
Jim Shelburne
Dwight is exactly right!
Once they start cooling off, you could use them for, say, tent pegs, or stakes in your garden. But hot? I can live with their 5 minute half-life. All the better reason to chow down!
Rebecca McCarthy
Pizza delivery happened at my house last night after I moved a bunch of stuff from my art studio to my home. One day I may regret moving the studio home but I will never regret the pizza.
Elizabeth R
It crushes me to read this! I used to love to drive through McDonald’s and get a “sleaze burger and fries.” But acid reflux has unjustly ended this splurge for me. I’m so sad. Now, Panera is my drive through happiness. I have the app, and a year long membership to the “Sip club.” It’s bliss. Can I make soups and sandwiches with less sodium? Yes. But it’s nice to have someone do it for you once in a while.
Beth
My go to? Thai food! Takeout of course. No drive through ( where I live, our restaurants don't have drive through). Around here we are a mecca of Asian foods, Japanese, Thai, Korean, Vietnamese and authentic Chinese. But Thai is my favorite. I love Betty. She is right of course.
Elizabeth R
Thai food is excellent! So much flavor! Again, for me… sodium is an issue. So that’s a rare indulgence.
Sandra D
McDonald's fries are the best, but the ones in your pics don't look like them (they actually look better). I love a good old Big Mac (or, to save calories, a kid's mac - a hamburger with special sauce and lettuce).
jani
Agree. I thought maybe Canada McDonalds make them different??
We have Chic-fil-A here and they make pretty amazing waffle fries. And chicken. Their drive-thru is something to behold. Customer Service is their middle name.
But there is something nostalgic about a McDonalds burger and fries.
Sandra
McDonald's fries are skinny, salty and yum. I find that the best twin to buy for home is the 'Restaurant Style' frozen fries.