Homemade Shamrock Shake

A few days early, but Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I didn't make any overtly Irish food this year because Dave and I are finally going on our honeymoon (only 3 1/2 years late) in May and we'll be headed to Ireland!  I'm looking forward to trying some different foods straight from the source, so I didn't want to ruin it by making my own, likely inaccurate, version first.  So to pay homage to the holiday, I whipped up a couple of frosty, creamy, minty dessert in just the right shade of green. This recipe is a great knock-off of the fast-food version of a shamrock shake, taking a thick and creamy vanilla milk shake and giving it a touch of mint and green for a little festive treat.

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

I'm a year-round ice cream eater.  I don't care how cold it is outside or how cold I complain that I am, if I want ice cream, I'm going to eat ice cream.  Additionally, ice cream is generally the cure for what ails you in my family.  Sore throat?  Cough medicine, plenty of fluids, and ice cream.  Headache?  Two ibuprofen and ice cream, with sprinkles.  When my dad broke his leg and my mom took a photo of him in his cast to send to us, he was conspicuously eating something out of a bowl.  Immediately my then-three-year-old niece said it must be ice cream (it totally was).  Because ice cream has healing powers.  Apparently.  I bought some ice cream, deciding vanilla would be a good choice because a) Dave loves vanilla; and b) I could turn it into any flavor milkshake I wanted.  So when I offered Dave a milkshake after spying some leftover pumpkin in the fridge, I had an ulterior motive.  Of course Dave accepted the offer and when I asked if he wanted a special flavor, he's ears perked.  He surprised me at wanting to try a pumpkin pie flavored milkshake, but we were both glad he did.  This milkshake tastes eerily similar to it's pie counterpart, tasting exactly like the creamy pie goodness, with a dash of graham cracker crust and a perfect dollop of whipped cream.