Shake It Up

I have a complicated relationship with shakes. It started in childhood when I developed Shake Anxiety. This is a condition wherein you panic when it’s time to choose a shake flavor. There are so many options and combinations, but at the same time, you don’t wanna choose too many mix-ins because a shake can go from $4 to $7 just because you asked for a few mini marshmallows. You have to be careful not to go too “specialty” because “specialty” shakes are up in the college tuition zone. The pressure is just too high! And with all the shakes I've tried in my life, I've never really found the flavor - my flavor (except for the rocky road shake at Dairy Keen. That's Keen, not to be confused with Queen. I don't know what keen is, but I like their food, so I just go with it, and it's the only place I am secure with ordering a shake). 

Another thing that makes my relationship with shakes complicated is that I always feel sick when I eat them. They are so deceiving in their sizing! A small shake, say 12 ounces, usually looks too little, but then I get one, and 6 ounces in, I start to feel yucky. Not “lactose intolerant yucky,” but the yucky that comes simply from overindulgence (last year I went off dairy at the request of my doctor, and I am pleased to say I don’t believe I am lactose intolerant! It was the happiest thing to discover about myself! Second happiest discovery is that I’m also not gluten intolerant!) 

Now don’t get me wrong! This girl can eat a ton of crap, so it’s not a matter of having made healthy choices throughout my life and not being able to handle my junk food. Shakes are an anomaly. Hot chocolate is another, and I love hot chocolate! But I have to keep my cocoa under 6 ounces.

Suffice it to say, I haven’t been much of a shake eater in my 39 years. However, right after I graduated high school, I started working at the local dairy, and we served shakes. Learning to make shakes was quite daunting. We used styrofoam cups, and the mixer would often puncture the cups. Because of this, most employees were hesitant to really get a good mix and get the ingredients way down to the bottom. We all secretly dreaded being asked to make shakes and would employ sneaky tactics to get out of it, such as pretending to be busy with something else, or yelling, “I did the last one! It’s your turn!” 

With time, my shake making skills improved, and customers started requesting me specifically to make their shakes. I didn’t mean to get good at it! I never wanted to be the shake maker, but there was also something very self-esteem building about being requested. So I tried to make the best of it. This helped me recover from my previous job at a donut shop where customers specifically requested that I not make their cappuccinos or iced coffees because, apparently, I sucked at it (future employers stalking my blog, take note). 

While I worked at the dairy, I pretty much had unlimited access to ice cream, so sometimes I would make myself a little mini shake - about 4 ounces - and that was a nice treat! Right size, right price, and a lot less anxiety.

But that was 20 years ago, and now my Shake Anxiety is going full throttle.

So why am I bringing this up? Because I had a shake today, and as always, I didn’t know what flavor to get, so when it was my turn to state my choice, I panic ordered, “Raspberry Rice Krispy!” I’ve never seen Rice Krispies on a shake menu before, and a month ago, I never would have considered ordering Rice Krispies in a shake. But I recently had a cereal and ice cream experience. I took my kids to Cold Stone, and Eva ordered cotton candy ice cream with Fruity Pebbles (quick note that Cold Stone gives me the same anxiety as shakes). As one would predict, Eva didn’t finish her creation, and she handed it to me with at least half still in the dish, so I started eating it. I would have assumed that cereal in ice cream would go soggy quickly, but I was surprised to find that it was still crunchy, and frankly, kind of delightful. I appreciate crunch in the right places. Crunch in ice cream? Yes to that! Eva’s ice cream opened a new door for me… a door that led to cereal in ice cream as a real possibility. Therefore, Raspberry Rice Krispy.

Would I order it again? Nah. 

But… the Rice Krispies were good. The crunch! There is potential there. 

So as I continue working on my Shake Anxiety, I can note that shakes are best (for me) in 4-6 ounce portions and possibly with Rice Krispies. I just don’t know what goes with the Rice Krispies, but I’ll be sure to report back if I find it!