Regional Extra 030424

April 3 - 9, 2024

Making cocktails sustainable

By CHLOE JAENICKE

POSH Plonk on Main are experimenting with creating more sustainable practices to create their cocktails.

The Chiltern restaurant is creating ‘waste-less’ cocktails in an effort to make their menu more sustainable through recycling ingredients.

“We are utilising ingredients in our cocktail making that would otherwise be discarded, for example our oxidised white wine is blended with a pear preserve using older ripe pears, no longer suitable for serving otherwise, to create a pear wine that will then be used in our cocktails,” Posh Plonk owner, Michael Moore, said.

“The idea of ‘waste-less’ cocktails and hospitality businesses in general is very important to us, having worked in the industry for many years you see an immense level of waste being created in the industry.”

They will be showcasing many of these cocktails and other practices on their ‘waste-less’ cocktail night as part of the Off-Grid Living Festival on April

5. At the cocktail night, they will also be highlighting the milk ‘on-tap’ they have from The Udder Way and How Now Dairy.

The milk from How Now Dairy will be used to milk wash and clarify the whiskey.

“This milk is sourced from Australia’s only calf and cow dairy, where the calves remain with their mothers in a much more ethical way of farming,” Mr Moore said.

■ Continued page 6

CORNER Preventing dental disease in pets

DENTAL disease is one of the most commonly diagnosed health problems in our pets, affecting 80 per cent of cats and dogs under three years of age.

It is initially caused by plaque (made up of food, saliva and bacteria), which sticks to the surface of the tooth.

If it isn’t removed, it will calcify or set into tartar.

Over time, this can cause:

— Bad breath

— Discolouration or crusting on teeth

— Red or inflamed gum lines

— Reluctance to chew or discomfort associated with eating

— Chewing on only one side of the mouth

— Dropping food, drooling or discharge from the mouth

— Difficulty swallowing

— Pawing or rubbing at the mouth

— Weight loss

If dental disease has been caught early on, your vet may recommend a ‘scale and polish’.

This procedure requires general anaesthesia and an ultrasonic scaler to break and remove tartar and calculus.

The teeth are then polished to create a smooth surface and minimise new tartar accumulation.

Your vet may then recommend preventative strategies to maintain your pet’s oral health, such as brushing, chew toys, dental diets and oral treatments.

Another scale and polish may be required in the future, depending on how quickly tartar ad calculus accumulates again.

However, if dental disease is not managed sooner rather than later, it can cause teeth to become significantly diseased.

with Ovens and Kiewa Vet Clinic

They may rot or break easily, and can be painful and make it difficult for your pet to eat.

If this occurs, the affected tooth/teeth will need to be surgically extracted.

Depending on the number of teeth needing to be extracted, it becomes a more invasive procedure, and costs can increase significantly.

By booking your pet in for a scale and polish early on, the oral health of your pet will benefit long term, and they are significantly less likely to require tooth extractions in the future, and suffer from the later stages of dental disease.

This Day in History, 1952

FOR BEECHWORTH

CENTENARY

ON this day in 1952, Beechworth began a week of celebrations to mark a remarkable century of history.

Victoria’s Lieutenant Governor, Sir Edmund Herring, launched the festivities by unveiling a plaque on the gateway erected for the occasion at the Town Hall Gardens.

Beechworth streets and shops wore decorations and visitors came from all over the North East and beyond to help the celebrations along.

Trout biting well with a few redfin and cod being caught

IT’S been a very good week of fishing all across the North East region.

The trout are biting well, there’s been a few redfin caught and there has been some great Murray cod fishing.

Redfin reports have been few and far between recently.

It’s been a slow summer for many of us that enjoy catching redfin.

Last week I finally caught quite a few, although they were all small.

I was fishing at Lake William Hovell, when just on dark I noticed quite a few fish rising and feeding off the surface.

Assuming they were small trout, I put a dark coloured soft plastic on.

I prefer dark colours for trout and bright colours for redfin.

with Rob Alexander WANGARATTA

On my dark soft plastic I went on to catch quite a few small redfin, and no trout.

Unfortunately the fish were not big, but they were plentiful as I caught around 15 or so which provided me with a lot of fun.

Trout fishing across the region continues to go from strength to strength with most trout streams now fishing very well.

April is a great time of the year to catch trout.

I have been catching mine on a small dark soft plastic called a ‘Micro Minnow’ by Strike Tiger lures, with the best colour being Black Caviar.

I have also been having great success with my fly rod, catching heaps of trout with a dry fly called a Half Down Hopper, and a few on a Royal Stimulator, which is also a dry fly.

Last week Andrew Coulston and I fished a tributary of the King River where we managed to catch between 20 to 30 brown trout on our fly rods. They really were biting well.

For those wanting to go Murray cod fishing, Lake Mulwala is the standout fishery, providing quality Murray cod on a consistent basis.

◆ TROUT ON THE BITE: Andrew Coulston with one of the many brown trout that we caught fly fishing at tributary of the King River last week.

◆ INDEPENDANTLY: : Farmer Ken L n loyd and Uniting Age A Wel We l Care Advisor o Tina a Manousaki work together to ensure he can continue living safely and independently at home.

KEN Lloyd barks with laughter at the thought of ever leaving his sprawling Greta beef farm where he’s lived for the past 25 years.

“Me – live in town?” he said.

“I wouldn’t know what to do with myself, it would drive me bloody mad.”

Ken loves being woken by the sounds of the cattle and the early morning chorus of the birds which act as an alarm clock for his first duty of the day – heading down to the

paddocks in his ute to inspect the cattle and his horses, his beloved kelpie dogs Winks and Scamper coming along for the ride.

