Our Small Man has turned twenty-one.
It’s a big deal.
As those of you who have been following along for the past decade will appreciate, it hasn’t been an easy road for him. He’s had stage 4 cancer, which in turn led to learning and social difficulties, anaphylaxis-inducing allergies, and a variety of other health issues. At one point, we weren’t sure he’d make it to twenty-one months, let alone twenty-one years. I’ve written a bit about this in the past, so I won’t rehash it all here, but you’re welcome to read these posts if you’re interested: Small Man; Giving Thanks.
When we asked our son how he would like to celebrate, he replied very much in character by asking for a “modest” party. So we invited only those who knew him well and loved him nearly as much as we do. We tidied up the back deck and spent a day cooking in the kitchen.
We made pork and fennel sausage rolls from scratch, starting with kilos of homemade rough puff pastry (following this great YouTube tutorial from River Cottage)…
Despite my best efforts, the birthday cake was seriously ugly.
I started with two of our chocolate slab cakes and then attempted to join them together with icing…
Thankfully, Small Man didn’t care how it looked…
…and our friends were all happy with how it tasted – most came back for seconds…
As always, the chicken liver parfait was very popular. I used free range livers from Harris Farm Markets in Leichhardt and a heavy-handed pour of XO brandy…
We deep-fried a mountain of Malaysian prawn crackers.
Monkey Girl and I discovered that they were sublime spread with the parfait…
Maude’s gojuchang and caramel popcorn was inspired by Lorraine’s Peking Duck popcorn recipe. It was a huge hit…
There were platters of antipasti, loaves of freshly baked sourdough, giant slabs of pizza, and many, many bottles of French champagne. We all had a wonderful time…
Small Man, we love you and we couldn’t be prouder of the young adult you’ve grown up to be. Thank you for being such an important part of our lives, and for allowing us to be part of yours! ♥
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Beautiful post for a beautiful milestone in life!
enjoy your 22nd year, may it be full of joy, love, health, success on all fronts!
You are part of an amazing family! (but you knew that already)
Happy birthday, Small Man!
What a lovely spread and reason to celebrate. Best wishes to all of you.
Wishing you and you son some of the joy that your blog brings to me.
That cake looks amazing! Happy Birthday Small Man!
Warmest congratulations to you all on reaching a well deserved milestone.
Penblwydd Hapus Smallman! (Welsh for ‘Happy Birthday)
Happy Birthday! You have the BEST family ever!
Not so SMALL this man.. This looked like a seriously wonderful ‘modest’ party! love to all c
Happy birthday to your son Celia and I can tell from here that cake tastes amazing.
Congratulation to all of you on a wonderful milestone. We celebrated the 21st of our youngest this year, too – where did those years go?!
He might have been small but he’s a giant amongst those who know him or know about him from his loving mother. Congratulations on turning the big 21 and best wishes for a life of peace, love and happiness.
Congratulations to your son, Celia. What a milestone to have reached when he has had so many challenges. I am sure that having loving parents has helped him tremendously.
How wonderful!
Happy Birthday to not so small man, I am sure that his modest party was everything he wished for. There is no such thing as an ugly cake!
Lastly, congratulations to you and your husband for growing such a lovely human, our children are our greatest achievement.
Celia, looks like a wonderful celebration. Thanks for sharing and birthday wishes to your wonderful 21 year old. Boy it doesn’t seem 20 years since you were out here in Ashvegas!
Wow Anne, has it really been that long? Sadly, no 21 year old champers!
My Pete asked if any of the bubbles were 21 years old??
A happy, happy, happy birthday to one many of us only know as ‘Small man’! And a huge warm hug to all the people which made it all happen. May God, whoever and whatever he is continue to bless a very special family . . .
Everything in this post looks wonderful. Hope your family hasd a wonderful celebration!
Congratulations to your son on his 21st birthday and blessings to you and your family for having the courage and strength to go through what must have been very difficult times.
All the very best, you are each very inspirational and together make an awesome family. Well done all. xx
Happy birthday Small Man! Looks like a wonderful birthday party. The food looks delicious. Wishing you health, happiness, success, blessings, and all the best for the coming year.
Happy birthday to a special son and I hope the years ahead bring you joy and good health. His extraordinary Mum also needs congratulating on a job well done.
How lovely, Celia and what a lovely party menu your kitchen manufactured. I made your chocolate slab cake x 2, for a friend’s 70th birthday – my cake also didn’t look beautiful but i mixed the icing for the second cake with cointreau: it tasted fabulous! Happy birthday Small Man – you’re part of a mighty family.
And THAT’S how you celebrate in true family style! Love and good wishes to you all for many, many more family celebrations 😀
Oh wow. Fantastic Celia. I bet you had a lovely time with your incredible young Man. It sounds a lot like Jays party.
A wonderful celebration for the Small Man. I’m sure it built even more wonderful memories for you all 😃
How wonderful for you all.
What a beautiful mother you are and happy birthday to your son. I’ve followed your blog for years but have never commented. It has been inspiring and influential in my life, so for that I thank you. I love how you live your life to be your best self and I’m sure you have passed on these values to your two boys.
How nice to “meet” you, Alison! Thank you for stopping by to leave such a kind comment! :)
Beautiful Celia, just perfect x
Best wishes to all of you ♡ Your party looks delightful, the love you feel for each other quite evident.
My, oh my, Celia. I’m so glad you’ve shared the joy in your son’s 21st birthday with your blogging friends. I read the two posts you linked and can only imagine the incredible journey you and your family have been on. What a joyful celebration–and the cake looked delicious. :-)
Congratulations it looks like so much fun wish I could have been there 😊😊😊
How wonderful! It is wonderful when things go smoothly but so much more precious after a struggle. Congratulations to everyone who has had a hand in along the way. :)
…..AND many more!!!
A lovely milestone. Best wishes!
Cakes made with love re never ugly😘
What a beautiful and perfect way to celebrate. Best wishes on your 21st birthday Small Man with love and hugs from Nairobi, Kenya.
:-) Mandy xoxo
Happy Birthday, Small Man! And congratulations to your devoted, nurturing, loving parents. Well done, you!
Happy birthday! That cake looks amazing!!
Belated best wishes to Small Man – it sounds like a most wonderful celebration and so it should be :) I love how you take such trouble over the provenance over the ingredients – it makes the difference between simple food being mediocre or mind-blowingly delicious. Those sausage rolls in particular are calling my name!
happy birthday “little” buddy. Kick on and make 100.
Happy Birthday to Little Man. 21 and many many more ! Lovely post Celia and most touching reading the mentioned posts. You are so blessed to be in such a loving family.
I haven’t been here for long so I will go back and read about the history. I too have been blogging for ten years now, I can’t believe it’s been that long. I have met some of my dearest blogging friends and have made strong connections. I hope, one day to meet you too.
Your birthday celebration for small man looks perfect, even the gorgeous chocolate cake. I too, cannot bear the thought of running out of food, it terrifies me. Only once, I allowed my husband to dictate how much food to have at a party and we ran out! NEVER AGAIN!