Thursday, January 14, 2021

On Birthdays

LUCY BURDETTEI grew up sharing a birthday “season” with my sister Sue, and I don’t remember ever minding that. We each got our own cake, mine on January 14 and hers on the 27th, but we always shared parties. We were less than a year apart – can you imagine? What were my parents thinking?


But I digress…As long as I can remember, the birthday tradition in my family has been choosing the cake of your dreams:). This chocolate lovely is the one most of my family prefers these days.




My father always chose yellow cake with mocha icing. My older sister and I always had angel food cake with whipped cream as the frosting. My mother didn't like cake, so we made her tapioca out of a box.




A couple of years ago, our daughter and her hub were in Key West for our son-in-law's birthday, which falls on New Year’s Eve. He loves carrot cake. Now I am not a big fan of carrot cake--in fact I had never made one. And if faced with a supermarket carrot cake, I will always pass a slice by. However, I do believe that the birthday person should have the homemade cake of his or her dreams. So here was his cake.




As for gifts, the best ones I've ever gotten came in orange stripes. Tigger was an orange tiger cat who joined the family when I was 13. I lobbied hard for him and he was an excellent family member for many years. (This is my mother with Tigger and Schatze the dog.)



Two years ago this week, I decided I’d been pet-less too long (4 months!) and went to the Key West humane society to pick out a kitty. You can read all about T-bone’s gotcha day right here--he's a wonderful guy...




Lately in Key West, I've been sharing a birthday celebration with friend and writer Barbara Ross, who's a week older than I am.


Obviously, we can't have a party this year, but you can imagine us eating this cake...at a good social distance on their back porch.



How do you feel about birthdays Reds? Is there cake? Any other special traditions?

145 comments:

  1. Birthday cake makes me smile. When we were growing up, my mom would make two birthday cakes; Jean and I each chose what kind of cake we wanted.

    In our house, the birthday person always gets to choose what we will have for dinner . . .
    When the children were little, I made them fancy cakes that were a nod to something they enjoyed . . . a carousel . . . a teddy bear . . . an ice skate . . . [
    Then, when they were older, everyone would choose the kind of cake they’d like to have [mine is always chocolate, thank you very much] . . . .

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    1. Lucy, I hope you have a wonderful birthday!

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    2. Thanks Joan! I forgot that you would have TWO cakes on the same day--your mom was a trooper!

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    3. I did the same for my twins, each had their own cake. They are fraternal, boy and girl but often they both wanted chocolate cake. They often had joint parties. Skating and other activities. My son married a Rossella, who has the same birthdate as the twins. Now, we have triplet birthdays five weeks after Christmas on January 30th.

      Happy Birthday Lucy!

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    4. thank you Susan! So, two separate cakes even if both wanted chocolate??

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    5. In our house, Lucy, there were always two separate cakes, even if we both asked for chocolate . . . .

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    6. Yes, they was always two cakes. I felt it was important to treat them respectfully as individuals. If they were not twins they would have always had their own cake. Most years we had a lot of chocolate cake, but usually with different types of frosting.

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  2. Happy birthday, dear Lucy! Sending virtual hugs. I’m not a big cake lover in fact when I was young I asked if my cake could be made of cheese with pretzel candles

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    1. I hear ya, Rhys. I once asked my mother to skip the cake and make me a mincemeat pie.

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    2. Thanks Rhys, your cake made of cheese sounds wonderful!

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    3. I once asked my mother for 2 apple pies - one to share and one just for me - instead of cake.

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  3. Happy birthday!

    I love birthdays. Being single, there aren't too many traditions these days. Don't even make a point of getting anything special for myself.

    I'm more of a pie person, but I don't turn down a good cake either.

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  4. Growing up, birthdays were always a big deal. There was the birthday dinner, menu chosen by the birthday person, and a birthday cake with candles aflame. I know I always wanted carrots fixed in brown sugar as an item, and chocolate cake for sure. February was our big birthday month. My sister Arretta Ann, ten years older than me, was born on Feb. 3rd, and my brother Henry, three years older than me, was also born on February 3rd. Then my birthday, the youngest of the four siblings, was February 24th. A month for cake for sure. My other sister Jerrye Jo, eight years older than me, had a December birthday, but she still got the full birthday treatment.

    And, the birthday dinners continued into our young adulthood, too, although sometimes with a variation. The year I turned 21, I was in college, and my parents met me at my sister's house, where my sister had fixed a lovely birthday dinner for me and cake. Then, I got married at 22, and, unfortunately, my husband's family wasn't as big on birthdays. His parents even forgot husband's 18th birthday. I found that extremely disturbing. I know his birthday is December 30th, and with Christmas and New Year's it might not get as much attention, but to let it slip a parent's mind. That's tough.

