Last week I was hit with the news that my McDonald's no longer had hot mustard sauce. For over 20 years I have had hot mustard sauce with my fries (yes, not my nuggets). It is breaking my heart that it has been discontinued. Before you start thinking I am such a whiner, there are really reasons why it hurts.
It all starts when my first boy, Keith, was about 1 years old. We lived within walking distance of the McDonald's in town. We were pretty poor at the time, so when I saved up enough quarters to buy a two cheeseburger meal for $2.99 ($3.24 with tax) we would walk down to the McDonald's. There was a little playground and we would share the little meal. One day they were out of ketchup and knowing that Keith liked to dip his fries, I grabbed a hot mustard sauce (this was when they left the sauces out in a container and you could choose whatever you wanted instead of having to beg at the counter). To my astonishment, he loved it and it turned out so did I. Keith is all grown up now. He is attending college in Ellensburg and probably doesn't remember our little walks to the McDonald's, but I do. They are a sweet, tender memory.
When I was going through a really rough patch in my life, hot mustard sauce was involved there too. We had moved to Enumclaw where I didn't know anybody and was having a hard time fitting in. Not only that, my now ex-husband had told me he didn't love me anymore but didn't want to get divorced. Here I was with three boys, no support system, and was terribly unhappy. My ex worked two jobs and sometimes didn't get home till 8-9pm. When he would get home I would jump in the car and head down to the McDonald's and order a large coke, fries, and hot mustard sauce. I would sit in my car in the parking lot listening to melancholy music and would try to find the strength to make it through one more day. It was a very trying time.
I know everyone isn't a big fan of McDonald's, and though it isn't the fine dining that some of us crave it has been there for me in some of the darkest times of my life. Even today my husband knows that if I am parked in the driveway and haven't come in yet that I am most likely outside sipping on a large coke and fires with hot mustard sauce. It may not be healthy to have this kind of connection to a food in making myself feel better, but it certainly has been cheaper than some of the therapy I have paid for with often better results.
When my family goes to pick up anything at
McDonald's for me, they know the golden rule is don't forget mom's hot
mustard sauce. Well, at least now they won't have to get the stink eye for forgetting.
