~* This post was declared a Runners Up in the 'Let's Put A Smile On That Face' Contest organised by McCain & Indiblogger. *~
My parents were spending their summer in London, so this year it fell on me to uphold this sacred family tradition.
And guess what I did? I promptly forgot all about it. No really! The one year I was responsible for her birthday celebrations I completely absolutely forgot.
In my defense, it had been a super busy week. I would come home from office way past midnight, fall fully clothed on the bed and pass out. Wake up late the next day and rush to office … well you know the drill.
On my the cab ride back home, I decided to check Facebook. I hadn't logged in since yesterday, or was it the day before? – Yes, I was that busy – As I scrolled through my notifications, there was one that jumped on me – Celebrate with Little Sister today. Write a birthday wish on her timeline.
Oh. My. God. How did I forget?
But after my initial panic attack, the logical side of me took over. I had some serious damage control to do.Thankfully I lived a stone's throw away from a 24 X 7 convenience store and given the time of night it was my only hope.
Of course I could go home and bake a beautiful cake and cook up some amazing snacks. But given my prowess in the kitchen, lets mark that as Plan B... OK. Who am I kidding? Make that Plan Z.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, the convenience store. So, they had no steamers or balloons. But I found some fancy masquerade ball masks. There was no birthday cake either. But I got some chocolate cupcakes and a can of whipped cream. I picked up a few packet of chips and a box of chocolates.
While I was debating whether I could pass off cup noodles as snacks, the friendly salesperson came to my rescue.
"Why don't you try some McCain's precooked snacks?", she suggested. "Just pop them in the fryer and tasty snacks will be ready in a matter of minutes!"
Oh Cool! I can do that!
"What do you have?" I asked.
"There is French Fries, Potato Smiles, Chilli garlic Potato Bites, Super Wedges, Veggie Burger Patty, Aloo Tikki, Veggie Nuggets, Cheese & Jalapeno Nuggets and Potato Cheese Shots," she rattled.
"I will take one of everything," I said quickly. Everything sounded delicious! Besides I did not want to waste any more time trying to decide. I had been meaning to stock up our fridge anyway!
As she rang up my order she offered one last advice, "You could try baking instead of frying too. Tastes equally good."
There you go! It's tasty and healthy too!
I rushed home and frantically started my preparations. Thanks to McCain I had a rustled up enough snacks for a small shindig in no time! ... Wow! I was good!... OK let's be honest here, all credits go to McCain.
All that was left to do top the cupcakes with whipped cream and candles ... Oh! come on! All fancy restaurants are doing that!
Switch on the fairy lights... We had some left over from Diwali
Put on my mask. Wake my little sister and yell "Happy Birthday!"
Needless to say, my sister was smiling from ear to ear at the scrumptious spread in front of her.
...
Well done Me! There was no way she could tell that I had forgotten all about her birthday.
Alright! She did get suspicious over the lack of a birthday card or gift – I had to pretend I had forgotten it in office – But then when you have a plate full of deliciously crispy french fries you hardly dwell on such thoughts! What can I say, people are always so trusting when surrounded by mouth watering goodies!
So, this is my story of how McCain snacks saved her (birth) day and made my beloved little sister smile.
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#SmileAThon
This post is my entry for a contest organised by Indiblogger and McCain Foods (India)
For details about the delightful fried/baked goodness please visit http://www.mccainindia.com/
Image Credit: All images used in this post are from McCain Foods (India)'s web page.
This post is my entry for a contest organised by Indiblogger and McCain Foods (India)
For details about the delightful fried/baked goodness please visit http://www.mccainindia.com/
Image Credit: All images used in this post are from McCain Foods (India)'s web page.