Birthdays small & simple or big & lavish whatever be the case everyone wants a piece of cake.Forget the damp halls,bad face painting and the soggy local bakers cake. Today’s birthday parties are all about flashing the cash and throwing the glitziest bash (Nopes there is no mockery here when I,Me,myself is sailing in the boat).
- The lavish hotel – check
- The barbieous or supermanish theme – check
- The 101 balloons and flowers – check
- The scrumptious European or Italian menu – check
- The infinity tiered or cartoonishly shaped cake – check
- The party entertainers – check
- The cupcakes – check
- The innovative return gifts – check
- Whose birthday is it – Searching………
Sigh…Thank god this is what birthdays are made of….not the way my mom celebrated it which I finally fine tuned with the course of time.
Take 1: The birthday girl is bathed early in the morning.Then she gets to wear her new dress (the only exciting part ).She is taken to the temple.Lots of prayers and offerings to god which the girl was least interested in.Then donate to the poor and needy which I just sailed through without realizing its depth.Then mom would have cooked me some 21 traditional sweets and I would halfheartedly sampled (who on earth could tell her that I need crisps and ice creams).Then take the blessings of my elders with a smile.
Take 2: Get transported to school with a bag of toffees for the classmates.The girls sing “It’s a Hap Happy birthday to you!!” with excitement and glee as I stuff their hands with toffees.Then there were those wicked ones who were cringing to give me birthday bumps.How I dreaded those….actually I still do.Its a silent day all teachers shower you with lots of smiles and no scolding day.I silently enjoyed offering cakes to the teachers as I got immense happiness in entering the staff room and getting a sneak peak into the teachers world.
Take 3: For years take 1 and take 2 got repeated in cycles.But slowly I reached a stage when I emotionally blackmailed my mom for increasing the extravagant quotient of my birthdays.I finally got my evening invitations rolling.The decorations with streamers and confetti filled balloons.Happy birthday banners hung on walls.Those creamy lick worthy cakes.A menu which kids would be impressed by.Musical chairs,pinning the donkey,treasure hunts and passing the parcels.Ideas some mine some borrowed but this is all it needs to give me the most ultimate birthday party.
Take 4: No, this is the big Roy now who doesn’t have such birthdays now but rather plans them as she is a mother now.Her own birthdays have changed she has now graduated to self planned dinners,buying her own birthday gifts and indulging in her own guilty pleasures (Psst…offline).
Well, Do i miss those days…???? I will leave to each of you to decide for yourself.
Birthdays are not about just “getting a year older”.Its the philosophy of life that you survived another tough and rough year on this earth.Celebrate the way you want…there are no protocols…with family,without family,with flaming crush or just an adrenaline rush.Shun our wet blanket attitude and celebrate the “Light of life”.
For the Ancient Greeks, putting candles on a cake was a special way to pay tribute to the Greek moon goddess, Artemis. They baked round cakes to symbolize the moon. Candles were added to represent the reflected moonlight.
Candles on cakes became a popular tradition long ago in Germany, too. For religious reasons, Germans would place a large candle in the center of a cake to symbolize “the light of life.”
- For the pastry
- 200 gm plain flour
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
- 115 gm cold butter
- For the pecan filling
- 1 medium egg
- 50 gm soft brown sugar
- 75 gm maple syrup
- 15 gm melted butter
- 100 gm roughly chopped pecans
- For the Brownie
- 175 gm dark chocolate
- 85 gm butter
- 50 gm castor sugar
- 2 medium eggs
- 50 gm plain flour
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
- Sift the plain flour and icing sugar with a pinch of salt in a bowl,
- Rub the cold butter,cut into small cubes and add enough water to make a stiff dough.
- Roll out on a lightly floured surface and use to line a 22 cm flan.
- Prick the base with a fork and chill for at least 15 mins.
- Lightly beat the egg with a fork and add the brown sugar and maple syrup.
- Add the melted butter and beat until just blended.
- Add the chopped pecans and spread in the base of the pastry case which was chilled.
- Bake for 15 mins.
- Melt he dark chocolate and butter in a bowl standing over a pan of hot water,
- In another bowl whisk the castor sugar and eggs until foamy.
- Stir into melted chocolate the plain flour.
- Carefully spread the chocolate layer over the pecan layer.
- Bake for 20-25 mins or until cooked like brownies – firm to touch but gooey inside.
- Dust with icing sugar and scatter the chopped pecans to serve.
Palli,
Really like reading ur articles always laced with a tinge of humor
Hugs Rumna…I am glad it tingled you…I shall try my best to keep you entertained!
Love ur creative effort…. always brings a smile on my face. .. keep it up !!
Hi Megha,
Thank you for the kind words.Yo made my day.
Best Regards,
Roy