Latest news with #McMuffins
Refinery29
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Refinery29
‘It Was A Clean Slate': The Unexpected Freedom Of Making New Friends As An Adult
'It was kind of like when you've just started dating someone,' Laura, 33, says. 'I sometimes freaked out that I was bombarding her with texts and plans but we could really talk for hours on end.' It was during a work presentation she didn't really need to be at that Laura met Georgie, 31. The two were sat next to each other and during an intermission, got to talking about what lie they could come up with to get out of sitting through the rest. 'We couldn't stop laughing the whole time and followed each other on Instagram on the spot.' It wasn't the first time that Laura had made a friend quickly, but what ensued was comparable to a friendship honeymoon period. Morning coffees turned to work lunches which turned to after-work drinks which stumbled into hungover mornings eating McMuffins in bed and watching reruns of The Real Housewives. ''You guys are like obsessed with each other' — that's what my boyfriend would say. I think it was weird for him since I wasn't like that with even some of my closest friends.' Three years later, and Laura laughs as she recalls a drunken dinner where she and Georgie sat on the floor eating takeaway, planning their latest imaginary side hustle, that they realised they were best friends. 'It kind of slipped out,' she says about the label. 'It was weird because I felt like I had just said 'I love you' to a partner or something, but hey, we've been best friends ever since.' When asked if she thought they would've been friends in high school though, her answer was a firm no. 'We grew up so differently and when I was going through my extended 'scene' phase, she was very much a Horse Girl,' she jokes. 'That said, I think we met at the right time. It's the same with romantic relationships, you really find your people when you know yourself better.' ' I knew that the glass had kind of shattered and that these people, who I really did love, were no longer the kind of people I was happy to be around ' Particularly when we're younger, friendships play an immeasurable part in our wellbeing. While we're going through change, grappling with our sense of the world and our place in it, having an open ear and shoulder to cry on is crucial. Friends help us to navigate the turbulence of adolescence and young adulthood, in many ways, help shape our identity. And it's the years of shared experiences and all the context they establish, that can bind us to these people. But what if these binds are just that: binds? Something restrictive and stagnant? The thing with Georgie was that she didn't know about the time Laura spread a rumour about her friend in high school, nor about those times she'd sing along to the 'n' word as an ignorant teen. She also didn't have to endure the endless frustration some of her other friends experienced during a particularly volatile young romance. 'It was like a clean slate,' says Laura. 'We just got to know each other purely based on who we are now, in the present, unencumbered by any deep-rooted issues or stigmas, and there was a freedom to that I didn't have elsewhere.' 'There was one time when I caught up with [Georgie] after a night out with old friends, and seeing her was weirdly like a breath of fresh air. Not because I had had a bad time or anything the night before, but it felt so good to just relax and be who I want to be, who I am instead of the person I fall back into when around my other friends.' And Laura's definitely not alone in experiencing this phenomenon. Some friendships demand that we unintentionally retreat to old versions of ourselves, the versions that others know us by — even if they aren't reflective of the people we are now. Yasmin, 26, agrees. 'I don't know what it is that comes over me but when I get together with a specific group of friends from my high school days, I turn into this gossiping bitch that I'm just not,' she laughs. 'Where it really hit me, how muc h I didn't need to be around them, was when I tried talking to them about the 2020 election… They didn't have anything to say and instead just joked about how it was 'cute' that I was talking about politics. Cute! Here, I was, over a decade later and still being spoken to like I was that girl who failed general maths in year eight.' 'I knew that the glass had kind of shattered and that these people, who I really did love, were no longer the kind of people I was happy to be around,' she explains. 'It's sad, and I didn't cut them out of my life, rather just saw their place in my life differently. I had grown apart from the group. I think we all had, actually.' In many ways, the pressure to remain the same versions of ourselves for other people can be awfully stifling. Even friendships that have seen us through life-altering changes are so soaked in the past that they don't give us the breathing room we need. For Erin, 23, the past is actually a pillar of her greatest relationship. 'Every time I see my best friend, it just feels like home,' she says. 'I know it sounds dramatic but she's closer to me than my own family and has been the one constant in my life. I honestly wouldn't have survived my teens if it weren't for her.' There is, of course, a world of understanding that can come with old friendships. Erin, who also has friends she's met in more recent years, believes that these connections go beyond words. 