I like Big Macs and I Cannot Lie ... And I'm O.K. with that.
I think the biggest misconception about anyone who eats well 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, 84 year old, world champion food eater (my mother),
"If a person can't eat french fries whenever they want, then life just isn't worth living."
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 and Live 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 near the beginning of the growing season 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.
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 they changed their buns and french fries years ago plus there isn't one close to me. 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.
What about you? What's your go-to fast food? And will you be going-to, this weekend? ;)
Have a good weekend!
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Penny
Interesting comments, as usual, but I can't believe so many of you love Macky Dee's fries. They're revolting; pallid little dry tubes full of weirdly grainy insipid fluff. And how do they cool down so fast?? The only way they're palatable is if you salt them generously and dunk them 6 at a time into a McFlurry before pushing them into your face-hole.
Now, those fries you showed us from the Christie antiques fair, *they* looked like proper English chips cooked in beef dripping, brown, slightly greasy, irregular shapes and extra-crispy bits.... drool!! I wanted to grab that bag of fries and take them into a quiet place where we could be alone together.
Not for long, though..
Kasia
My friends make fun of me for my love of McDs. I just get a hamburger and small fries, it’s just enough to satisfy my McDs craving! I only eat there to treat myself a few times a year, but boy do I look forward to it!
JulieD
McDonalds stopped frying their pies. I'm still not over it.
Deborah Burns
I love a Jumbo Jack from Jack in the Box, because a hamburger isn't a hamburger unless it has some tomato on it!
I am picky about my Jumbo Jacks though, NO cheese, no onions, no mayo, no catsup, PLUS mustard! Small fry and diet coke to round out the meal. I didn't have for years, but this Spring on a jam packed day, I had to stop and it was bliss! :)
Nicole from Detroit
McDonald's does not do a thing for me, personally, and I find it DEEPLY satisfying that I belong to the generation poised to end that restaurant. That said, Nachooooooos. I still love those 13 syllable ingedient "queso" dips. So Taco Bell or Qdoba, whichever is closer at any given moment. Or the occasional box of Velveeta mac and cheese at home. Fries don't really turn my crank unless they're seasoned (Rally's or Arby's, that sort of thing). Unless you cover them in "cheese sauce."
Markus
Happy Dog in Sonoma every couple of weeks or so. 2 hot dogs with everything. I call in and say " one hot dog all the way to go" and he says "just one?" and I say "ok, 2 hot dogs all the way, be there in 10!.
AnnaM
Um-m-m, there's two of us in the crowd. "...like eating a handful of scabs." Warning: graphic mental image follows - Isn't that what the majority of fast food "meat" patties are? I used to crave a Big Mac about once every 3 or 4 years and enjoyed every bite. Post eaters remorse then kept me away for another few years. In between years, I'd ONLY eat the fish sandwich meal, until the fish became too suspect. My vote for fries is a toss up between Steak and Shake's skinny fries w/cheese and ketchup (like a potato pizza), and Five Guys au naturale fries slathered in ketchup. Two very different animals, I know. My fast food sandwich vote is for bringing back the original Burger King Whaler from 40 plus years ago, but only if it's the EXACT same bun, sauce, shredded lettuce and big square fish pattie. Or is it patty? I also justify fast food splurges because I grow many of my own vegetables.
KarenJ
In-n-out!! I had my 1st burger from there on a recent trip to California and it was so friggin good I could plan all my vacations to the US around In-n-Out locations. Their fries were kinda meh tho I gotta say. Now if they had McDonalds fries? That's a combo!
Lynn
A&W Teen Burger is my favourite with onion rings and a frosty mug of Root Beer. Second would be Big Mac with a small fry and pop. Never been over the moon on their french fries or their fountain pop. 5 Guys makes good fries though an Harvey’s is only for poutine 😄.
30 plus years ago there was a British Fish and Chips place close to the base in Victoria BC an I have not found a place that has come close to it since... 😳 every once in awhile I get a craving an it sucks...
Danielle
McDonald's fell off my radar for a few decades but I've been renewing my love for it. I'm at home with my toddler these days and we treat ourselves to a McDonald's lunch once a week. I also pop through the drive-through for a coffee occasionally. We eat healthy most of the time but we love our weekly burger/happy meal treat!
