Carpe Diem Eating: The Travis Scott Meal

During a recent visit to the drive-through at McDonald's, I asked my son if he wanted his usual order of a cheeseburger, medium fries, and a medium cola. Instead, he asked for a Travis Scott meal. I assumed he meant that he wanted to hear Travis Scott on the radio, and ordered what he usually eats. While he did eat his lunch, my son was annoyed that it wasn't what he asked for and bemoaned that his father wasn't as knowledgeable and cool as his 9-year-old self. I knew that the restaurant still associated with a clown as its mascot, rebranding be damned, didn't name their sandwiches after people like a New York deli would. Until that moment, I only knew Travis Scott as the rapper who lip-synced his hit "Sicko Mode" during an awful Superbowl halftime show. But Kylie Jenner's baby daddy is also a big deal in the fast-food world. Last month, Scott teamed with McDonald's to market the way he levels up his order of the Quarter Pounder with Cheese, and the Cactus Jack meal was born for a limited time offer. What does this combo have to do with Mick Foley's hardcore wrestling persona? Who the hell knows, but it apparently led to some McDonald's locations running out of ingredients for this meal. This promotion somehow slipped under my radar, but it's still possible to have this celebrity-endorsed meal if you want to appear with it even when it sounds strange and weird. Who knows, maybe it can be a secret menu item if enough people ask for it.

THE TRAVIS SCOTT / CACTUS JACK MEAL

• Order a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, and ask for it to be topped with bacon and lettuce (I forgot that you can add toppings to hamburgers now).
• Ask for BBQ sauce for your French fries instead of ketchup (Travis likes the tanginess).
• To properly wash down a meal of this magnitude, order a Sprite with extra ice. 
• Bonus cool points if you substitute the Sprite for "Blueberry Faygo", the title of Scott contemporary Lil Mosey's biggest hit. As you can't get Faygo of any flavour at McDonald's, head to the nearest Dollar King in your area for a bottle.

Carpe Diem Eating - The Land Sea and Air Burger

"Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside."

Mark Twain

Carpe Diem Eating is about food combinations that shouldn't work but do; food creations that work so well, you're amazed they haven't been done before; and food creations so extravagant and extreme that you owe it to yourself to at least try it once. Today, the focus is on the various customer-created food hacks of the posted menu offerings at certain restaurants, such as...

The Land Sea and Air Burger

Description: This burger is comprised of every McDonald's protein - beef (the Land), fish (the Sea), and chicken (the Air).

Creation: Order a Big Mac, a Filet-O-Fish, and a McChicken. Put the McChicken and Filet-O-Fish patties inside the Big Mac along with however many buns you want, depending on how wide your mouth can open.

Cost: $14.87, plus tax; extra if you order fries with all that.

Comments: Thirty minutes afterward, I felt stuffed and slightly queasy from the tartar sauce - yes, I'm blaming the tartar sauce. Recommended for anyone needing to satisfy a large craving for Mickey D's.