Happy Birthday Mise En Place

It sounds odd to wish an inanimate object Happy Birthday.  But what the heck.  Birthdays celebrate the anniversary of the beginning of something.  Or the way I like to look at it, I celebrate a birthday because I'm glad that person, or thing in this case, is in my life. 

As I ponder what tasty treat to make to mark the occasion of the birth of my blog, albeit only important to me, I'm wondering how did birthday celebrations start?  Who started the tradition of a birthday cake?  And I'll try to clear up some of the questions surrounding the song Happy Birthday To You.  

My party will include me, myself and I ... with my husband cheering me on.  In ancient times, birthday celebrations before the creation of the calendar were virtually non-existent.  While there is documentation of celebrations for royalty of an Egyptian Pharaoh (The Hebrew Bible, Genesis 40:20), it is unlikely they were celebrated on the actual anniversary date of his birth.  Once the Egyptians perfected tracking time, it was possible to identify the exact date of one's birth.  With that, the beginning of astrology was born.  Documenting birthdays now became very important for telling one's future, especially for their rulers.  I guess the birth date of my blog makes it a Leo!

For whatever reason, the superstitious came to believe that good or evil spirits would visit on one's birthday.  The party traditions we've come to know today originated from these pagan inventions.  Either the person could be helped or harmed by these spirits.  In an effort to protect the loved one on their birthday, friends and family would gather to protect him or her.  Birthday party!

If people gather around, they obviously need to eat.  The Greeks took the next step.  Because the Greeks worshipped Artemis once a month (goddess associated with the crescent moon), they would celebrate her day with round cakes, symbolizing the potential shape of the moon.  Lighting candles on these cakes represented a glowing moon.  To them, this held significance of honor, tribute and good fortune according to The Lore of Birthdays.

Because the Catholic church objected to these pagan rituals, the birthday party as we know it today is a relatively new thing.  Over time, people rejected the pagan notions and no longer took it seriously or the history of its origins faded away.  The Europeans found a way to keep the fun traditions alive and now we've been known to spend thousands of dollars on celebrating birthdays.

Oh...what about the Happy Birthday To You song?  Is it an urban myth this song is copyrighted?  No, it's true and has been the case since the 1935.  According to Warner Music it will remain so until 2030.  That shouldn't stop you from singing the song so long as you are not in a for profit situation.   It now seems clear why restaurants have chosen to wish the birthday person with their own creative, witty songs.

In a nod to tradition for a non-traditional birthday such as mine, I've decided to go with homemade Vanilla Bean ice cream.  It is after all, in the shape of a moon.

If you're looking for a tasty homemade recipe for Vanilla Bean ice cream, I highly recommend this one. 

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream recipe

Every Living Thing Needs To Eat

Mixing it up a bit.   Letting my pictures speak for themselves...
 

I'll do anything to eat

Manners, Courtesy or Get Over Myself?

I tread ever so lightly on this subject.  However, I do want to hear your perspective, my dear readers.  What would you have done in this instance?

Do you remember the Sopranos episode where Tony asks a guy in a restaurant to take off his ball cap?  Let me jog your memory if don't.  

If only....

For my husband's upcoming birthday, I purchased a cooking lesson where we would learn all about preparing Spanish Tapas.  On a lovely Friday evening, we showed up ready to learn along with 18 other people, presumably all with the same motivation.  Our gracious instructor provided us Sangria to start the evening.

The instructor stood front and center at a u-shaped prep counter.  A majority of us sat at that u-shaped table where each of us were given a cutting board, ingredients and knives.  Behind us were two smaller tables with similar set ups.

At one of those back tables a group of five ladies took up residence.  They also decided it was their social hour.  Yackity yack yack yack.  These ladies were making it difficult to hear.  Then a cell phone rang in their group.  Yes, she answered.  The instructor politely asked everyone to mute their phones.  As she continued to give us our instructions it was clear she was about to lose her voice, struggling to be heard having just taught a summer camp class with teenagers. 

Several times the neighboring back table tried to ssh them.  It was even more difficult for them to hear.  Finally, I turned around to see what was going on.  To my dismay, one of the ladies sitting at her table had her back to the instructor.  No wonder the group wasn't focused on the instructor or what all the rest of us were trying to learn. 

I wish I could say it got better, but it never did.  Not until we broke into groups to actually start the cooking did I stop hearing their chatter.  Then it really didn't matter.

Everyone has their own definition of fun.  What happens when your fun starts to interfere with mine?  Does anyone have Tony's number handy?

Tell me, I'd really like to hear your thoughts.  How would you feel in this circumstance?  Is it enough of a problem to say something or would you live and let live?