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Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Birthday month

This month sees a couple of birthday celebrations in our family. My husband's has come and gone a week ago. We don't tend to go overboard for birthdays and most of the time it's a simple family celebration. That's exactly what it was for my husband - a few pressies, his choice of menu items for dinner (he chose hot chicken curry and naan bread) and definitely cake - yet another try for me to get his Grandmother's Pineapple Cake right. Since no recipe exists, I did the trial and error thing for years. And then I gave up. But a trip to Debbie Macomber's site and her recipes gave me an idea and so the urge to try again came up.

The other birthday this month is a milestone - my eldest becomes a teenager next week. And as such a special celebration is warranted, right? I will confess to hating sleepovers because usually they do not involve sleep. I'm fond of sleep. And her birthday is on Sunday - 13 on the 13th. So I suggested inviting a few girls and taking them for manicures before coming back here for pizza and cake.

At first she was on board with that, until she realized that one of the girls she is inviting really isn't the manicure type, and she wants to do something everyone will enjoy. So her suggestion is a movie afternoon followed by pizza and cake. And she's kind of funny. She's like...order in some pizza, but will you make hot wings and caesar salad and pasta salad to go with it? We may just not order in but have a "make your own" kind of thing - which could be way more fun.

And then there's cake. I'm going to attempt to make a chocolate buttercream layer cake. This could be interesting because I am converting my favourite white cake recipe to chocolate, and then trying a new buttercream recipe. I also have some yummy ideas for the top too.

All in all though I LOVE that she's low maintenance, and more concerned with hanging out and having a good time than making a big expensive splash. Yay for low-key kids! And yay for birthdays!

Donna

http://www.donnaalward.com/
@DonnaAlward

7 comments:

Kaelee said...

Your daughter sounds like a really thoughtful person. Wonder where she got that from? LOL. Donna you are raising your kids right. Hope the teens aren't too much trouble for you and your husband. Kids need to test their independence and learn how to fly. Parents need to set reasonable limits. The problems arise when the two clash. Hang on it only lasts 7 years.

Donna Alward said...

LOL Kaelee! There are two things I hope don't change - we all enjoy hanging out with each other, and we talk. I think we'll get by okay if we can hang on to that!

Pat Cochran said...

Birthdays are big and royally
celebrated in our family even
tho' there are 20 in the group.
Each gets their own cake even in
August, when we have 6 b-days!
Happy birthday to all!

Pat Cochran

Donna Alward said...

Pat - my birthday is in August, and my husband makes the most delicious cake. White layer cake, with vanilla pudding and strawberries in the middle, more pudding and whipped cream on top and then a layer of sliced berries. It has the warmth of vanilla and the freshness of summer. I adore it.

Dina said...

wow is it me or is the site loading very slowly?

cake looks yummy, esp since I didn't eat dinner.

Nas said...

Happy Birthday to your daughter, Donna.

Mary Kirkland said...

Birthdays are always fun. I've been making my families Birthday cakes since my daughter was really young and I've gotten alright at it. lol My sister in law eve bought me a really nice cake decorating kit that comes in its own plastic tool box looking thing. I've had a lot of fun trying out the different pastry bags and tips. I love Butter cream frosting, I don't think there's anything on the market that can top it.