    And, the best birthday present I ever got? Well, two things. First, I got an Annie Oakley outfit when I was around 8 or 9, and I loved that outfit. I have a picture of it taken outside in the snow on my birthday. The second gift would be a diamond ring on my 21st. The girls, my sisters and I, received a diamond ring if we weren't married when we turned 21. I'm not sure if that was an incentive not to get married before then or just a reason to give us a special gift. I wasn't any dummy though. I waited and got married when I was 22. Hahaha!

    Happy Birthday to you, Lucy! I hope you have a lovely day, with whatever you want to eat.



    My husband's family wasn't all that big on birthdays, and it took some adjusting to, since we live in the town he's from, where his parents lived.

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    1. Oops, I see that last sentence was one I'd already included. That's due to losing some text and retrieving it. In the shuffle, that last sentence got misplaced.

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    2. My husband was born on his mother's birthday, and she always made the day about herself and her "special little present." So he kind of grew up hating his birthday until I came along. I lavished the birthday attention on him and, yeah, got her a present, too. After that, he kind of started to look forward to his birthdays.

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    3. Kathy, I can see you in that Annie Oakley outfit--perfect! and I'm glad you've made a fuss over hub's birthday over the years. Gigi, that's plain awful! You were a star to let him finally shine on that birthday...

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    4. I had an Annie Oakley outfit when I was in kindergarten and so did my friend. Wish I had a picture of it. Kathy, was yours green? Mine was and was made out of some sort of fuzzy fabric I can't really describe.

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  5. Happy Birthday! We always had cakes for birthdays and I usually went with the chocolate. We had birthday dinners as well. Now it’s more of a treat to go out, or it was before the pandemic. Now it’s carry out or cook in, and zoom other friends.

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    1. Yes going out would be an excellent treat--may we return to that soon!

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  6. Happy Birthday, Roberta! I hope you have a wonderful day.

    Like Kathy, my family concentrated all the birthdays over a couple of months. Mom, Dad, and I were all born in November, and my sister was born in December, just before Christmas. That meant my family started partying around Halloween and just kept rolling with it on through New Year's Day. Since three of my closest friends also had November birthdays, I was a full-grown before before it finally sunk in for me that some people had birthdays in other months of the year.

    Birthdays remain a big deal for me, even though I am single now, and my family is several states away. I don't usually bake myself a cake, but I always make sure I get at least a cupcake on the day. Although chocolate is a favorite, this year Debs threw a little party for me and got me the most delicious carrot cake I'd ever tasted, so now I'm kind of hooked on that.

    And, seriously, Mark, I highly recommend getting yourself a couple of presents. I get the coolest stuff on my birthday, now. It always fits, and is miraculously just what I wanted!

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    1. GIGI: I like it that you get yourself a couple of presents, and a cupcake treat.

      Like Mark, I normally do not buy anything tangible to celebrate my solo birthday. Sadly, my normal birthday getaway trip in late February will probably not happen in 2021 since we just started a stay-at-home/lockdown mode here in Ontario.

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    2. Gigi, love the perfect presents! Oh Grace, this is so hard about another lockdown. Give yourself an IOU for that trip. Where would you have gone?

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    3. Like Gigi, Grace and Mark, I live alone . I always treat myself with a favourite dessert and present(s), usually books. This week Grace mentioned two books that come out on my birthday. I took note and will check them.

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    4. GIGI: I love your tradition of treating yourself with gifts on your birthday. So smart. Some years, I've let my birthday pass by without much attention, but I've always ended up regretting it: If I can't pay attention to myself on that one day a year, I don't stand much chance of doing so on the remaining 364!

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    5. ROBERTA: In 2017, I went to Iceland, and in 2019, I went to O'ahu.
      So I would to a place WARMER than Ottawa (and yes Reyjkavik was about 15 degrees warmer), with great places to hike and lots of yummy food.

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    6. And to clarify my "birthday" trips mentioned above, I spent 5 days in Iceland, and 2 weeks in O'ahu. And in 2020, I was in San Diego from March 3-17. so that kinda counted as my slightly delayed birthday getaway.

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    7. DANIELLE: I am glad you found two new books that are coming out on your birthday that interest you.

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    8. Amanda: I cherish each new birthday. For my 60th, when I officially became older than my husband ever got to be, I treated myself to a trip to Santa Fe, NM. If I had let the birthday pass, unmarked, I would have spent it proctoring piccolo auditions.

      Danielle: Two new books coming out on your birthday? That's a perfect treat! I hope you love them both.

      Grace: Travel is always a good birthday treat, and you don't have to find room for it on your bookshelves. You always look for someplace warmer than Ottawa? Come summer, I'm always looking for someplace cooler than Dallas.

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    9. Just the phrase "proctoring piccolo auditions" makes me laugh. So glad you didn't have to do that!

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    10. GIGI: Yes, we have opposite temperature extremes that we are trying to escape. Some years in Ottawa, the winter snow falls in late October and do not melt away until mid-April. That is a LONG time to be in the deep freeze. I understood the allure of Canadian snowbirds going south for the winter when I moved to Ottawa. Toronto winters are much milder and tolerable.

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    11. I'm giggling too about proctoring piccolos...

