This week’s hostess is Deborah from The Humble Housewife. Her request?“I want to hear about or see a holiday tradition, recipe or event. It can be any holiday you like or that is special to your family. With Thanksgiving and the Winter holidays coming up, those would be especially apt, but anything that is special for your family is fine. If you have pictures - it's a bonus! Whether it's your Mom's famous stuffing recipe, going caroling on Christmas Eve, Diwali dances, or even the inevitability of Great Aunt Polly having one too many brandies and knocking over the Christmas tree - I want to hear about it!!!”
My very favorite Christmas tradition is one that I started when my girls were little.
At my mom’s, on Christmas, we always had 3 desserts - pumpkin pie, rhubarb pie, and prune cake. The prune cake was my sister’s favorite and since it was her birthday, Mom always made prune cake.
When my oldest daughter was 3 and my youngest daughter was 2 months old, I started serving Baby Jesus’ birthday cake for Christmas dessert. It is His birthday, after all.
By that point, my mom and I were splitting the Christmas Eve/Christmas Day dinner so, whichever one I was cooking, we had birthday cake, not for my sister, but for Baby Jesus, for dessert.
It's a two layer Jello poke cake, 1 layer red and 1 layer green. I was unaware how much of an impression Jesus' birthday party was making on my kids till someone asked my daughter, when she was in 4th grade, what her favorite Christmas carol was. Her answer? “Happy Birthday to You”.
When the girls were older, my husband and I drove truck cross-country for a living. That’s when I discovered this wonderful cake.
I had it delivered to whoever was hosting dinner that year and, in good years, to everyone on my gift list, with “Happy Birthday, Jesus” written on the card and the cake.So, there you have it - my most favorite Christmas tradition. My kids and grandkids are sure of two things at Christmastime - they will receive a hardback book as their Christmas gift and dessert will be birthday cake for Baby Jesus.
On a side note: last year our Church was providing dessert for the inmates at the county jail. I ordered a birthday cake from our local bakery to be decorated with “Happy Birthday, Jesus”
and delivered. One of the jailers called me and asked if I had any clue how many “Jesus”’ there were currently incarcerated. I didn’t. He told me. I drove down to the jail with my frosting tube and changed the cake to “Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus”. One of the jailers got the piece with Jesus' name on it to avoid a Christmas riot!
40 comments:
Those are beautiful cakes for a beautiful sentiment. The prison thing WAS a "riot". haha
Too funny!!!! "Do you know how many Jesuses are incarcerated here?"!!!!
I love you tradition of the Birthday cake for Baby Jesus.
Sandy,
That is such a beautiful birthday cake for Jesus! And the favorite Christmas song of your daughter's. I like your tradition of a book for Christmas.
I just laughed and laughed - thinking about criminals named Jesus! Smart jailer to remove the name...
I'm gonna steal that Jesus Birthday cake idea. OOps! Stealing is a sin, so may I borrow it.
Your Jello poke cake sure takes me back. My aunt used to make that for us when we were kids.
Oh, dear on the trying to do a good thing at the jail! Good grief! You know I think it's great to keep Jesus in his own b-day!
We used to make that "poke" cake, but it had pudding in it.
That is a great tradition...the birthday cake.
I think it's great to get back to the actual meaning of Christmas.
Lisa
That's a great tradition!
That's too funny about the prison name thing. Smart jailer to prevent a riot by eating the name himself!
Those are both great cakes and a wonderful tradition. I never thought of doing a birthday cake. We have so many birthdays in the month before though we are almost sick of it.
The prison story is pretty funny!
I think that is a fantastic idea.
I've never heard of a prune cake. Your dd's response is priceless. The prison story made me laugh, but that's such a wonderful thing to do for those men.
Wow! You make my little traditions seem so blah.
I know this says it's from Prunella Farquar, but it's really from min of mamadrama.
The prison story cracks me up!
Like a couple of other people commenting on here, I love, love, love the birthday cake for Jesus idea. I may have to borrow it too!
What a lovely tradition. We don't get anything like the jello poke cake here, it looks like a child's dream cake.
I couldn't help laughing about the prison cake story!
Great tradition. We used to go to the children's Christmas Eve mass every year. At the end of mass, in the bit where they did announcements before the recessional hymn, we'd all get to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. Then, on the way out the door, every kid would get a cupcake.
I love the cake idea! Thanks for stopping by my blog....
That's a great idea - and a good reminder of why we are celebrating Christmas.
My husband's birthday is the 24th - so we already sing Happy Birthday anyway!
I am stealing this idea...
I am adding this tradition! What a wonderful way to remember, the real meaning of Christmas!
~Christine
www.arewethereyetmom.com
The Happy birthday song as the favorite Christmas carol? Too cute!!!!!
What a wonderful tradition!
And who knew you liked to start prison riots in your spare time!
Those cakes look really cool.
Love the prison story! Haha!
I love your tradition! My sister has done that and I hope we remember to do it when it's just our family. Our church also has had a Birthday party for Jesus the past couple of years to help emphasize the true meaning of Christmas in a way that kids can understand. Thanks for your post!
Funny jailhouse story. You have great longstanding tradition, and that poke cake looks yummy, I have to try it like that layered, it is decorative too.
Those cakes look great!! I was all ready for spaghetti, but now I'm craving cake!
Nice touch, Happy Birthday Baby Jesus. You certainly have had some great desserts for your Christmas festivities.
Heck, I could have told you how many inmates are named "Jesus."**LOL**
That cake looks so good. I also like pumpkin pie.
Beautiful tradition! This is my first time stopping by...I LOVE DIANA GABALDON, too!!!
That cake looks so festive, too, with the red and green :). What a wonderful, meaningful tradition to pass along! Obviously, it's made a strong impression on your family!
It is great that you always recognize the "Reason for the Season"
The entire time I am reading this I keep hearing in my head "Dear Lord Baby Jesus..." Do you know the movie I'm thinking of? Anyway that is twice you have cracked me up today once in your comment on my blog and now with the prison story! :)
both of those cakes look so delicious!
i too love the idea of birthday cake for Jesus. i'm all over ideas to help us remember "the reason for the season"!
Great tradition! And great prison story!
What a lovely tradition - keeps in mind where the focus should be at Christmas! Too funny about the inmates! ;-)
The cakes look yummy:)
I'm just getting around to visit Fun Mondayers today, better late then never right?
Anyway, this is a wonderful tradition! If I ever have kids, I may have to borrow it! ;-) Oh, and I so want some red velvet cake now! YUM!
Those cakes look wonderful!! Love the look of the jello poke cake. Very cool. Great story about the jailers.
Wow. Fab cakes.
And the jail cake was hilarious.
I bet they loved it too.
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