'We don't have to be speaking every minute of the day, in fact, I probably speak to coworkers and such more, but it's not the same. I don't think I could get to know someone the way I know her.' ' I had grown apart from these people. I think we all had, actually. ' When friendships are anchored by rich histories, they can begin to form roots, helping us feel unconditionally supported. But the reality is, these roots can form at any age, during any life stage. As Laura brings up, 'People always get surprised when they find out we aren't childhood friends… I get the sense that it kind of devalues our friendship in their eyes.' But the thing is, forging these relationships at an age when we know ourselves better has its advantages. 'The friendships I have now, I've established through common ground,' Yasmin tells us. 'Getting to know people without the pressure of say, being in school and needing to bend yourself to maintain the convenience of a group of friends, means you're able to get to know each other from a better starting point.' She adds that new relationships can always become old ones. 'Sure we might not be able to laugh about our old teachers or reminisce over funny childhood stories, but we just get each other, as we are now. And I enjoy my time, and who I am, way more around my current friends — who I've only known for about two years — than I do with friendships I have from my younger days.' Beyond just having things in common, there are a plethora of reasons we become friends with people. And it's easy to get so comfortable with the presence of people that we don't always stop to really think about what they actually bring to our lives and whether or not we actually want to be friends with them. For Laura, she worries that had she rigidly stuck to the friends she grew up with, she never would've given much to Georgie, and she might be stuck in 'the rut of talking about the same old things that I didn't realise I stopped caring about.' Her pondering raises the question: Do we need to meet new people to expand our worlds? Well, it's definitely not a bad idea. Are the friendships we make later in life any less deep than those we've held for years? Certainly not. The reality is that sometimes friendships really can run their course, and it's important to take stock of what is actually serving you and be open to new people.
Miami Herald
23-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
McDonald's to close all its experimental spin-off locations
Innovation seems to be the buzzword among fast-food giants, and McDonald's has taken this trend to heart by unveiling a massive announcement it had secretly been planning for years. Although McDonald's is the biggest fast-food giant of them all, it's currently facing its worst quarter since the pandemic. Continuous sales drops and declining traffic that failed to meet analysts' expectations have caused its shares to plummet multiple times. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter However, it refuses to give up that easily, and one market could be the key to bringing business back on track. Related: McDonald's menu adds experimental new items fans will love McDonald's claims to already have around 10% market share in coffee, despite not being a coffee-focused chain, and it's now using this stat to its advantage. Image source: TheMcDonald's (MCD) introduced CosMc's in 2023 and opened its first-ever location in Illinois as a test run for this new idea. CosMc's is a space-themed café focusing on uniquely crafted beverages, including coffee, frappés, iced teas, lemonades, and energy drinks. It also has multiple breakfast items, including its iconic McMuffins and new specialty sandwiches, as well as baked goods, snacks, and soft-serve ice cream. The concept went viral on social media before the café even opened, making its debut a huge success and growing its demand. This led it to open five more locations, one in Illinois and the rest in Texas. Related: McDonald's revamps its latest fast-food concept restaurants The creation of CosMc's allowed McDonald's to quietly test innovative items, while analyzing operations and learning from the process. As more CosMc's opened, the company revealed it was considering using that feedback to revamp its original menu, alluding to the potential launch of new food and beverage additions. McDonald's announced on May 23 that it will close all its CosMc's locations and deactivate its spin-off app in June. This shocking move comes about after McDonald's revealed in early May that it would begin testing an entirely new beverage menu inspired by CosMc's later this year at various locations in select markets nationwide. This is part of a new menu innovation strategy to help the company better compete against its fast-food rivals after it has dealt with multiple sales declines over the last few quarters. More Retail News: New Oreo collab slays with 'Only Murders' starWendy's menu adds snack chip collab nobody saw comingMcDonald's menu adds a brand new McFlurry McDonald's also introduced new "Category Management" teams in March, focusing on beef, chicken, and beverages/desserts to boost this initiative. "So when you think about profit-pool growth in the industry, we expect beverages is going to be a place where there's significant growth in the profit pool," said McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski in the announcement. "Frankly, we think there's more that we can be doing to capture our fair share of that," he added. Related: Veteran fund manager unveils eye-popping S&P 500 forecast The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