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  7. Happy birthday, Roberta! I love cake, and I love baking cakes. My son's birthday was Tuesday. Two of people at the eco-farm where he works and lives in Puerto Rico wrote me to ask for his favorite cake recipes, so I sent them my cheesecake and carrot cake recipes. They made the cheesecake, and he video-called me that night holding the flower-decorated cake with a big smile on his face and his new sweetheart at his side. It filled my heart, since I haven't seen him since March.

    When my boys were growing up, I decorated their birthday cake however they requested. I made an apartment building, a soccer ball, a bug, a fire engine, a baseball, and more. My mom had acquired near-professional cake decorating skills, and it felt good to carry on that tradition on a more modest scale.

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    1. EDITH: Those birthday cakes for your sons sounds impressive! And it is so nice that your son got to celebrate his birthday this year with his girlfriend and his fave cheesecake. I saw that birthday photo on your FB feed.

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    2. Wow Edith, those cakes sound so fancy! I never learned to decorate professionally, but the cakes I make are yummy:)

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    3. The fire engine was fun. I used Oreos for the wheels and black licorice for the hoses. ;^)

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  8. Happy Birthday Roberta!

    How do I feel about birthdays? How is one supposed to feel about them? I mean, as a kid their great. In general terms, you get a party with friends and family, a cake and presents. But as you get older, the spark goes out of the idea of celebrating.

    Well, at least for me anyway. I don't mind getting older, I'm not running from my birthday or anything. But who really has time to celebrate these days. My birthday tends to fall on a weekday so I'm working usually. And I really haven't wanted to or bothered to celebrate my birthday in a long time.

    I used to get either a cake (in my younger years) or a cherry pie (when I was a teenager and beyond) to mark the occasion. And my mother used to call me at the exact time of my birth. But that's about it for any kind of tradition. Unless you count that my local comic shop gives customers a packet of store coupons as a birthday thank you.

    These days, most of the birthday greetings (and there are thankfully few of them) come via Facebook. That's good enough. I say thank you and move on with my day.

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    1. Spell check put THEIR instead of THERE in my second paragraph. Sorry about that.

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    2. Jay, I think that's sweet that your mom would call you at the exact moment of your birth!

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  9. Happy Birthday, Roberta! I wish you a wonderful year ahead!

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  10. Happy Birthday, Roberta!

    Although I love to bake, I actually do NOT like birthday cakes. And even now, I HATE FROSTING/ICING on any baked goods. Too much sugar, I guess.

    As a kid, my birthday treat was getting a pint of Baskin-Robbins ice cream (not the ice cream cake). We had a birthday cake when I was in grade school and had invited friends over for a birthday party. They ate the cake, and I scraped off the frosting off my piece and ate mine.

    Birthdays have generally been low-key as an adult since I live alone. No gifts or dinner or any other celebration with friends or family. Frankly, my dad doesn't even remember when my birthday is so I never got any special phone call or gift from him.

    About 10 years ago, I had a work colleague in Toronto who always took the day off on her birthday. Hmmm, I thought, not a bad idea, and I copied her and did the same while I was working, often extending it to a long weekend off on a mini-getaway. Just the thing I needed in late February.

    More recently, most of my birthday greetings come from my Facebook friends. Those messages are good enough to cheer me up and bring a smile.

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    1. Thanks Grace! I can see we need an un-birthday party for Mark, and Jay, and Grace, and Gigi. We'll serve cherry pie, and unfrosted cake, and a cheese pie with pretzels so Rhys will come...

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    2. Grace, for at least my ten last years of work, I also took a day off as a present to myself for my birthday.

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    3. GRACE: I learned the day-off trick from a friend at work and am always delighted at how extra-special that day is. Such a good tradition!

      LUCY: I love your idea of an un-birthday party. Great idea!

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    4. ROBERTA: I am ok with having an UN-birthday party with the other solos!
      Thanks for supporting our quirky birthday likes (or dislikes). Our joint un-birthday menu is unique, LOL.

      DANIELLE/AMANDA: Yes, I am glad I adopted that "birthday day-off" treat.

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    5. Oh, I always scrape off the icing. Actually, what I do is scrape off the icing then keep just a tiny tiny tiny bit on. I love that it is moist, but I don’t need a pile of goopy sugar on top of perfectly good cake :-) We should celebrate together, Grace!

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    6. The Facebook birthday notices and greetings is the very best part of that social platform!

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    7. HANK: Yes, ANTI-ICING CAKE EATERS UNITE!

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  11. Happy Birthday Lucy Roberta. May you have a year full of joy and writing! And puppy and kitty love.

    I don't remember much about my own birthday cakes as a child. Cake made a frequent appearance at our house, so I suppose I got the "cake of the week."

    Somewhere along the way, my children started requesting angel food cake with strawberry icing, so that was the standard birthday cake after they graduated from my poor efforts at Barbie and GI Joe creations. Although I bake a lot, I have to confess I've never made angel food from scratch, too daunting.