Heather
Another amusing post, Karen. Thanks! :D
I once found a perfectly intact McDonald's fry behind the seat of my car when I was cleaning it, and I couldn't recall when I'd last been to McDonald's: So, if bacteria didn't touch it, I'm pretty sure it's not actually food. That said, I do enjoy an occasional McDonald's junior chicken or cheeseburger, especially when I'm on the road: those little parcels of salty deliciousness are a welcome treat during a long drive. And their Americano coffees are good. Plus, we get those little stickers that get us free coffees.
Lin N
Well I don't eat cow...haven't for years. It's just a 'on principle' thing. Not because of allergies, sensitivities, or because I don't like it. Earlier in my life there was nothing I liked better than a Big Mac or cheeseburger. I was the cheeseburger queen. I decided one day that taking a stand for something would be good and that became 'I don't eat beef'. Soooo my favourite fast food now is A&W's Chicken Buddy Burger, fries and a diet root beer. I personally think their fries are better than Mac-ee D's. but we know taste is subjective. 😄
Karen
BETTER than McDonald's french fries??!! Oh dear, I'm going to have to keep my eye on you. ;) ~ karen!
Linda
I'm one of the few willing to say McDonald's fries taste like cold cardboard! They only retain their heat for about a minute. I vote for A&W Teenburger, fries and root beer, which also serves as dessert!!! Yay for A&W! Especially good after the last four days I've spent digging and pulling 300 sq ft of 60 year old ivy! Ya, small area, four days! That's how stubborn it was... What a chore, that's what I think of gardening (at the moment anyway)!
LibrarianNancy
The first time I had my dog in the car with me and went through McDonalds drive-through, and they handed me a bag of hot delicious-smelling food through the car window, I could tell by the look on his face that he was pretty sure there WAS such a thing as heaven and we had just arrived there. I'm a Big Mac fan too!
Jan in Waterdown
Hey Karen, have you tried the chicken shishtawouk (sp?) wrap at Paramount Foods on Upper James, with a fatoush salad? Soooooo good!
Theresa Clarkson-Farrell
Every year we drive way out on Long Island ( Baiting Hollow) from Queens to a Christmas Tree farm. We tramp all over - up hill and down trying to find the "perfect " Tree. usually we clock in about 21/2 - 3 miles of back and forth then as the sunsets we find the tree or one we can all basically agree on. We then carry it out - catch a ride on the wagons that come trolling for the last of the last. - Tree gets wrapped up - hoisted to car roof - secured - This ritual is done in the rain - the snow -the dark - warm or windy weather - after all that we drive to the local McDonalds and the whole family gets whatever they want. - then we drive back to Queens. Its once a year and its fast fun and delicious.And yes their fries are the best
Amy Watson
Big Mac large fry and chocolate shake used to be my number one favorite. It slipped to number two after I had a Steak and Shake Frisco melt with a large fry and a butterfingers milkshake yummy I'm glad I don't live close to either one or I would never cook again....I love a burger so much...
Barbara George
Couldn't agree more. As a lifetime "healthy eater", Y not follow the 85/15 rule: healthy eats 85% of the time and 15% of fill-yer-boots because we only live once. Poutine, once a summer, every summer, is truly life enhancing, no? My go-to fast food is A & W's grilled chicken pattie in a lettuce wrap with sweet potato fries. This is right after I've done 8 hours in the hot sun ditch digging....of course.
Trying to follow any regime to a 100% value is not only not fun, it's not even human.
Maureen Locke
McDonald's is my go to joint for a treat. I usually order a nugget combo with a cheeseburger on the side. The fries have gone downhill unless you get them right out of the fryer. I haven't had a crispy McDonald fry in years. Such a disappointment. My second choice would be KFC popcorn chicken and a Crispy Chicken Burger. No fries. I wish more places would serve onion rings. I love onion rings. Beer battered fish ( haddock only ) and chips is awesome too and a specialty of our local restaurants, as is creamed lobster. Fresh cut fries deep fried. Yum. Hmph, my leftover stew that we're having for supper tonight all of a sudden doesn't sound so appetizing. lol
Alex Nett
I love all these comments from people in cool places. Such diversity. I live in Houston and there are approximately a million places you can drive thru. It’s so ordinary I overlooked the magic, so thanks for pointing it out. We have a vibrant multicultural restaurant scene, food trucks, dive places to Michelin Star places and everything in between. Karen, you are damn right that McDonald’s fries and yes, Big Macs are delicious! No one is pretending they are organic or healthy. I love your utter lack of snobbism. We come to TAoDS for the good taste, stay for the real talk and laughs!