New York Post
21-05-2025
- General
- New York Post
How McDonald's transformed the Egg McMuffin sandwich forever with just one ingredient
There's a reason McMuffins have been egg-stra tasty in recent years. McDonald's beloved Egg McMuffin has stayed pretty consistent in its recipe since its debut 50 years ago — but one ingredient swap changed the breakfast sandwich for the better. If you order an Egg McMuffin, you'll receive a sandwich consisting of a freshly cracked Grade A egg, melted American cheese, a slice of Canadian bacon, placed on a toasted English Muffin, topped with real butter. 3 McDonald's Egg McMuffin consists of egg, American cheese, Canadian bacon, all on a buttery English Muffin. McDonald's But the beloved menu item didn't always feature real butter. If you've been a McDonald's customer for over a decade, you might notice a slight change in taste, most believe a better taste, thanks to a small alteration in ingredients. 3 McDonald's celebrated the 50th anniversary of the beloved breakfast sandwich this 2015, the fast food chain stopped using liquid margarine and switched to real dairy butter. The swap came as Americans began to realize that margarine isn't as healthy as everyone once thought it was, and the artificial product doesn't compare in quality or flavor to dairy-based butter. But such a seemingly small modification was actually a supersized venture for the chain. According to The Takeout, the process of phasing out margarine and bringing in real butter to breakfast items took about six months — though many customers are lovin' it and believe it was worth it. 3 In 2015, McDonald's stopped using liquid margarine and switched to real dairy butter. Christopher Sadowski McDonald's celebrated the 50th anniversary of the beloved breakfast sandwich this year, which debuted in 1975. According to McDonald's, the Egg McMuffin was first invented in 1971 by Herb Peterson, who presented it to Ray Krock, who is widely regarded as the 'Founder of McDonald's,' as the concept of putting a diner classic, Eggs Benedict, in the palm of your hand. 'When I watched my father introduce this idea to Ray Kroc, we could not have anticipated it would become the foundation for the renowned McDonald's breakfast menu,' Peterson's son and McDonald's owner/operator David Peterson, said in a statement. 'It's been remarkable to see people embrace this innovation over the last five decades, and now we get to share that heritage with a new generation of breakfast fans.'
Sydney Morning Herald
17-05-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
Terrell May once ate so much junk food he put on 25kg in two months. Last week, he didn't eat for three days
In the lead up to Wests Tigers' clash with Melbourne, Terrell May did not eat for three days. 'No one knows this, just the boys and the coaches, but I fasted for three days last week,' May says. 'There's heaps of benefits to a 72-hour fast. I just feel like I needed my body to reset. 'Just water, and I had black coffee here and there to stave off my hunger. I don't know if that's normal for people. 'Day two is the worst; you feel lazy and hungry, not focused. But once day three comes, it's like you're a new person. You actually feel more focused.' Not that the benefits were immediately apparent. 'Whatever the benefits,' May adds, referencing last weekend's 64-0 capitulation to the Storm, 'It didn't benefit me because we still got pumped.' May, who describes his current weight of 115kg as being a touch on the heavy side, has not always been so fastidious with his diet. During one of his sabbaticals from football, the Tigers prop put on 25 kilograms in two months, blowing out to 135kg. There was nothing high performance about his nutritional regime at the time. 'My breakfast would be a Macca's dinner box – like the breakfast one – and then for lunch I would have a Hungry Jack's box, and then in between that I would have like $50 worth of chocolates, lollies and chips,' he says. 'Then for dinner I'd eat whatever my family's eating.' Sometimes the Maccas family bundle wasn't enough on its own. 'Four burgers, four chips, four drinks, 20 nuggets,' he says. 'And then I'll get apple pie and sundaes, too. That was lunch. 'Breakfast was four McMuffins, four drinks, four orange juices, four hash browns.' Those burger-munching days are a thing of the past. May has embraced a lean, animal-based diet, free of seed oils and unnatural sugars. Instead of energy drinks, the 26-year-old turns to coconut water mixed with raw honey and Celtic salt. Never a big drinker, he recently marked four years without touching alcohol. 'I try to stay healthy because if I'm eating good and prepping my body for a long game, it's going to be the best outcome,' he says. Those lifestyle choices have had a profound effect. May has made a wildly successful transition from the Roosters to the Tigers, to the point where he is arguably the form prop in the NRL alongside Payne Haas. There have even been calls for May and Haas to be the starting front-rowers for NSW in the Origin series. 'It is one of my goals I have,' May says of the prospect of a Blues debut. 'You're not just playing for a team, you're playing for the whole state. 'I always dreamed of just playing one NRL game, but to be in the conversations, and seeing if I'm actually going to make it for my state, I feel like I'm playing for something more than just my family and myself. 