    This year, as most of you know, I had a special birthday. I'm still looking at all the cards I got from JRW as well as old and new friends from all over. And yes, I had a cake, from our local kosher bakery. I requested a hazelnut dacquoise. It was divine. Usually my choice is a carrot cake, which I consider a vegetable. But this year I was completely indulged.

    My daughter's birthday is tomorrow, shared with MLKs, although we don't celebrate his on the real day. May all birthdays in these hard weeks be peaceful

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    1. thanks Ann! we sure all need some peace this year...

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    2. Carrot cake is definitely a vegetable, Ann. I'm with you all the way on that.

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    3. ANN: Hazelnut dacquoise sounds delish! I can eat meringue and mousse, not just cloying thick sweet icing. And hazelnuts are my most fave nuts to eat.

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    4. It’s pretty fabulous, Grace. I love meringue in any form. Next year I think I’ll ask for a Pavlova

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    5. I have three Capricorn family members celebrating this week- my son, my partner, and my goddaughter! Good heavens, so many goats. ;^)

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  12. Happy birthday, Lucy! Almost the only time I even have cake is for my birthday and lately I have been making a carrot cake from an excellent recipe. But strawberry shortcake was a favorite for years. One of my sons always wanted a kool-aid cake for his birthday. It wasn't kool-aid at all but one of those jello poke cakes. I think the first time I made it the kids must have thought there was kool-aid in it and the name stuck. My other son preferred a chocolate cream pie.

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    1. the shortcake sounds wonderful and so does the chocolate cream pie. John had Boston cream pie for years growing up but he doesn't want it these days...

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  13. Happy Birthday, Roberta!

    My mother always made our cakes; for me as a young girl, it was a classic Victoria Sponge. As I got older, I graduated to her delicious chocolate cake with raspberry jam and butter cream chocolate/coffee icing. Yum.

    In my own house, the cake usually comes from a local bakery (sometimes chocolate, sometimes carrot). But almost my favourite part of birthdays is the tradition my partner started of Birthday Eve gifts. Just a small thing, and often "given" by our cat Holly, it extends the special day and gets the celebration off to a funny and loving early start.

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    1. AMANDA: Those birthday cakes your mother made sound delish, even with the icing :-)
      And I like the Birthday Eve gift tradition you have at home.

      My mom did not bake from scratch and those childhood birthday cakes were made with Betty Crocker cake mix and thick frosting (yuck).

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    2. Thanks Amanda! love the birthday eve tradition. And Grace, I know my mom's cakes were not from scratch--probably Betty Crocker. But I've grown into a cake snob...

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    3. Oh, Amanda, I love classic Victoria sponge. But I'm not likely to get that here in north Texas unless I try making it myself. Hmmm.

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    4. ROBERTA: I think I am so negative about the boxed cake mix used in my childhood birthday cakes because the plain cake was mediocre in taste without the gooey frosting/icing.

      Cake (and food) snob in training from a young age, I was!

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  14. Happy Birthday! May it kick off a year full of joy and an eventual return to the pleasures of the outside world.

    My birthday is December 23, which means it has always been...interesting. Naturally, I felt cheated through childhood. Friends were never available for a party and because my parents were financially strapped trying to provide a nice Christmas, presents were pretty much token at best. I remember getting a new dress for my birthday almost every year, and only realizing as I got older that my sister and mom also got a new dress to wear to church on Christmas Eve. Hmmm.

    I actually felt that birthdays became more enjoyable after I was an adult. I often worked on my birthday, and my co-workers would wish me a happy birthday and make the same small fuss they did for everyone else. (Interestingly in recent years, it has become more and more common for everyone to take that whole week off of work, so I am back to NOT being around peers.)

    As for cakes, I am not a cake lover. I usually don't do any special sweet treat for my birthday because the house is so full of Christmas treats but on those occasions when I have been asked to pick something, I'm more likely to go with the giant decorated cookie. (And like you, Grace, I push the icing off before I enjoy my piece of it.)

    One final note -- my son's birthday is in November and like many of you, we always let the birthday person choose dinner. This year after a lot of thought, he asked for grilled steaks and Swiss cheese fondue. What a great choice! I feel like it was the most festive meal we've had since covid began. I still smile just thinking about it!

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    1. SUSAN: Glad to hear there is someone else who scrapes icing off their piece of cake.
      My parents thought I was SO WEIRD. Well, I am weird, but that is the least of my quirks, lol.

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    2. Susan, my childhood was also impoverished, and since my birthday is October 5th, every year my presents were school clothes. I was so glad to wear uniforms in high school, because then the clothes I got were more celebratory!

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    3. I know Susan, right around Christmas is a bit of a gyp. I tried to train my current family not to wrap any gifts in leftover Christmas paper:)

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  15. Happy birthday Roberta !
    I don't remember choosing a favourite cake or meal for my birthday but my mom knew me well and I was well celebrated.
    As for my daughter, I always let her choose what she wanted and did it.
    Nowadays, having all I need, I treat myself with a good meal with a good dessert and good books .

