Thread: Did you have a "Birthday Meal" when you were a kid?

In article <[email protected]>,
Landon <[email protected]> wrote:

> My family didn't have a great deal of money when I was a child, but
> each of us children got to pick out the entire meal, (within reason
> and assistance from Mom), on our birthday.

We have our children pick out the meal for their birthday breakfast
and dinner. Rich shares a birthday with Dominic, but it's also always
around Father's Day, so he picks the meal for that day instead. I cook,
so I always pick my birthday meal. :-)

I don't think anyone picks the same meal every year, or even the same
cake. Sometimes it's pie, too. For Yasmina's second birthday she had
grilled pizzas and cherry pie. I rotate through a few cakes and change
the meals drastically each year for myself, sometimes cooking, sometimes
eating out with the family, sometimes having a date just with Rich, but
doing cake with the children at home.

Regards,
Ranee @ Arabian Knits

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/

"Landon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> My family didn't have a great deal of money when I was a child, but
> each of us children got to pick out the entire meal, (within reason
> and assistance from Mom), on our birthday.
>
> Everyone, all four kids, my parents and all the roomers also had to
> have it or not eat.
>
> The meatloaf that my sister made, (and still does), was always one of
> my favorite meals.
>
> Meatloaf and gravy
> Mashed Potatoes made with lots of butter
> Creamed corn
> Broccoli with cheese sauce
> White cake with orange icing and caramel sauce drizzled on it
> Ice cold whole milk (we mixed powdered milk and whole milk 50-50
> normally).
>
> That was my perfect meal as a kid. I still love it, except now I'm not
> supposed to eat anything on that list....hahaha

Mom used to do the same thing when we were kids. Got to pick out the meal,
and be king/queen for the day...no chores. Your menu sounds wonderful to me,
and there's nothing on the list that I should eat either. :-)

Cheri

"Cheri" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> Mom used to do the same thing when we were kids. Got to pick out the meal,
> and be king/queen for the day...no chores. Your menu sounds wonderful to
> me, and there's nothing on the list that I should eat either. :-)

My mom didn't/doesn't like to cook so we usually got to pick the restaurant
for our birthdays. One year I won a party at a steakhouse. Oddly they
didn't serve steak to the kids. I think we had hamburgers and fries which
didn't thrill me any because as a kid I would much rather have had a steak
and baked potato.

My favorite thing from that party though was the cake topper. It was a
porcelain ballerina. When I blew out the candles she did a pirouette. She
was designed so that she stood on a spindle. Alas, my cat knocked it off of
my dresser and broke it. Haven't seen one of those since.

On Apr 26, 6:51*pm, Landon <lan...@noreply.com> wrote:
> My family didn't have a great deal of money when I was a child, but
> each of us children got to pick out the entire meal, (within reason
> and assistance from Mom), on our birthday.
>
> Everyone, all four kids, my parents and all the roomers also had to
> have it or not eat.
>
> The meatloaf that my sister made, (and still does), was always one of
> my favorite meals.
>
> Meatloaf and gravy
> Mashed Potatoes made with lots of butter
> Creamed corn
> Broccoli with cheese sauce
> White cake with orange icing and caramel sauce drizzled on it
> Ice cold whole milk (we mixed powdered milk and whole milk 50-50
> normally).

Sounds great. Except for the white cake -- for me it's chocolate or
nothing.

>
> That was my perfect meal as a kid. I still love it, except now I'm not
> supposed to eat anything on that list....hahaha

When we were allowed to pick, I picked Chinese takeout. Plus Canada
Dry ginger ale. And a Dressel's* whipped cream birthday cake for
dessert.

*Chicago favorite, available in grocery stores, long since OOB.

On Tue, 26 Apr 2011 21:51:04 -0400, Landon <[email protected]> wrote:

> My family didn't have a great deal of money when I was a child, but
> each of us children got to pick out the entire meal, (within reason
> and assistance from Mom), on our birthday.

