Remember those old commercials for McDonald’s gift certificates?? Remember just how happy the recipients of those gift certificates were? The smiling postal carrier? The beaming librarian? Imagine, to have the good fortune to receive an entire booklet of five $1 McDonald’s gift certificates in your stocking…..

Well, times have changed.
And I saw the documentary “Super Size Me.”
And I was slightly horrified.

So I stayed away from McDonald’s for a long time….until one day when it had been a very long day with the kids at the local swimming hole and everyone was cranky for dinner and I had nothing in the fridge. So I caved. That, and the toy theme that week was Star Wars.

So today, feeling a little, ummm, tired from a night out at a festive holiday party, I decided that with my cappuccino I would partake in a McDonald’s apple pie.

My husband, who constantly makes fun of my consumption of “nuts and berries” and things like salmon and tofu, was quite surprised that I would head down that slippery slope that is the golden arches.

But just the thought of the gooey hot apple filling…the flaky, buttery cinnamon-covered crust…the memory as a kid, of that fabulous combination of an apple pie and hot chocolate after we’d gone sledding with the neighbors…back before McDonald’s was the devil of all food and the closest thing we had to organic was Grape Nuts.

Ahhhh…

So here’s a holiday hint: If you happen to find a McD’s gift certificate in your stocking this year, I highly recommend that you indulge just a little..and actually use it.

Just for the sake of nostalgia, of course.