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  16. Happy birthday, Lucy! Celebrate safely and I hope the weather in KW is fine. One of my bosses had boys less than a year apart. He and his wife referred to them as the Catholic twins. They were devout Catholics so no disrespect was intended.

    I was a summer baby, born nine years less nine days after my brother. As such I can only recall one birthday party. My ninth. Most families, ours included, were on summer vacation. We were usually visiting relatives in Florida. Like Kathy's husband, my parents sometimes forgot my birthday all together. It's comforting to know I'm not alone in that. Maybe it's because of that that I always make a big deal of birthdays. The birthday person has their choice of homemade dessert and meals as well as being the planner du jour for activities.

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    1. thanks Kait, I'm glad you recovered from birthday deprivation!

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  17. Happy birthday dear Lucy!! I’ll take any of your cakes when mine rolls around. Given my druthers I’d like coconut cake with lemon curd filling. Please!

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    1. Leslie Karst just posted a microwave lemon curd recipe on Mystery Lovers, in case you're interested.

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    2. Ok you'll have to come south to get it! It would be interesting to try that curd as a middle layer...

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    3. Coconut with lemon curd? Interesting! I'd try that!

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  18. Happy Birthday! Strawberry shortcake or chocolate ganache cake garnished with strawberries.

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  19. Halloween baby here, so my dad used to decorate the whole house. My gram would come from NYC and bake cupcakes for my class and a birthday cake for a party with my cousins and family. It was a very big deal.

    As an adult, I gave a Halloween party for years, but did not make it into a birthday party. It was a fun celebration with many special friends. Irwin mostly gave me flowers over the years, but we used to accumulate holidays (birthday, Hanukkah, anniversary, Mother's Day) throughout the year and then finally, on Mother's Day I'd get something memorable which was for all of those holidays.

    Interestly, Jonathan was born on Father's Day, his wife is a July 4 baby, Rachel's husband is New Year's Day.

    I find birth dates fascinating and understand why people get into horoscopes. My father was the oldest of 6 siblings, birthday June 12, his sister, three years younger, June 16, his brother, 11 years younger, June 14. I have a theory about the end of Yom Kippur and the incidence of these birthdays, but I've never actually researched those dates. LOL.

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    1. You are intriguing me with this. Do you think this is random?

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    2. And tell about this… My birthday is 10/17. And my husband‘s birthday is 1/17.

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    3. I love reading horoscopes too, Judy. John is a Leo, but he doesn't share the obvious social butterfly traits--vivacious and theatrical. the lady who cuts my hair (or used to!) was born on his birthday and I always marvel at how different they are...

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    4. I used to joke that my step-daughter and her husband only had sex twice a year. Of their four children, two were born two days apart in November, and the other two were born two days apart in March. I'm betting on Valentine's Day and their wedding anniversary. That makes me a terrible person, doesn't it?

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    5. Hank, I don't know. I could look back and find those dates, I suppose. As for numbers, Irwin and his sister were born in different months, but both on the 24th.

      Gigi, I am in stitches. You are so wonderful and hilarious!

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    6. Lucy, horoscopes. Irwin is Aquarius and I think it fits. I am Scorpio, I think that fits, too. But there are extremes and middles and I think one can make a case for anything when it comes to horoscopes. What do you think about yours?

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    7. Gigi, that is hilarious!! And I suspect that you are right...

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    8. My husband is a twin, both are Leos. They share almost zero duplicate traits.

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    9. that's so interesting Karen, are they identical?

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  20. Happy birthday, Lucy! My brother was born on January 29th and I came along less than a year later on January 9th--but only because I was three months early. With eight kids, birthdays were not a big deal growing up. As an adult, when I moved away for college and work, my dad began sending me a card--my mom would make him pick it out himself--those I still have and treasure.

    I love cake and love to bake; I once made youngest nephew a Pokemon ball cake and a piano keyboard for his brother. The 5-year-old loves dinosaurs, so birthdays usually feature a cake with a pack of ferocious dinosaurs daring you to take a piece ;-)

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    1. thanks Flora, how sweet about your dad's cards! and your decorations sound divine...

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  21. Happy Birthday, Lucy! I hope you have a great day!

    My birthday is in March. I always asked for spice cake with caramel icing. Yum! My mother wasn't a cook or much of a baker, so everything was from a box or a can, but I loved it. Now that I know how much work it is to make good caramel icing, and how easy it is to make bad caramel icing, I wish that whatever company made the kind that came in a can, ready-to-spread, would come back!

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    1. thanks Mary! I'm making caramel icing today--hope I don't spoil it!

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    2. Yum. I'll take spice cake over chocolate any time!

