Dinner

Tonight we arrived home late — 7pm so we decided to cook Risotto for dinner.
Risotto for us is a simple, easy meal that always fills us up. The added bonus is that we are also able to make a double batch and freeze it for another night in the week!

Tonights Risotto was a Butternut pumpkin, pea, bacon and tomato Risotto.

Ingredients:

One Large Onion

Half a small Butternut Pumpkin

One cup of peas

One tin of diced tomatoes 

100g of Bacon

Aborio Rice

Stock

Garlic

1. Cook the onion in a small amount of oil until soft, place the chopped up pumpkin into the pan.

2. Place rice into pan with onions ( the amount of rice you use is up to how many people you are serving). As you are placing the  rice into the pan you need to add a cup of stock. 

4. Place the bacon into the pan and stir into the rice

3. Over the time of the dish cooking you need to consistently place a cup of stock into the pan (make sure this is when all the previous batch of stock has been absorbed).

4. As the rice is absorbing and cooking add herbs of your choice to the pan.

5. Instead of your last cup of stock use a can of diced tomatoes to add to the flavour.

6. When the rice has 5 minutes left to cook, add beans, mushrooms, peas and a handful of cheese.

7. Garnish with cheese.

There are plenty of recipes for Risotto online and in cook books, I don't use a recipe for my risotto so I know my directions can be a bit sketchy! If you do wish to make one please consult a recipe :)

Afternoon on the Murray-Darling

This afternoon saw us (Ruth, Paul, Mark and I) take a cruise down the Murray-Darling. We ventured down the Wentworth Wharf and were greeted by the Wentworth riverboat.

We spent the next hour floating up the Darling river, the scenery from the water was amazing, they were so many people out along the banks of the river relaxing and spending the afternoon with their families.

I quite enjoyed the change of landscapes – we went from populated, green river banks to flat land with only small bunches of tress and a small about of shrubbery behind the trees.

We turned around and began our journey back down the Darling river towards the centre of Wentworth, coming out at the Junction which is located about 500 metres from our place.

We turned as we approached Lock 10 and turned to have a fantastic view of Junction Island. Junction Island is the small island that separates the Murray and the Darling. 

To the left is the Darling and to the right is the Murray

We travelled down the Murray a small distance then retured to Wentworth Wharf.

Coffee by the River

This morning we ventured down to the Lovely Artback Gallery in Wentworth (located on Adelaide Street).

It was another beautiful morning in Wentworth and the Sunraysia region in general.





(View from our seats — overlooking the Darling River)

The Artback cafe is a real gem in Wentworth, friendly staff and a large area so one does not feel crowded nor have to listen to the chatter of other people that are around other tables. The coffee is simply divine — and affordable at $3.50 a cup.

The coffee is the brand FX which boasts a beautiful aromatic flavour, leaving a gentle flavour in your mouth. 

 Mark ordered a soy latte' that came in the most interesting glass (see above).

 An information board from the Wentworth Historical Society - located halfway down the main street of Wentworth.

 

This photo above is looking down the main street of Wentworth towards the post office.

This photo (above) is looking towards the Wentworth Caravan Park - that overlooks the river.

This photo is looking down Adelaide street, the Artback gallery is on the left hand side (but is not featured in this photo)

Beautiful start to a Sunday morning, with Mark and Ruth walking down the main street of Wentworth.

The Sea of People

Tonight we ventured into Mildura to see the Marti Gra parade take place to be followed by fireworks.

The afternoon was divine — the sun was shining and the streets were full of life. It was a side of Mildura that we had not seen.

As we walked across the pavement and down the stairway that leads into Jaycee park we were met by a sea of people all looking at the parade.

Cars, vans, semi-trailors and the like pushed slowly after one another down the crowd filled road way of the park. There was a prominent honking of horns as the vintage fire trucks crawled along, there was even one float (a boat) that had 'pirates' aboard - fashioning some very well polished plastic silver swords.

We followed the plentitude of people who seemed to be heading further towards the ampi-theatre and were met by a stage set for music and the grass in front was fast filling up with a patchwork of different rugs and people.

We made our way back towards the town to greet the ending of the afternoon. Smiling kindly on us as it protruded into the horizon, leaving the light colours of dusk to whisk us into the evening.