St. Patty's Day Blog Hop - Shamrock Shake

Happy Monday everyone!  I'm glad you're here, because today I have a special treat for you!

About a month ago, I was contacted by Joan of Chocolate, Chocolate, and more, inviting a few other bloggers and I to join together in a St. Patty's Day blog hop.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with this term, a blog hop is an organized event where a number of bloggers work together to post something with a unifying theme at the same day, same time, with links in each post to the other participating blogs.  Of course, I was happy to participate.  It's a great way to not only gain exposure and acquire more page views, but also to encourage a sense of community around the "blogosphere" and make new blogger-friends!

Since our theme is St. Patty's Day, we scheduled our blog hop a week in advance so that all of our readers will have plenty of time to visit everyone's posts and gain recipes and ideas in time for the holiday.  As it turns out, all of us bloggers ended up making a wide variety of foods, so there should be something for everyone.  We have savory things, sweet desserts, and my contribution, a Shamrock Shake!

Apparently, McDonald's is known for making this minty shake every year around St. Patty's Day.  I've honestly never tried the fast-food variety, but if something tastes good from a fast food chain, then it's almost guaranteed to taste even better if made at home.  Plus, I'm always a little cautious when it comes to fast food anyway...especially if it's a green milky drink, so I prefer making it myself!

Luckily, this recipe requires only a few ingredients, so you can be sure that this milkshake is pure, without any fast-food "mystery preservatives."  All you need is some vanilla ice cream, milk (I use soy milk), peppermint extract, and green food coloring.  If you want to get extra fancy, you can add some whipped cream to the top, and garnish with green sprinkles.

I'm usually not a huge fan of minty things, but the creamy flavor of the vanilla ice cream in this milkshake makes the mint subtle and enjoyable.  Also, the green food coloring only adds a hint of color, so the milkshake is pale green, similar to mint ice cream.  I think it seems much more edible than something that was tinted BRIGHT green.  If you tend to like mint-chocolate chip ice cream or grasshopper pie, I'm sure you would enjoy this refreshing milkshake.

Please visit the rest of the talented bloggers involved in today's St. Patty's Day Blog Hop:

Debi over at Recipe for my Boys made Colcannon-an Irish Stew

Carrie from Carrie's Experimental Kitchen made an Irish Feast

Melissa at Chin Deep made Apple Bramble Cake with Bushmill's Custard

Lesa at Edesia's Notebook made Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup

Michaela at Affair from the Heart made Irish Cream Cheesecake

Joan at Chocolate, Chocolate and more made Grasshopper Pie

Thanks to Joan at Chocolate, Chocolate and more for making this blog hop possible!  It's been a lot of fun and I'll be supporting everyone's blogs in the future.  

Everyone else, stay tuned, because I do have a few more St. Patty's recipes up my sleeve...for now, enjoy the recipe for the Shamrock Shake!

My dog, Molly, was in this photo so I just couldn't resist not putting it up!

Shamrock Shake

Print this recipe

Adapted from She Knows

Yield:  2 servings

Ingredients:

1 pint (2 cups) vanilla ice cream

1 cup soy milk

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

1/4 tsp green food coloring

Whipped cream and green sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

Place ice cream, milk, peppermint extract, and green food coloring in a blender.  Cover and blend on high speed until smooth.  

Pour into glasses.  Top with whipped cream and sprinkles, if desired.  Serve immediately.