Nope. I hadn't heard of that sort of thing until I started reading
rfc. We got to pick if we wanted chocolate, strawberry or white cake
(from a box) and I don't think anyone ever picked white. That's it.
When I got older, my grandmother would make me a pie because I liked
pie better than I liked cake.
>
> Everyone, all four kids, my parents and all the roomers also had to
> have it or not eat.
>
> The meatloaf that my sister made, (and still does), was always one of
> my favorite meals.
>
> Meatloaf and gravy
> Mashed Potatoes made with lots of butter
> Creamed corn
> Broccoli with cheese sauce
> White cake with orange icing and caramel sauce drizzled on it
> Ice cold whole milk (we mixed powdered milk and whole milk 50-50
> normally).
>
> That was my perfect meal as a kid. I still love it, except now I'm not
> supposed to eat anything on that list....hahaha

I'd eat that too. I've never had cheese sauce on vegetables although
I do love to dip vegetables in cheese fondue.

My SIL taught me how to roast oranges and mix them in with cream
cheese and powdered sugar to use as a frosting. Drizzling it with
caramel sauce too sounds absolutely decadent. I bet it would be
wonderful on a spice cake.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

In article <[email protected]>,
sf <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Tue, 26 Apr 2011 21:51:04 -0400, Landon <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > My family didn't have a great deal of money when I was a child, but
> > each of us children got to pick out the entire meal, (within reason
> > and assistance from Mom), on our birthday.
>
> Nope. I hadn't heard of that sort of thing until I started reading
> rfc. We got to pick if we wanted chocolate, strawberry or white cake
> (from a box) and I don't think anyone ever picked white. That's it.
> When I got older, my grandmother would make me a pie because I liked
> pie better than I liked cake.

We don't make a huge deal out of people's birthdays, with the huge
parties and tons of junk and bounce houses or renting a big place, so
having the child pick the meals is kind of part of how we make the day
special. Two of our children have their birthdays in Lent, so there's
fasting going on then. We let them pick appropriate meals for the day,
we give them flowers or balloons and then we have a big celebration with
cake and whatnot on the nearest Sunday. They get to have two birthdays,
basically. We also make a big deal on their name day. One of the
children was born on her name day, though that was not deliberate, we
changed her name at the last minute and the date of delivery was changed
at the last minute. So, we'll have to see how to handle the
birthday/name day thing with her.

> My SIL taught me how to roast oranges and mix them in with cream
> cheese and powdered sugar to use as a frosting. Drizzling it with
> caramel sauce too sounds absolutely decadent. I bet it would be
> wonderful on a spice cake.

Please explain this to me. I don't think I've ever heard of it.

Regards,
Ranee @ Arabian Knits

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/

On Tue, 26 Apr 2011 21:14:11 -0700, "Julie Bove"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>My mom didn't/doesn't like to cook so we usually got to pick the restaurant
>for our birthdays.

My Mom could burn water, but she tried as hard as she could. My sister
learned to cook at school in "Home Ec" and took over as many cooking
chores as she could, (in self defense). My folks both had day jobs
that kept them away from the house for 12 hours a day. They also
managed the rooming house they owned and we all lived in. It was a
real mad house once in awhile.

I took over house repairs when I was about 12, and my brother did all
the yard work for the five acres. About the only people enjoying the
living room were the roomers. None of the family had time to. haha

We did eat plenty however. It may not have been the best cuts or
finest brands, but I never went to bed hungry and no one else did
either.

I think the weirdest meal I ever ate was this strange "Oven Fried
Chicken" that my Dad made once. The chicken was fried as usual, then
dipped in some kind of batter and put into a cast iron kettle and
finished in the oven.

It was really weird looking, but it tasted great! Like pancake wrapped
fried chicken.

"Ranee at Arabian Knits" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> In article <[email protected]>,
> sf <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 26 Apr 2011 21:51:04 -0400, Landon <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> > My family didn't have a great deal of money when I was a child, but
>> > each of us children got to pick out the entire meal, (within reason
>> > and assistance from Mom), on our birthday.
>>
>> Nope. I hadn't heard of that sort of thing until I started reading
>> rfc. We got to pick if we wanted chocolate, strawberry or white cake
>> (from a box) and I don't think anyone ever picked white. That's it.
>> When I got older, my grandmother would make me a pie because I liked
>> pie better than I liked cake.
>
> We don't make a huge deal out of people's birthdays, with the huge
> parties and tons of junk and bounce houses or renting a big place, so
> having the child pick the meals is kind of part of how we make the day
> special. Two of our children have their birthdays in Lent, so there's
> fasting going on then. We let them pick appropriate meals for the day,
> we give them flowers or balloons and then we have a big celebration with
> cake and whatnot on the nearest Sunday. They get to have two birthdays,
> basically. We also make a big deal on their name day. One of the
> children was born on her name day, though that was not deliberate, we
> changed her name at the last minute and the date of delivery was changed
> at the last minute. So, we'll have to see how to handle the
> birthday/name day thing with her.
>
>> My SIL taught me how to roast oranges and mix them in with cream
>> cheese and powdered sugar to use as a frosting. Drizzling it with
>> caramel sauce too sounds absolutely decadent. I bet it would be
>> wonderful on a spice cake.
>
> Please explain this to me. I don't think I've ever heard of it.
>