'I feel like I'm playing for the whole state and whoever goes for the Blues.' Sitting second on the Dally M Medal leaderboard behind only Will Kennedy, May has made a compelling case for selection. He averages 172 metres and 40 tackles a game at an efficiency of 97.4 per cent. There isn't a prop in the game that comes close to his average game time of 72.7 minutes. A Blues debut would mean so much to the May family that father Jay, who has a fear of flying, is prepared to board a plane to attend the opening match at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium. 'Obviously it would mean a lot to me, but emotionally for my dad and my parents, they've worked so hard to just get their kids into the NRL and that was always a goal for them, for one of us to play in the State of Origin,' May says. 'And that's the only game that will probably make him cry, seeing me in that jersey.' There are other motivating factors behind May's stunning form surge. All his life, people have told the Mount Druitt product that he won't make it. At school, teachers predicted he wouldn't have a career in rugby league, and he didn't make the 30-man squad at Patrician Brothers' College Blacktown. Then there are the haters on social media, where May is active with his vlogs and gaming channel. 'I've had a bigger 'why' this year – to prove everyone wrong and to prove myself wrong, that I was better than what I am,' he says. 'I just feel like I have a lot to prove, not to just myself, but to all the people that doubted me before I went to the Tigers. 'All the people that were saying stuff about me, each week I go into it trying to prove those haters wrong, so it's been good.' And then there's the Roosters. For reasons that have never been properly articulated, the Tricolours chose to cut the Samoan international free. It's a decision that has provided even more motivation. 'They're another big reason why I want to play very good this year,' May says. 'Obviously a lot of stuff happened in the past, but that was one of my big motivations, to come in this year and prove to them, why would you let me go? 'But at the end of the day, I've moved forward and that was my motivation for a bit, but now my motivation is different.' Pushing himself to the limit is a recurring theme. In a bid to churn out marathon minutes, May ran a marathon in the off-season. With the help of friends, including footballing brothers Jake and Izack Tago, May completed the 42.2km he had marked out from his house in Mount Druitt to a track in Werrington. 'It's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life,' he says of a journey that took five hours and 37 minutes. 'It took me a week to recover from that.' During next off-season, he plans to run an official marathon, with a goal of completing it in under four hours. 'I feel like in NRL or life in general is more mental than physical,' he says. 'I feel like whatever you put your mind to, you're gonna do it. Whenever I'm struggling or feel some type of way about stuff physically, I just always go back to my mental [toughness]. 'I just look at it as I should just be grateful. It hurts at the time, but at the end of the day, you're doing what you love.' Another driver is the ambition to play with his younger brother. Taylan May was sacked by the Panthers, but the winger is permitted to return to the NRL after domestic violence charges levelled against him were withdrawn. Loading Taylan has declared he is ready to return to the game after a stint in rehab. 'No one knew about what was going on with him, so it was a bit hard on the family and myself,' Terrell says. 'I just know he really wants to come back and play in the NRL. 'Obviously when you're playing with your brother, you're going to have more motivation, so hopefully he can come over [to the Tigers] and we can get the best out of him. 'He's still young, he's only 23, he's still got a lot to learn, and his body will get bigger, he'll get faster, stronger. 'Hopefully he'll come over and prove to everyone that he's still got it. We'll pray and see what happens.' We're all waiting to see what Terrell does next.
The Age
17-05-2025
- Health
- The Age
Terrell May once ate so much junk food he put on 25kg in two months. Last week, he didn't eat for three days
In the lead up to Wests Tigers' clash with Melbourne, Terrell May did not eat for three days. 'No one knows this, just the boys and the coaches, but I fasted for three days last week,' May says. 'There's heaps of benefits to a 72-hour fast. I just feel like I needed my body to reset. 'Just water, and I had black coffee here and there to stave off my hunger. I don't know if that's normal for people. 'Day two is the worst; you feel lazy and hungry, not focused. But once day three comes, it's like you're a new person. You actually feel more focused.' Not that the benefits were immediately apparent. 'Whatever the benefits,' May adds, referencing last weekend's 64-0 capitulation to the Storm, 'It didn't benefit me because we still got pumped.' May, who describes his current weight of 115kg as being a touch on the heavy side, has not always been so fastidious with his diet. During one of his sabbaticals from football, the Tigers prop put on 25 kilograms in two months, blowing out to 135kg. There was nothing high performance about his nutritional regime at the time. 'My breakfast would be a Macca's dinner box – like the breakfast one – and then for lunch I would have a Hungry Jack's box, and then in between that I would have like $50 worth of chocolates, lollies and chips,' he says. 