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  22. So much fun to read these comments! I have a weird relationship with cake. It is the easiest thing in the world for me to say no thank you too. I never think about Kate, and I don’t care about it. However! From time to time I have a bite of cake, and I think wow wow wow, this is fabulous! even those sugar saturated sheet cakes from the grocery store, you know the white cakes? Those are delicious. Like Rhys, I’d rather have something salty than something sweet, but my friend Nancy makes an orange infused yeast cake that is the most glorious thing I’ve ever tasted.
    And Jonathan‘s birthday is next week, so I will have to figure out something! Jonathan, on the other hand, is a big big big cake lover! Maybe I will give it a try :-) Who has a really simple cake recipe?
    Happiest of birthdays, dear Lucy/Roberta!

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    1. Which brings me to the perennial question: why are reay-made cakes (nearly) universally mediocre?

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    2. Exactly, Hallie. They do not appeal to me, either. However, my oldest daughter would walk over hot coals for wedding cake.

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    3. Thanks Hank! what flavor does he like and I'll send you a link.

      Hallie and Karen, same with store-bought cookies. Just not worth eating IMHO!

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    4. MEANING: I never think about cake, and I don’t care about it. NOT Kate, who I happily think about when need be.

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    5. And as for Jonathan, I bet he's chocolate. You'd think I know that. His favorite dessert is lemon meringue pie, though. ANd THANK YOU! Duncan Hines sounds doable. I bet you need cake pans, though..

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    6. Irwin's birthday is next week and he loves German Chocolate Cake so I'll make that for him. I don't mind the fuss, and unlike Hank, I have time to do it. Hank, you are doing a million things, do you even have time to sleep?

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    7. Hank, use a handy sized oblong casserole dish. Cooking is creative!

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    8. Personally, I think the ready-made cakes or box mixes are meh since that (white) cake is often covered in that thick gooey frosting or icing that I hate, and people don't really taste the cake itself. Quantity vs quality, esp. for those large sheet cakes.

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    9. My Hugh has the same birthday as Jonathan!

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  23. Lucy, those cakes are amazing. In our family, Ross frequently made cakes for dessert, so the special birthday cake tradition was... Carvel Ice Cream Cake. Very popular, and very easy for the birthday-party-prepping mom.

    Before I scrolled all the way down the paragraph you'd written, I thought that picture of your mother with Tigger was you. You look VERY much like her. Happy Birthday!

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    1. thanks Julia! that's funny about the photo because I think I look mostly like my father. But glad she's in there too!

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  24. Happy birthday, Lucy/Roberta! And you've had T-Bone two YEARS already? Wow. I'd have said one year.

    Hank, I have a fantastic recipe for chocolate cake, made in one bowl, if you're interested. The frosting is also so good, just bitter chocolate and cream. I usually make it for my oldest daughter's birthday, since it's around Thanksgiving, and the whole family is usually here. This past year Steve requested it for his birthday, too.

    Growing up my mom made box cakes, mostly, but could be persuaded to make carrot cake or German chocolate cake, although they were a lot of work, and expensive. I usually asked for either yellow cake with chocolate icing, or my grandpa's specialty, spice cake with homemade coffee buttercream icing. Yum. Fried chicken for dinner, of course.

    Our two youngest daughters' birthdays are 11 days apart, so we usually had joint parties. Most of our friends also had kids in a similar situation, two to four years apart, and around the same ages, so we had the usual suspects for a big/little sibs party most years. I tried to make theme parties for them; one year the middle daughter wanted a mystery birthday! That was fun.

    Except for chocolate cake I'm not a cake fan, either, and much prefer pies or a savory something. The huge exception is Sacher torte. A local European bakery used to specialize in tortes, and the Sacher type, in particular. They no longer make the Sacher ones except by special order. My daughter had one made for my 65th a few years ago, and brought to the restaurant to serve after dinner. And of course I had the real thing in Austria when I was there. It's a dense chocolate cake of many layers, with chocolate ganache icing, and apricot and raspberry fillings between the layers. So amazing.

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    1. thanks Karen! time goes by so fast! I'm not sure about the Sacher torte...I won't fight you for the last piece.

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    2. KAREN: I LOVE Sacher torte, since raspberry and apricot are some of fave fruit fillings, and of course, chocolate. Like you, I had the authentic version in Austria (Vienna) in the 1980s. There was a great German cafe in Waterloo ON called Cafe Mozart that made it and I enjoyed eating Sacher torte while at university. But sadly, we don't have a good European (German/Austrian) bakery in Ottawa that makes Sacher torte.

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    3. Karen, you're cake recipe sounds delicious. I'm up for a good cake recipe, too!

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    4. Here you go, Debs. You will absolutely love this.

      One-Bowl Chocolate Cake
      The recipe, from Better Homes & Gardens magazine, is called Chocolate Harvest Cake. I made this one year for Thanksgiving as a birthday cake for my oldest and everyone loved it, although I did not make the pumpkin filling. Instead, I doubled the glaze recipe and used that between the layers. When you need to make a cake, but don’t have much time, this is the one. Ten minutes from mixing to oven. It’s delicious, and has become a family favorite.