Yes, I'd like to know too.

Cheri

Yep, lobster! When I was a kid (and sometimes still) we'd go out to
eat for the birthday boy or girl's fave food, and mine was lobster.

John Kuthe...

Landon wrote:

> That was my perfect meal as a kid. I still love it, except now I'm not
> supposed to eat anything on that list....hahaha

LOL!
My fave when I was a kid was baba' al rum, then I moved to kirschen hrapfen
when I was around 12 or 13, which is when a co worker of Mom gave her that
recipe.
--
ViLco
Let the liquor do the thinking

On Apr 26, 8:51*pm, Landon <lan...@noreply.com> wrote:
> My family didn't have a great deal of money when I was a child, but
> each of us children got to pick out the entire meal, (within reason
> and assistance from Mom), on our birthday.


We got to pick our own meal on our birthday.

On Apr 26, 9:51*pm, Landon <lan...@noreply.com> wrote:
> My family didn't have a great deal of money when I was a child, but
> each of us children got to pick out the entire meal, (within reason
> and assistance from Mom), on our birthday.
>
> Everyone, all four kids, my parents and all the roomers also had to
> have it or not eat.
>
> The meatloaf that my sister made, (and still does), was always one of
> my favorite meals.
>
> Meatloaf and gravy
> Mashed Potatoes made with lots of butter
> Creamed corn
> Broccoli with cheese sauce
> White cake with orange icing and caramel sauce drizzled on it
> Ice cold whole milk (we mixed powdered milk and whole milk 50-50
> normally).
>
> That was my perfect meal as a kid. I still love it, except now I'm not
> supposed to eat anything on that list....hahaha

Nah. Same old bakery cake with Crisco frosting. Ice cream with that
raspberry sherbet center.

On Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:35:36 -0700, Christopher Helms wrote:

> We got to pick our own meal on our birthday.

Nothing much changes; at least not in my neck of the woods. I had
grilled prawns and beef steak for my recent birthday meal.

--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

On Apr 26, 10:18*pm, sf <s...@geemail.com> wrote:
>
> My SIL taught me how to roast oranges and mix them in with cream
> cheese and powdered sugar to use as a frosting. *Drizzling it with
> caramel sauce too sounds absolutely decadent. *I bet it would be
> wonderful on a spice cake.



OK....now I'm curious. Can you post the recipe or methodology for
this?

On Apr 26, 6:51*pm, Landon <lan...@noreply.com> wrote:


I didn't have a special meal but I always had a special cake. My Mom
had a lamb cake mold that she used to make Easter
cakes for people to make extra money. I always wanted my birthday
cake to be the lamb cake.

like the one picured here:


http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Cabin-Ea...926323&sr=8-14

I don't know what happened to that lamb cake mold. I seem to remember
it was pretty good sized.

On 4/27/2011 10:35 AM, Christopher Helms wrote:
> We got to pick our own meal on our birthday.

Pot-au-feu.

Becca

No meal, but my mother used to make me a scratch German chocolate cake
on my b-day.

My wife has also done so several times.

--Bryan

Veal scallopine sauteed in vermouth with mushrooms, steak fries, peas.
Devil's food cake and vanilla ice cream.

D.M.

"Landon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> My family didn't have a great deal of money when I was a child, but
> each of us children got to pick out the entire meal, (within reason
> and assistance from Mom), on our birthday.
>
> Everyone, all four kids, my parents and all the roomers also had to
> have it or not eat.
>
I don't recall ever having a special birthday meal. Dad was gone a lot (he
wasn't even in the country when I was born). When I was six my mother got
me a doll cake, does that count?

Jill