'Then for dinner I'd eat whatever my family's eating.' Sometimes the Maccas family bundle wasn't enough on its own. 'Four burgers, four chips, four drinks, 20 nuggets,' he says. 'And then I'll get apple pie and sundaes, too. That was lunch. 'Breakfast was four McMuffins, four drinks, four orange juices, four hash browns.' Those burger-munching days are a thing of the past. May has embraced a lean, animal-based diet, free of seed oils and unnatural sugars. Instead of energy drinks, the 26-year-old turns to coconut water mixed with raw honey and Celtic salt. Never a big drinker, he recently marked four years without touching alcohol. 'I try to stay healthy because if I'm eating good and prepping my body for a long game, it's going to be the best outcome,' he says. Those lifestyle choices have had a profound effect. May has made a wildly successful transition from the Roosters to the Tigers, to the point where he is arguably the form prop in the NRL alongside Payne Haas. There have even been calls for May and Haas to be the starting front-rowers for NSW in the Origin series. 'It is one of my goals I have,' May says of the prospect of a Blues debut. 'You're not just playing for a team, you're playing for the whole state. 'I always dreamed of just playing one NRL game, but to be in the conversations, and seeing if I'm actually going to make it for my state, I feel like I'm playing for something more than just my family and myself. 'I feel like I'm playing for the whole state and whoever goes for the Blues.' Sitting second on the Dally M Medal leaderboard behind only Will Kennedy, May has made a compelling case for selection. He averages 172 metres and 40 tackles a game at an efficiency of 97.4 per cent. There isn't a prop in the game that comes close to his average game time of 72.7 minutes. A Blues debut would mean so much to the May family that father Jay, who has a fear of flying, is prepared to board a plane to attend the opening match at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium. 'Obviously it would mean a lot to me, but emotionally for my dad and my parents, they've worked so hard to just get their kids into the NRL and that was always a goal for them, for one of us to play in the State of Origin,' May says. 'And that's the only game that will probably make him cry, seeing me in that jersey.' There are other motivating factors behind May's stunning form surge. All his life, people have told the Mount Druitt product that he won't make it. At school, teachers predicted he wouldn't have a career in rugby league, and he didn't make the 30-man squad at Patrician Brothers' College Blacktown. Then there are the haters on social media, where May is active with his vlogs and gaming channel. 'I've had a bigger 'why' this year – to prove everyone wrong and to prove myself wrong, that I was better than what I am,' he says. 'I just feel like I have a lot to prove, not to just myself, but to all the people that doubted me before I went to the Tigers. 'All the people that were saying stuff about me, each week I go into it trying to prove those haters wrong, so it's been good.' And then there's the Roosters. For reasons that have never been properly articulated, the Tricolours chose to cut the Samoan international free. It's a decision that has provided even more motivation. 'They're another big reason why I want to play very good this year,' May says. 'Obviously a lot of stuff happened in the past, but that was one of my big motivations, to come in this year and prove to them, why would you let me go? 'But at the end of the day, I've moved forward and that was my motivation for a bit, but now my motivation is different.' Pushing himself to the limit is a recurring theme. In a bid to churn out marathon minutes, May ran a marathon in the off-season. With the help of friends, including footballing brothers Jake and Izack Tago, May completed the 42.2km he had marked out from his house in Mount Druitt to a track in Werrington. 'It's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life,' he says of a journey that took five hours and 37 minutes. 'It took me a week to recover from that.' During next off-season, he plans to run an official marathon, with a goal of completing it in under four hours. 'I feel like in NRL or life in general is more mental than physical,' he says. 'I feel like whatever you put your mind to, you're gonna do it. Whenever I'm struggling or feel some type of way about stuff physically, I just always go back to my mental [toughness]. 'I just look at it as I should just be grateful. It hurts at the time, but at the end of the day, you're doing what you love.' Another driver is the ambition to play with his younger brother. Taylan May was sacked by the Panthers, but the winger is permitted to return to the NRL after domestic violence charges levelled against him were withdrawn. Loading Taylan has declared he is ready to return to the game after a stint in rehab. 'No one knew about what was going on with him, so it was a bit hard on the family and myself,' Terrell says. 'I just know he really wants to come back and play in the NRL. 'Obviously when you're playing with your brother, you're going to have more motivation, so hopefully he can come over [to the Tigers] and we can get the best out of him. 'He's still young, he's only 23, he's still got a lot to learn, and his body will get bigger, he'll get faster, stronger. 'Hopefully he'll come over and prove to everyone that he's still got it. We'll pray and see what happens.' We're all waiting to see what Terrell does next.