      1 C buttermilk (you can make this from buttermilk powder, too)
      1 C water
      2/3 C cooking oil
      2 C sugar
      2 eggs
      1 tsp baking soda
      ½ tsp salt
      2 C all-purpose flour
      ¾ C unsweetened cocoa powder

      Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour two 9 x 1 ½-inch round pans; set aside.

      In an extra-large bowl combine buttermilk, water, oil, sugar, eggs, baking soda, and salt. Using a large wire whisk, whisk until well combined. Add flour and cocoa powder, whisk vigorously until smooth. Divide batter between prepared pans.

      Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until top springs back when lightly touched in the center. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely.

      Prepare Pumpkin Cream Filling

      1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
      1/3 C canned pumpkin
      ¼ C sugar
      ¼ tsp ground cinnamon

      In a medium bowl whisk together cream cheese, pumpkin, sugar and cinnamon until thickened. Place one cake layer on a plate. Spread filling over top. Top with second cake layer.

      Make Chocolate Glaze (double, if not using pumpkin filling)

      ½ C whipping cream
      4 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

      In a saucepan, bring whipping cream just to boiling over medium-high heat. Remove from heat. Add chocolate (do not stir). Let stand 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Cool 15 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Pour over cake, allowing glaze to drip down sides. Chill until set, about 30 minutes. Top with desired toppers (seedless red grapes, whole berries, toasted hazelnuts, or shredded orange peel). Makes 14 servings.

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  25. Happy Birthday, Roberta!

    My ideal birthday cake is a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. Anything other than that is just a nice cake, not a Birthday cake! Because I live alone, I haven’t had an actual birthday party in decades. I do have lovely friends who take me out to lunch on my birthday, and there is chocolate cake for dessert. Often my sister who lives the closest (snout 72 miles from me) will get together with me for my birthday. In recent years I’ve begun buying gifts for myself for special occasions, but it just occurred to me that I haven’t ever given myself a birthday gift. That changes this year!

    When I turned 13 my parents forgot my birthday. I had been excited about becoming a teenager, and was really hurt that they forgot it was my birthday. When I mentioned to them late in the day that it was my birthday they were devastated. They were lovely people, but they were understandably overwhelmed that year. My sister was in the hospital, recovering from emergency surgery. We did celebrate my birthday, but about a week later.

    I think a Birthday deserves to be celebrated in a special way. To me it’s a celebration of life, and I’m grateful for each and every day of my life!

    My birthday is in March, and this year I’ll be happy if I have had my Covid vaccine by then.

    DebRo

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    1. thank you DebRo! I can imagine your parents were horrified. Yes let's all get the vaccine as our big gift!!

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    2. I agree, Deb. It's a celebration of life--the life of one particular person--and should be observed in whatever festive way that person prefers. Happy belated 13th birthday to you!

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    3. Yes, we are adding DebRo's missed 13th birthday to the unbirthday party list!

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    4. Thank you for the 13th Birthday wishes!! I survived!!

      DebRo

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  26. Happy birthday, Lucy! Your cakes look delicious. My favorite birthday cake was chocolate with vanilla frosting and a design drizzled in dark chocolate. When he was a teenager, my brother always asked for banana cream pie instead of cake. Mom's pies were always a good choice!

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  27. My birthday is in late June, actually exactly one week before July 4 and some where along the way, I started asking for angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream on the side. I think it's because back when I was a kid strawberries were seasonal and that was when they were first available in the store. The cake was a box mix but it was my cake. The end of July is a fair season in Sonoma County. When we were kids, those weeks, for years, was spent baking an average of 40 cakes a day for the church's concession at the fair. All were based on boxed mixes but we would mix things up...adding pudding mixes, veg oil, extra eggs, jello... chocolate bundt cake with glaze, lemon punch and pour cake. The wine cake, apple cake, would be the cakes all the no frosting lovers will love. My brother's birthday was just after the fair ended and he always wanted chocolate cake... any style but it had to be chocolate. I don't remember what my sister's favorite cake was. As an adult I would be asked what special dinner I wanted, which was a special spare rib meal with baked potatoes.. I often cancelled it because would get so hot and we didn't have AC, the house would be too hot to turn the oven on. Now that I'm alone, I take (took?) myself to dinner and buy a small box of See's chocolates for dessert. Of course books are the requested gift.

    Hope you have a great day, Lucy.

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  28. Happy birthday Lucy! I don't remember special cakes for my birthdays growing up, but my mother and I had birthdays 3 days apart. I got to pick a special dinner; I loved Mom's chicken noodle soup (homemade noodles). Years after she's passed, I still have her recipe soup on my birthday. But now my favorite birthday cake is German chocolate cake! Caramel, pecan, coconut frosting and chocolate cake...what's not to love?!

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    1. Judy will make that cake for you Charlene, just let her know LOL

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  29. I meant to mention that I shared a birthday season, too. My grandpa's birthday was 5 days before mine. My grandma on the other side was the day after mine. So we often had combined family parties. I never minded in the slightest. I loved sharing time with all of them, in fact.

