FF: Birthday Follow-up

So remember how I left you off with the delicious amount of birthday desserts I have to choose from in Italy? Here's one more:

the Zeppole

Courtesy of seriouseats.com

This fried feast is filled with ricotta cheese, and I guess is often confused with France's delicious beignets. I think it can also be filled with fruit.


Bottom line, I think I would like to try this thing.


I think Italians know how to throw a party because they get so much practice as they grow up. They know they have to front the bill, and they know that their party will be as big as they want it. When I was growing up here, I learned that Filipinos kind of do things the same way. If you're going to throw a party, don't ask your guests to help you cook. They're there to enjoy the party you are throwing. (of course, if they're properly raised, your guests will offer to help, and, as a proper host, you decline and say cooking is no big deal...They can insist, and you can decide from there.  These are the courtesies they don't tell you. >.<) The biggest thanks you can give your filipino host is telling her that you love her cooking. =)

I love how my family throws parties. We do a lot of the preparation and cooking ourselves, and a lot of the time, guests will bring over other dishes to add to the mix and it's great fun. I'm not one to go out and party much--it gets expensive, and I feel bad when people want to buy me things. (Woo, I was born, give me things!) And since I'm not such a big drinker, I feel bad for saying no to free drinks friends (and strangers) offer to buy for me.


I guess what I'm trying to say is that maybe I might like the fact that I get to throw my own parties in Italy. It might be expensive, but I like the idea of the responsibility of pleasing my own guests. They're my friends--I should thank them for being there for me, and it's the one day where I can gather them all together and do things I like doing with the people I like doing them with. That way, the day becomes a celebration of the friendships I've made, instead of a celebration of me.
...so, more of a celebration of We? I mean, I didn't exactly do anything great by being born. Hell, I should really be celebrating my mother on my birthday--she's the one who sat in labor to get me here. (Love you, mama.)


Downside of throwing your own party and fronting the bill? How do you know who is coming to celebrate you versus who is coming to celebrate your open wallet? That's a tough one.


(And here's the selfish, american in me), it *is* nice to have one day out of the year to be about me. Where people remember I exist, and I get more than a few notifications on Facebook, and I connect with people I haven't spoken to in years. It's nice being the center of attention...for a few hours. But, I think out of that whole thing, I really do enjoy just being with the people I love on my birthday...and I wonder if gifts didn't just begin as mementos to help us remember the good times we had when we collected in one place to celebrate the same thing. And now we've almost twisted them to become something expected, or even owed.


SO. I hope this year you've taken the time to celebrate your birthday with friends, because what better present could they offer you than the relationship and experiences you've had together?

These look suspiciously like sushiland's octopus balls.
But I assure you
google images tells me they are indeed Zeppoles.

Thank you to all of my friends and family for your birthday wishes and your friendship over the last year. Stick around to celebrate with me again, kay? Maybe in two years I'll invite you to celebrate in Italy with me. =)