The Golden Arches

a mcdonald's sign with the famous golden arches

Image by: Mike Mozart

Our world has been taken over by technology and its constant improvisation that allows us to become more tech savvy and heavily rely on in order to simply get through the day. With a world of technology that is readily available to us on the daily basis such as cellphones, televisions, computers, laptops, and tablets; it makes it difficult to disconnect from the technically advanced world. The easy accessibility of a cellphone allows us to easily get distracted from the world around us. And social media platforms only make this more difficult as it becomes an aspect of sharing our everyday lives with others on a public forum. With the help of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram; it forces life to become this competition of trying trendy things or the number of friends that one has as well as having the most exciting life with many other people who are readily interested in the activities that you partake in on the daily basis.

One of the most iconic fast food restaurants has created many innovative ideas over the years. This restaurant has received such a bad reputation over the years in terms of their decline in the quality of their food as well as the unfairness of the wages being earned by their employees. But this particular franchise that is reknownly recognized by their famous golden arches have made many improvements in each of their restaurants and the protests that their employees made for higher wages for fast food workers paved a way for higher wages for other fast food restaurants. McDonalds has been so helpful in providing many job opportunities as well as being involved in charitable causes such as the Ronald McDonald House Charities which allows extremely affordable housing and lodging for a temporary period of time for the benefit of families while their child battles cancer.

phone carrying lockers

Image by: CNN Travel

Although, McDonalds is viewed similarly all over the world, the franchise varies from country to country. The franchise of McDonalds in France specifically has a more café-styled restaurant as they sell a variety of prepared coffee raging from lattes to iced frappuccinos and other snack foods such as scones or macarons. McDonalds in Singapore are now trialing a new way of providing a place to eat while having quality time with family of other loved ones during the meal. It has a distraction-free zone in which you can relinquish your cellular device and receive a locker to lock your phone away while you eat. This will allow you to eat your meal with the distractions that using your cellphone usually brings. Simple things like just checking the time can lead to taking pictures of your food, texting a friend, or checking social media updates instead of alternatively just thoroughly enjoying your food without the choice of multitasking.

Comment below on your thoughts and if you think that this would be a great idea for American restaurants.

Free Cone Day at Dairy Queen

ice cream cone with a unique curl

Vanilla Ice Cream Cone At DQ with the Signature Curl (Image by: The Huffington Post)

 

You scream. We scream. We all scream for ice cream! Even though it is still wintery, it is only four days till spring begins. Today is a day of celebration for Dairy Queen as it commemorates its 75th anniversary of being open for business serving customers the “fan food not fast food.” Coincidentally, on the 75th calendar day of the year, this March 16th, participating Dairy Queen locations are offering a free vanilla small cone with the signature curl on the top to every customer which is limited to a single cone. Dairy Queen representatives have already stated that the company will be offering many food and treat innovations during the year to show their appreciation to their dedicated fans while celebrating being opened for 75 years, Dairy Queen even kicked off their celebration at the start of the year by featuring a birthday cake Oreo blizzard. On the behalf of Dairy Queen’s generosity, in turn, they are hoping that guests donate to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals which the company has sponsored for the past thirty years, in order to raise funds for children’s hospitals, medical research, and awareness of children’s health issues.  These donations will help save and improve the lives of children that are currently being treated at the 170 children’s hospitals across the United States and Canada.  Ice cream always taste good during any season at any time despite the flavor but it will taste even better knowing that you could be helping children all around America. And if you happen to be a fan of Dairy Queen, stay informed for all their special events either with their website or for a particular location with Facebook.

 

New York Dairy Queen locations participating in Free Cone Day:

5366 Sunrise Highway, Massapequa, NY

3095 Hempstead Tpk., Levittown, NY

54 W 14th St. New York, NY

Staten Island Ferry St. George Terminal Staten Island, NY

Bay Plaza Mall Bronx, NY

37-39 Junction Blvd. Corona, NY

 

If you can’t make it to any of the Dairy Queen locations but still want some fresh ice cream to eat. Here is one of the simplest vanilla ice cream recipes.

churning ice cream

Image by: Bordecia34

 

Vanilla Bean Gelato
Serves: approximately 1 quart
Ingredients
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 4 egg yolks
  • Âľ cups granulated sugar
Instructions
  1. Place the milk, vanilla bean and vanilla extract in a saucepan over medium heat and heat until almost boiling. Beat together the egg yolks and sugar. Remove the milk from the heat and whisk slowly into the egg mixture. Return the pot to the heat and stir until the mixture thickens slightly, approximately 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and discard the vanilla bean. Allow to cool (preferably overnight).
  2. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions until the gelato is frozen and scoopable. Alternatively, place the mixture in a metal container and freeze, beating at 1-hour intervals, until the gelato is scoopable.

Recipe mostly adapted from: Savory Simple