Happy Birthday!!

Recipe of the Week: Ice Cream Cone Cakes

Tomorrow, I will be celebrating my 18th birthday, legally entering the realm of adulthood, so I thought it would be appropriate for this post to be about the subject of birthdays, and the food associated with them. This recipe is a classic, and entails cake inside of an ice cream cone. Try it out!

Turning 18 grants me a whole new world of opportunity. I can buy a lottery ticket at the 7/11 around the corner. I can vote. I can drive till the wee hours of the morning. I can finally order that Magic Bullet off of the infomercial. But, as of right now, I am not thinking of these new freedoms. Instead, I am thinking of the food.

On Monday, I must bring food for both my class and my swim team. I will most likely go somewhere special for lunch (probably Noodles and Company) and celebrate with my family by having cake for dessert. This is how I celebrate birthdays. But how do other people?

In the book discussed last post, The Poisonwood Bible, one of the narrators, Rachel, is upset that she is spending her birthday in the Congo without gifts and without cake or ice cream. The birthday traditions of her hometown in Georgia aren't practiced, and ultimately can't be practiced in the Congo. There are different traditions to partake in, and different foods to eat.

Upon minor research, I have learned that most cultures appreciate birthdays, and each have their own way of showing it. Check this link out for the specifics. Yet throughout all these different cultures and regions of the world, food seems to be a common thread. In China, birthdays are celebrated with long noodles that symbolize a long, successful life. In Holland, children eat pancakes topped with powdered sugar. In Brazil, people enjoy fruit-shaped candies.

Food unites us all. We all need it; we all depend on it. This week, I encourage you to think about the real power that food has.

Peace out, and rock on.