12 Fun Things To Do During A Wet Spell And Beetroot Risotto

Here are my 12 fun things to do during a wet spell. Bragging rights in the car industry are earned when your new VW outruns the competition and goes from 0 to 60 in 2 seconds. Our summer went from balmy sunshine days to cloudy and wet overnight, and Autumn kept it up for 7 days.  Suddenly, we had to think of things to do instead of surfing the waves and sunning ourselves on the beach.

Here are my 12  fun things to do during inclement weather.

1. Go to the Elgin Railway Market
2. Listen to live music
3. Make Risotto using root vegetables
4. Flip a pancake
5. Read A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
6. Rewind a movie made early this century, e.g. "Spiral", a series, or "Sliding Doors" chick flick
7. Make red toffee apples for the children
8. Pack a stack of wood and make your first fire indoors
9. Be a couch potato.
10. Catch up with letter writing or start knitting to keep someone else warm
11. Go bargain hunting at "Nerf af", a new shop in a fisherman's cottage in Hermanus
12. Drink hot chocolate and have a Hot cross bun dripping in butter

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LET THE BEETS GO ON WITH A BEETROOT RISOTTO

BEETROOT RISOTTO

METHOD:

1. Sauté onion, garlic, and ginger in hot butter and olive oil
2. Add Arborio rice once the vegetables are glassy
3. Stir-fry the rice until slightly golden and smells nutty
4. Add white wine and cook rapidly until the wine has evaporated
5. Add beetroot and fennel bulb
6. Cook for a few minutes.
7. Stir in the thyme
8. Add 125ml chicken stock, reduce heat to a simmer, and cover the saucepan with a lid
9. Simmer gently for 5 minutes and then add another 125ml of stock.
10. Repeat adding stock at 5-minute intervals
11. After 20 minutes, add Gorgonzola cheese and stir through
12. The Arborio rice should still be al dente

Delicious. Try this beetroot risotto recipe yourself and enjoy a warm, hearty meal on the next rainy day.

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One of my favourite kitchen tools is the Microplane Zester, which makes me feel confident and ready to create delicious dishes during any indoor cooking session.

Browse here for the Microplane Zester.

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REVIEW: A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW -  AMOR TOWLES

A little slow to start, but once it picks up its pace, it's a delightful book to read. A Bolshevik tribunal sentences Count Rostov to indefinite house arrest, and he must reside at the Hotel Metropole in Moscow. His circumstances change irrevocably from Nobleman to prisoner. His story is eloquently captured and tells of love, history, and humanity. “A lovely meandering story as charming as the Count himself” Red.

Browse here for the book

NERF-AF VINTAGE COLLECTABLES

Watch a flick or catnap on the couch.