Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I used to go out - Gramercy Tavern for a while, then Jean-Georges - but for the last few years I've invited a few close friends over and cooked. My birthday is in early September so we can dine outside, typically on grilled lamb, grilled vegetables and something chocolate for dessert.

For my 30th birthday party I had a big party. You're almost that age, caley - so you could move the big 30 back to 29 "just because" if you wanted to.

It was a big party in a small apartment. More people to stuff in than could really fit. The theme was "April Fool's Day" because I didn't want to celebrate my ancient-ness so instead pretended it was April Fool's Day (in October).

The food was set out as a buffet as were the drinks, just using whatever I had (no rental stuff, no fuss) and it was all food that was April Fool's Day food. A pizza that was instead a tart - a sausage that was made of seafood - so on and so forth. Things that were not as they appeared. Of course I told the guests so they wouldn't be totally grossed out by taking a bite of pizza thinking tomato sauce and instead getting currant jelly.

It was fun and even my dog got drunk from stealing sips of beer from unsuspecting people who had put their glasses down close enough to the floor for him to reach. (Poor little guy- he was a little black Pomeranian and when I took him out for his walk afterwards he lifted his leg to the tree and fell sideways).

That was a good birthday party!

I usually cram a whole bunch of people in my little house and cook for them all. I lay out some simple stuff-- good bread, cold cuts, brownies, cookies, et cetera-- and then make one or two 'complicated' things, like mini-cheesecakes, or tarts. Some of my favorite cookies to serve at parties are ones from Gourmet's last Christmas issue-- butter cookies with pistachios, cranberries, and orange zest. They look great and since they're refrigerator cookies, you can store them 'til you're ready. : )

I'm with hatlady... as far back as I can remember, the birthday boy/girl got to eat dinner out if desired, with cake-n-ice cream and gifts at home after with just the immediate family and maybe the family of one other of our really close family friends. We were often very poor, so "out" may have meant a cheap coffeeshop/diner, burger stand or Mexican take-out joint. But it was always done, even if a child was also hosting a birthday party for his/her friends.

It continues today. This year, hubby's late-September choice was a beach cookout with four of the six kids, cooking done by eldest and new bride, with my homemade pumpkin pie to bear his candles. It was a perfect day.

"Milestone" b'days get special attention -- surprise parties, trips abroad, etc. But there's a lot of flexibility on what constitutes a milestone. Instead of marking the Big Three-Oh, why not celebrate your cliche birthday (for one whole year you get to say you're only 29 and mean it) or some such? Do something silly, like visit all the local tourist attractions with your friends, ending with dinner out at your favorite place, or one where you can be loud and rowdy.

I ignore mine; so don't remind me when it occurs.

I totally love my birthday (just think of the alternative!!) and look forward to it every year. I can have more than one celebration, depending on the availability of family and friends. If some can't make it to one gathering, we'll have another just so I can see everyone.

Presents are optional but cake is a must. It's like Birthday Interruptus if there is no cake.

I make my own cake because I know what I like best, lol. It's usually just a family affair, opening presents and then going out to dinner at the place of my choice. And of course, no housework for me, just lots of lazing about!

Call it trashy if you must, but its become almost a tradition with my parents, sister and me. For at least one of our birthday's (we're all adults now and sort of have our own lives independent of one another :P) we have to get together and go somewhere that gives a free meal/dessert to the birthday person.

We give each of the kids the dinner they request and whatever cake they want. What's happened is that they seem to have all settled on one dish: Stuffed Pork Loin. Pics of the latest one, from last Saturday, can be seen here. For Mary and I we go out to eat so we can spend more time together and less on cooking and cleaning. But we do normally make a point of going somewhere we've not eaten before. My own birthday was a few days ago on Halloween. Pics from our visit to the local J. Alexander's are here.

I'm another Scorpio in this crowd, my birthday is the week before Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, this means that it's always fallen right in the busiest time, school-wise. This year is no different, but hopefully it's my last year in school for a while! My family's tradition is similar as the ones above, the birthday girl or boy gets to choose a restaurant or a meal. This year, because of the aforementioned madness, I'm just going to have a small dinner out at a new Mexican place nearby with my parents and friend to celebrate the actual day. Then, the following week when my brother is home, we'll go to Sang Kee, a Peking duck place in Philly that I'm obsessed with. It's become my "go-to" place for birthday dinners the past couple of years.

Thank you all for these great ideas. They have been really fun to read! I think that I have decided to go out to dinner with some friends. Either a local Persian restaurant or rijsttafel. After that, drinks somewhere. Then, when I see my boyfriend at the end of the week (we're in different countries at the moment, but that is set to change on Friday) I will ask him sweetly to cook me a birthday dinner, and we will celebrate at home. Perhaps with cake, although I'm not mad for cake. Perhaps with marzipan petits fours from Patisserie Valerie.
Happy early birthday to you other November birthdays out there - Jerzee Tomato, kitchenbea and segalbraith.