A Birthday Garden for Barry

Uh oh. I let more than a week go by without updating the blog? For shame!

My excuse is we’ve been busy.

On my way home from a business meeting on Friday morning, I stopped by the Lowe’s in Irvine to see if they had any ranunculus. (Earlier in the week, we bought a few from the Lowe’s in Tustin, but the selection had been picked over.) Friday must have been my lucky day, because I ended buying $100 worth of $1.98-ranunculus, pansies and lobelia. (!!!)

When I arrived home mid-morning with my loot, Barry was in his home-wear, complete with latte, yogurt and granola, and crossword puzzle:

Barry’s mid-morning routine.

Since I have a habit of coming home with loads of plants and no identified space to plant them (which means they died in their original pots on the side of the house), Barry recently imposed the “you can’t buy it if there’s nowhere to plant it” rule.

“But the ranunculus selection was SO! GOOD! I couldn’t just leave them there!!!!!”

So when I got home, I started looking around the yard for space. I didn’t find any, so I looked over at Barry and said “hey, how ‘bout we dig up some of the lawn, and put the flowers against the rose hedge? I know, we’ll call it your birthday garden!!!!”

I got a really dirty look back; not sure if that’s because a) I suggested ripping up our beautiful and luscious lawn, b) I was interrupting the crossword puzzle mojo, or c) I was suggesting that a decent birthday gift constituted planting a rainbow of my favorite flowers.

Never-mind that I also had another meeting to dash off to and couldn’t help with the turf removal.

 Here’s the part of the lawn I suggested we take out.

As resident conservation queen, I also suggested that the turf we dug up could be used to replace the “golden patches” that Britta has so nicely crafted. Now THAT, Barry thought was a good idea.

Barry’s handiwork – beginning to remove the lawn.

My handiwork (see, I DID help!!!) – cutting out rectangle patches of dead grass.

After filling in the holes, I actually think it looks pretty good, n’est-ce pas?!

Making the birthday boy plant his own birthday garden… I should be ashamed of myself. Or, first to point out that at his age, he should be proud of his ability to do yard work.

…and because I’m a detail-nut and borderline OCD, I had to line up all the ranunculus to make sure I wasn’t placing any two in a row that were same or similar in color.

…I also felt it was important to do a mock-up on where the plants were going, just to be sure they were going to look ok.

End of “Day Two.” I think it looks spectacular.

Barry says this is also Britta’s Birthday Garden… and my Birthday Garden… and Spring Garden… and Anniversary Garden. I guess he’s not willing to dig up more lawn anytime soon. I don’t blame him.

And on the morning of Barry’s actual birthday (today), it all looks pretty nice!

Note: we’re not really done with the installation yet. We’re gonna fill in the back space with vegetables (chard, broccoli and cauliflower for now) and the front space with herbs. This area gets so much sun, we have to make the most of it!

And since this is a “big birthday,” other wish-list items include:

- Saturday dinner (complete with age-appropriate gifts) at Britta’s Cafe in Irvine, CA

- Sunday morning maple oat scones

- Sunday dinner at Marché Moderne, Costa Mesa, CA

- Spring sailing trip to the British Virgin Islands (next month)

Barry requested breakfast scones a la Starbucks. These are lighter and more cake-like, and use almond extract in place of maple extract (because California doesn’t “do” maple extract?) but they’re still pretty good. [K]

Click here to view a printable version of this recipe.

Maple Oat Scones

~ Makes ~

8

~ Ingredients ~

• ¾ cup (111g) all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup (74g) oatmeal
• ¼ cup (37g) whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp. (25g) granulated sugar
• ½ tbsp. (8g) baking powder
• ¼ tsp. kosher salt
• 3 tbsp. (45g) unsalted butter, cold
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup (120ml) heavy cream
• 3 tbsp. maple syrup
• ½ tsp. almond extract
• ½ cup (50g) pecans
• ½ cup (50g) powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp. heavy cream
• 2 tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 tbsp. milk
• ¼ tsp. almond extract

~ Preparation ~

Preparation Time: 1 hour

1. Preheat oven to 425˚ F. Lay out sheet pan and line with parchment paper.
2. In a blender, grind oats.
3. Chop pecans.
4. In a 2-qt bowl, oats, all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Cut up butter into ¼ tbsp. chunks and drop into bowl.
5. In a 1-qt bowl, lightly beat egg, then add ½ cup cream, 3 tbsp. maple syrup and ½ tsp. almond extract; whisk to combine.
6. Using your fingers, quickly pinch the butter with the dry ingredients until everything is combined. Rub butter between your palms if you need to until the flour is incorporated. Then add chopped pecans.
7. Add wet mixture to flour mixture and combine with spatula.
8. Drop batter into center of baking sheet and form one round disc about ¾” in height. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden and slightly browned.
9. While scone is baking, mix together ½ cup powdered sugar, 3 tbsp. heavy cream, 2 tbsp. maple syrup, 1 tbsp. milk and ¼ tsp. almond extract.
10. Once scone is cooked, let cool for 20 minutes and cut into 8 wedges. Plate scones, drizzle with icing and serve immediately.

Nutrition content per scone: 290 calories, 34g carbs, 3g protein, 16.5g fat, 1g fiber

Cost per scone: $0.51

Source: Rustic Garden Bistro

Barry modeling his birthday breakfast and birthday flowers, which of course were from the birthday garden.

…and the morning wouldn’t be complete without a mimosa and crossword puzzle; it’ll keep the mind sharp!

All old-man jokes aside, Happy birthday, sweets. Hope you enjoy all your goodies. And thank you for doing yard work towards your own gift. Xoxo…

What would you have for breakfast on your birthday?