Birthday Traditions

Zyni

Zyni

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I always let the kids pick out whatever they wanted for dinner on their birthdays. I'd make anything they asked for if I could make (and afford) it. I'd go all out. Then, they also got to pick the type and flavor of cake, frosting, and ice cream.

I enjoyed doing it for them, and they enjoyed having it be all about them.

Do you have birthday traditions at your house?
 
We always do birthday tea for all the cousins,and family friends ,it's a big event a excuse for the family to get together ,the cake is the choice of the birthday person ,
And you got to have a Blancmange rabbit and jelly .....oh and ice cream
 
I always make everyone's favorite dinner in my family. They get to pick out what we have for dinner on the night of their birthday and I then make it with a lot of love and care. I also make a cake or a dessert and we do something special on that day.
 
A grew up with a belief in our tradition that during a birthday you should prepare food like pasta and noodles for long life. That is why we always cooked Spaghetti or Pancit our traditonal noodles. But now that I am living already in a different culture here in my husband country it is a different one. They cooked Seaweed Soup and let the celebrant eat this and for them it is for good health and life in the year or years to come. Each country had different traditions when it comes to celebrating birthdays.
 
My birthday tradition since I was sixteen is not to celebrate my birthday. At all. I don't tell people when my birthday is. Most people have no idea or believe they know & I let them believe it. Just a personal preference. I don't find it to be sad or that I'm missing out on anything. I actually find it to be liberating in a sense.
 
Zyni said:
I always let the kids pick out whatever they wanted for dinner on their birthdays. I'd make anything they asked for if I could make (and afford) it. I'd go all out. Then, they also got to pick the type and flavor of cake, frosting, and ice cream.

I enjoyed doing it for them, and they enjoyed having it be all about them.

Do you have birthday traditions at your house?
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Oh I love it. This is our tradition too. Started when I was a kid. There were four children in my family so we didn't do birthday parties with friends. (I think my mom just knew it would become too much doing this four times a year.) But we either got to pick our favorite meal or choose a restaurant.

We now do the same thing with our kids, and they do love it. We always do cake and presents after dinner. Maybe some extended family comes or maybe a couple of family friends, but nothing big deal. Low key but very personal. That way every year doesn't become a challenge to out-do the previous year, you know?
 
Exactly right. I never could do the "outdo" every year thing. Besides, our family was big enough to make our own party, haha. When we had more family around we would do stuff with them too.

I think it's really nice. It makes their day all about them, plus you get to cook fun stuff.
 
Birthdays are easy at my house. Both me and the OH always want an Indian takeaway with plenty of ice cold beer. There's usually a cake too, baked by the non-celebrant.
 
missbishi said:
Birthdays are easy at my house. Both me and the OH always want an Indian takeaway with plenty of ice cold beer. There's usually a cake too, baked by the non-celebrant.
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That sounds nice and cozy. I like that they all wanted something different, in my case. I liked seeing what they would come up with, and then figuring out how to make it, if it was something unusual. I just think it's a fun tradition, and I wondered if anyone else did something similar.

It's funny, my grown kids miss it. Better yet, last year my oldest came over and cooked for my birthday. :)
 
Since mine and my sister's birthday take place during the summer, we have plenty of time to cook and prepare the dishes on our own. For example, my mom and grandma would usually cook the main course dishes that we preferred such as Filipino spaghetti, lumpia (spring rolls), barbecue, etc. When I learned how to bake, I started making small pastries such as cupcakes or brownies for our parties but not an actual cake yet. This year, I want to celebrate it by trying to bake my own mocha cake from scratch! I'm still looking for a delicious yet cheap recipe to try out so any suggestions would be welcome :).
Sometimes, our family also like to eat out if we plan to have many relatives come over to celebrate just so it's easier on us (without having the stress in doing the preparations). However, I still think that nothing beats the traditional home cooked meals!
 
I agree. Traditions and home-cooked meals are great for making memories, especially when it has to do with a special occasion. I think my kids really enjoyed our little tradition, because it made them feel so special. I enjoyed doing it for them too.
 
Don't laugh because I am serious. Today, May 29, is the 3rd birthday of Pipoy, our dog. He is a hyperactive pug who is always on the go.

Well, for birthdays, we usually have something long. It would be either spaghetti or the Chinese noodles. That long strands symbolize long life for us Filipinos. And that's the standard dish for birthday parties - long strands of pasta or noodles.
 
Corzhens said:
Well, for birthdays, we usually have something long. It would be either spaghetti or the Chinese noodles. That long strands symbolize long life for us Filipinos. And that's the standard dish for birthday parties - long strands of pasta or noodles.
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That's quite an interesting tradition and I can see where it comes from. I assume it is a symbolic thing? Is there somewhere you buy longer spaghetti or do you have to make it on the day?
Are you allowed to bite into the long spaghetti as you eat it, or do you have to try to eat it whole? I'm a curious pain in the backside sometimes! :laugh:
 
That is really interesting, Corzhens. How do you prepare the pasta and noodles? Is there a special recipe or do you serve it with your favorite pasta sauces? Is it eaten plain?

I love this idea that the long food symbolizes long life. Thank you for sharing this with us. I'm glad I learned about it.
 
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