GARDEN A GO GO

I don't know when it was I signed up to have our Austin Garden a GoGo to be held at our house, on May 30th, but I can tell you it was long before I found out I needed to have a hip replacement, which I had on February the 18th, and before I knew our garden would be pummeled by hail on April 18th and before I knew that Texas would find itself under endless flooding rain with barely a glimpse of sun for the whole month of May. But I did( sign up for it, that is) and all those events made me (and David) work especially hard to get everything looking the best it could be for the day. Every gardener likes to show her/his garden to its best. Heavens knows I have done enough garden tours and it doesn't come without a lot of fretting about the weather. I had my eyes glued to the radar as they promised more rain over Texas on Saturday. But the gardening gods were kind and there was no rain just some sun, heat and humidity. It was enough for the lace cactus to send out 4 blooms. I wonder if anyone noticed them because they are out in the front and we didn't walk that way.

The format of our visits follows along the lines of food and drink in the house, followed by tour of the garden and then our plant swap. The purpose has always been to ask advice on a troubling part of the garden. I was going to ask for planting suggestions, for the recently renovated section of the English garden, as plant selection has always been my weakness. I took some advice from a gardener at our local nursery and I am not happy with those selections. I should have been asking my fellow garden bloggers, as so many of them are designers. But, somehow the morning went by and that was forgotten.
I also planned a visit to a neighbor's garden. I had visited Syd's garden in the fall and knew my group would be wowed by the visit. And they were.
I have no photos to share of the event or the visit to Syd's garden but I have some recipes to share from the 'eats'. Several people asked for recipes and this seems the easiest place to share them.

The Deviled Egg recipe came from Natasha's Kitchen. No mayo and only half the egg yolks. It was a first time try and everyone seemed to like it. It is now in my special book of recipes.

The Crustless Quiche is slightly altered from a recipe in our local newspaper years ago and by Renee Studebaker. Little did I know that I would meet up with Renee when our garden blogging group formed. She was here today.

The Crustless Quiche

6 stalks of swiss chard
½ red pepper
2 green onions chopped
1 clove garlic pressed and chopped
sea salt
5 eggs
1¼ cups milk
6Tbsp goat cheese broken up
¼ cup smoked gouda grated
¼ cup parmesan cheese
butter and whole wheat pastry flour

Preheat oven to 365°  Wash drain and chop chard. If stems are thick chop and saute. Then add the chard, pepper and onions and saute until tender. Season to taste. This can be done the day before if oyu are serving for breakfast.
Butter a 9" pie dish and sprinkle with pastry flour to cover. Sprinkle half the parmesan over the bottom.
Add the sauteed vegs. Distribute the grated gouda and goat cheese evenly over the top. Whisk the eggs and milk with a pinch of salt and pour over the top. Bake at 365° for 35 minutes.

Currant Scones

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 stick cold butter
¾cup dried currants
½cup low fat buttermilk
1 large egg beaten
milk

Whisk the dry ingredients in a bowl and cut in the butter or work with fingers until resembles coarse meal. Do quickly so the butter doesn't melt. Stir in currants and beaten egg and buttermilk. Bring together with a fork until just combined then knead quickly. Pat or roll into an 8" disc and cut out with a 2¼"fluted cutter. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush tops with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 425° for 12-15 minutes until the tops are browned.
Serve with butter jam and for a wonderful Cornish cream tea jam and whipped or clotted cream.

AND NOW IT IS POURING DOWN! Thank you garden gods.