    It might have helped that I had my own party with friends, of course.

    And it might have helped that it seemed normal to me.

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    1. Yes, you're right, if it seems normal all is well. And if you love the relatives with whom you're sharing...

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  30. Happy birthday, Lucy! The tradition in the Pershing household was a special dinner of your choice. Mine was roast leg of lamb, asparagus in brown butter and parsley buttered potatoes (my mother tended to follow Julia Child's dictum, If you're afraid to cook with butter, use cream. Not that she was afraid to use butter, obviously.) As I wasn't a big cake fan, my special dessert was a chocolate ice cream cake from Carvel, which I thought was the epitome of sophistication ;)

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    1. Very fancy Amy! I'm sending John over for your roast lamb because I just don't like it.

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  31. Happy birthday, Lucy!! It would be such fun to celebrate with you and eat cake! I am not a huge cake fan, and I don't remember my mom making any special cakes for me as a child. What I do remember is that she always made German Chocolate Cake for my dad for his birthday. Too gooey for me, ugh. I will not turn down carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, however!

    And I do love celebrating birthdays, and try to stretch the celebration out as long as possible. I am June 5th and my daughter is the 25th, so we usually plan some fun thing just for the two us somewhere in between. And my best friend since childhood is six days older than me, so when we can manage to celebrate our birthdays together it is a real treat.

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    1. Debs, I just added the one-bowl cake recipe above.

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  32. Happy Birthday! Mom would make whatever the birthday boy/girl wanted for a cake. One year my youngest sister asked for a chocolate cake. Later, after she blew out the candles, Mom served her a slice but she wouldn't eat it. "I don't like chocolate cake!" My weird sister.

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  33. The happiest of birthdays to you!
    Whatever you do, enjoy!

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  34. Happiest of birthdays, Lucy and Barbara!

    Love love birthdays! I almost did not live to see my 2nd birthday and almost did not live to see this birthday.

    Always celebrate my birthday with cake. I love cake. My cousin bakes this wonderful mocha cake for my birthday.

    Alas this year, no big cake. My birthday was on the 7th of January. This year I got a small vegan chocolate CUPCAKE from a local grocery shop. It took me an hour to eat the cupcake with very small bites.

    Your story about the carrot cake reminds me of my Uncle. I never like carrot cake though I liked the carrot cake for my Uncle's 86th birthday. We went to Whole Paycheck near his house and picked up the carrot cake that they baked for his birthday. My other cousin's husband is on a No Sugar diet and he said he would make an exception for his father in law's birthday and have a piece of the carrot cake. I was surprised that I liked the carrot cake. It was sweet.

    Diana

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    1. Diana, Happy Birthday! You share a birthday with my brother; you’re in good company!

      DebRo

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  35. yes, I can imagine eating that cake... I love sharing a birthday with you.

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  36. My second brother and I have birthdays a week apart - his on September 4, mine on September 11. But six years are between us. My mother, bless her, never saw a problem with sharing a birthday party. After all, less work, right? And it was only family (we never had birthday parties for friends). That was fine except as the younger sibling, my brother always got to pick out the cake flavor. And the icing. And the candles. And the party decor. And...you get the picture. When I objected, Mom would say, "Be nice, he's six years younger than you are. Let him pick."

    Needless to say, there were many years where I, the oh-so-wanting-to-be-cool teenager, had to put up with Transformers, or Go-bots, or whatever decorations. And I never got my favorite cake flavor.

    Which is why when my two wound up having birthdays 17 days apart - July 14 and July 31 - I swore I'd never make them share. Every kid deserves to be the center of attention on their birthday.

    Oh cake? Chocolate, please. Although I've grown fond of white almond with cocoa frosting as I get older.

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    1. Liz, we are adding you to the unbirthday list, and serving your chocolate cake!

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  37. I don't mind birthdays. Mine tend to be alone.

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  38. Happy Birthday, Roberta! I made that caramel cake last summer. So decadent. So delicious!

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  39. Cake...always cake. None of this pie shenanigans. And, yes, ice cream cake counts as cake. We have a July and August birthday here in the desert so the ice cream cake is key when it 115 degrees outside.

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    1. Jenn,
      When I was a kid, I always wanted ice cream cake even if it was in January. LOL. Baskin Robbins made ice cream cakes and one year we had the birthday party at a pizzeria across the parking lot from the Baskin Robbins. I remember my Dad going across the parking lot to get the ice cream cake for my birthday party.

      Diana

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  40. Late to comment today. Still in time for it to be your birthday, Lucy. Hope you are finding joy and laughter and presents and yummy cake. My mother used to joke that the mother, not the child, deserved the birthday presents — preferably a dozen red roses. On my 25th, living on the opposite side of the country, I sent roses with a card saying “After 25 years, it’s about time. Love, Me”. She enjoyed the awkward expression on the delivery person’s face wishing her a “good whatever” as much as the roses!

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    1. Love that "after 25 years, it's about time. Love, Me"

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