Here on the farm, we celebrate 5 birthdays and 5 half birthdays each year. Would that be 10 birthdays or 7.5 birthdays total? I haven't figured out the math on that one...I just know it requires a lot of baking. Let me tell you how this craziness all began:Somewhere around the time our oldest son was almost 6 months past his 5th birthday, he heard me tell someone he was almost 5 and 1/2. He was fascinated by this idea. Lots of discussion ensued. He came to think that 5 1/2 was an actual age and that the day he turned this new age was his Half Birthday.
We only had two kids back then and I wasn't really thinking about the consequences of my actions, but I made him a half birthday cake on the day he turned 5 1/2. I was such a rookie back then. It was a cold and dreary end-of-January day. The 2 boys were taking naps. Making a cake sounded like a great way to help perk things up a bit around the farm.
So, I whipped up a round cake with the yellow cake recipe in my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook. I turned it out onto a pretty plate and let it cool. I frosted the whole thing and then cut it in half, placing one half on top of the other.
What I ended up with looked like a layer cake that had been cut in half - a HALF birthday cake.
A tradition was born on that late January day.
Now we celebrate every child's half birthday. Nothing big and fancy, just a half birthday cake, a partially burned candle (a half candle...see the theme?) and our family singing half of the birthday song. No presents or decorations or guests, just the 7 of us celebrating one of the amazing and precious lives God has blessed our family with. The WHOLE tradition is a good thing.
The photo is of Ellie who recently celebrated her 6 1/2 birthday. You'll notice the cake is chocolate and a bit crumbly...not my usual Half Birthday cake. Ellie LOVES to bake cakes from mixes and she can do so all by herself, so I let her. It was a big step for me because I like things to look the way I like them to look, if you know what I mean. Sigh. I've come a long way...
That's a lot of cake over the next 2 weeks.
ReplyDeleteYep, between March 31 and the end of April I'll be making 3 regular cakes and 2 half cakes. October is pretty busy too. Funny how it worked out that way.
ReplyDeleteHey if you need any help eating all that cake...you know who to call...did I mention we like cake?
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