Birthdays

Yesterday was our elder daughter's 33rd birthday. We love birthdays in our family and have always treated them as a special day. Our family birthday traditions started when I was little.

My parents always made a fuss of me on my birthday. Very ceremoniously I'd be taken into the lounge room where the 'Geburtstag Mann' (birthday man, equivalent of Father Christmas I guess) had been. There, on the sideboard, wrapped nicely would be my presents. As we were poor as church mice when I was little there wasn't too much to open, but I was nearly always pleased with my gifts. Though it is hard to get too enthusiastic about 'Cottontails' (sensible underwear) or a white cardigan even if it was the best quality. I particularly loved books and they often featured. If they were German, sent by our relatives, my parents would read them to me at bedtime and I loved that.

I've mentioned the wonderful neighbours we had at the flats and they always spoiled me rotten. One year Uncle Don made me a little dressing table. I kept it because I loved it so much until I towered over it with the top coming to my knees. They gave me colouring in books and pencils and sets of watercolour paints. Mrs H would usually sew me a dress or a flash apron and she always picked a beautiful bunch of flowers which made me feel very grown up. I adore getting flowers to this day.

As my birthday is in December it was always the school holidays and Uncle Jack (another of our neighbours) would drive my mother and me into the city early so we could listen to the David Jones choir sing Christmas carols. We would wander about and have lunch somewhere, which was always a huge treat, before coming home where my mother would cook a birthday dinner of my choice. I think I usually chose 'Rolladen' (finely sliced meat rolled around a filling of onion and streaky bacon) which was cooked in a delicious creamy sauce, dumplings and red cabbage. Dessert would be a slice of Frankfurter Kranz (a butter cake filled and covered with butter cream and then covered in toasted flaked almonds) which was our traditional family birthday cake.

We have kept some of those traditions going and added others. My husband's family had what we believe to be the original Sacher Torte recipe - a chocolate cake including ingredients such as 7 egg whites and a whole large block of the finest Lindt dark chocolate. It is baked on the day before the birthday and eaten on the morning of the birthday with lashings of whipped cream.

The birthday person is led into the dining room where the presents are arranged on the sideboard. We then all sit around while they are opened. My husband is a very skilful poet and he writes his girls a poem for our birthdays a super special feature which we appreciate and treasure enormously.

The birthday dinner, always the choice of the birthday person, now often consists of roasted duck, dumplings and red cabbage with lots of home made gravy. Dessert varies. Last night we had coeur a la creme ( a heart shaped creamy confection a bit like cheesecake) with raspberry coulis. Yum!

These days I love to go out to a restaurant for my birthday. No thinking about what I want until I'm happily seated and presented with a menu.

We had a lovely evening yesterday. I hope our birthday girl enjoyed herself on her special day.