Somehow this week accidentally became about me redoing McDonald's desserts. 

I had plans to share another dish today, something with corned beef and cabbage and brown bread, but I was feeling kind of meh about it and a then a lighting strike of inspiration hit me at approximately 5:05 pm yesterday, for something green and minty and (most importantly) that would help me use up the whipped cream I had waiting in my refrigerator*. On the bus ride home, I urgently texted my ex-barista sister about how fast I could reasonably cool down hot milk without giving myself food poisoning. Answer: not that fast. I hurried to my neighborhood grocery store, where I found a barren wasteland offering fresh mint but no vanilla ice cream. I found some at the Walgreens next door then speed-limped home to race the sunset**.

*Is this just a problem I have? Why don't I ever have useful things like extra eggs waiting in the fridge?

**#photographynovice #ineedlight

And in a St. Patrick's Day miracle, I won! Daylight Savings, which I have been cursing every morning this week, gave me the extra hour of natural light that I needed while I steeped mint tea in warm milk and anxiously watched the horizon. Once the milk had cooled to lukewarm I whisked in some matcha, a.k.a. the green part, over an ice bath. I blended the milk mixture with ice cream, poured it into a glass and topped it off with a scoop of the whipped cream. The result was a creamy, refreshing, and naturally green milkshake with a subtle cool minty flavor tempered pleasantly by the matcha.  It's free of food coloring, imitation extracts, and whatever else lurks in that fast food version. 

Is now the time to mention I've never had a real Shamrock Shake?

Shamrock Shake

Makes 2 shakes

1 cup whole milk
2 mint tea bags
2 tsp matcha powder (food grade, don't use the pricey stuff here)
vanilla ice cream
whipped cream, optional, for garnish

1. Gently heat the milk in a small saucepan. Add the tea bags and cover. Remove from heat and let steep 1 hour.
2. Pour the milk into a medium bowl and whisk in the matcha powder until milk is frothy and has turned bright green. You can do this in a bowl set inside another larger bowl filled with ice water, to rapidly cool the milk, or you can whisk in the matcha and then chill the milk mixture in the refrigerator. Either way, you want the milk very cold so it doesn't melt the ice cream.
3. When ready to make milkshakes, add milk mixture to a blender, then scoop in desired amount of ice cream. Blend until combined. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.