Early morning starts are second nature to Ken who has country-living in his DNA.

Leaving school at the age of 14 to work as a farmhand, he later became a professional sheep shearer for 20 years, with a team working for him as they went from station to station.

“It’s hard yakka, I can tell you,” he said.

“It takes about two or three minutes to shear a sheep, and we’d each do about 200 a day.

“There was no airconditioning, of course, and in the heat of summer we’d sleep outside under the stars.”

Ken’s wife passed away nine years ago and his son Ned and daughter-in-law Michelle, live on the property.

Ned, who manages the farm, describes Ken as his “absolute hero”.

“I had a heart attack a few

years ago and I never thought I’d reach this bloody age,” Ken said.

“But here I am.

“I’m absolutely determined to carry on living here for the rest of my life.”

And he can – thanks to accessing the services he needs through a governmentfunded Home Care Package with Uniting AgeWell. He’s been working closely with his Care Advisor Katina (Tina) Manousaki, who he describes as “marvellous.”

Tina organised for Ken to wear a personal alarm, in case he falls and urgently needs help and arranged for Ken to be assessed by an occupational therapist, resulting in the lounge room carpet, considered a tripping hazard with all its bumps and ripples, being replaced with floating floorboards.

He also gets domestic help around the house.

The house is spotless and Ken declares the floorboards “a triumph”.

“Tina has done a great job,” Ken said.

“Nothing is too much trouble for her.

“I know if I need anything I just have to phone her and she’ll be here to help, or I drop into the office in Wangaratta.”

To find out how you can be supported to live safely and independently at home as you age, call Uniting AgeWell’s Hume Home Care team on (03) 8527 5880 or visit unitingagewell.org.

■ From page 1

“We also pour all of our milk from a tap and keg system, which eliminates the use of roughly 10,000 2L milk cartons over the lifecycle of a single reusable milk keg.”

Mr Moore said they will also be showcasing many other sustainable practices.

“Additionally, we are using chillies grown from our kitchen garden space to create another cocktail, which in itself eliminates the excess food miles that are required before being served here at the venue,” he said.

“We have many other small things that we are doing to create a more sustainable venue, which we are very excited to have a chat about to all the guests this upcoming cocktail night.”

Mr Moore said they are thrilled that the Off-Grid Living Festival will be taking place in Chiltern as it allows them to display their sustainable values in a local space.

“The Off-Grid Living Festival is an amazing showcase of a diverse range of ideas, be it towards sustainability or artisan crafts and becoming self-sufficient,” he said.

“Being its first year being held here at Chiltern it also a fantastic opportunity for our small community to shine for the thousands that have travelled from all around Australia to attend.”

The menu for the cocktail night will include their entire drinks list of cocktails, mocktails and wines, with food available on ‘wandering canapes’.

“Expect some of your typical classics, or different riffs of those classics, as well as a couple of cocktails that you may never have heard of before,” Mr Moore said.

“Our goal from this night is to hopefully shed light on many different options that people have to create more sustainable actions in the drinks and cocktail sector.”

For entertainment, they will also

have live music from local, Molly Williams and talks from Off-Grid Living Festival event coordinator, Arabella Watson and How Now Dairy founder, Cathy Palmer.

The event will take place at the restaurant on 62 Main Street, Chiltern and it is essential to book ahead as there are limited seats.

For more information or to book visit https://www.facebook.com/events/364 755506441823/?acontext=%7B%22ev ent_action_history%22%3A[]%7D.

The Off-Grid Living Festival will also have a range of different events including workshops and demonstrations aimed to showcase practical solutions for sustainable living on April 6 and 7 at the Chiltern Racecourse and Recreation Reserve.

Tickets are available for purchase at www.offgridevent.com.au and for more information and updates, follow the festival on social media (@offgridlivingfestival).

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4. Education and training: Moulding the minds of the future is an incredibly important career – one with increasing demand.

Finding the right job for you matters to us

◆ Photo: Shutterstock

with Mick Seymour NORTH EAST FASTENERS

◆ ELEVATED CLEANING: The Kincrome K16254 2100W Electric High-Pressure Washer and its accessories can help you improve your cleaning routine.

Elevate your cleaning routine

IMPROVE your cleaning routine with the Kincrome K16254 2100W Electric High-Pressure Washer that offers optimal performance for a variety of cleaning tasks.

It comes with a robust 2,400 PSI max pressure and a dependable1,600 PSI rated pressure to offer reliability while cleaning.

The model includes an onboard 8m pressure hose and reel assemble to extended reach and hose management.

Soap or detergent application is also effortless with a 1L litre soap dispenser capacity.

The onboard hose and power cable storage also allows you to keep everything neat and organised during every cleaning session.

With this power washer you are also guaranteed longevity thanks to its integrated inlet filter which safeguard the pump from debris.

The pressure washer comes with a number of settings and different coloured nozzles that each serve a different purposes from high impact cleaning to rinsing glass and vehicles.

There are also many accessories that can be purchased alongside the K16254 2100W Electric High-Pressure Washer including the 1L Professional Snow Cannon and 4pc PRO Home Pressure Washer Accessory Kit to enhance your cleaning.

The pressure washer and it’s accessories are all available now at North East Fasteners.

with Beechworth Bakery

◆ AUTUMN TREATS: Pete's Pumpkin Curry Pie is an autumn exclusive at Beechworth Bakery.

w A c

◆ NEW FLAVOURS: When tasked with creating something for the Autumn menu, Pete Fartuszynski came up with a pumpkin curry pie.

Discover new savoury flavours this autumn

AS the seasons change, Beechworth Bakery delights in bringing you new limited-edition treats to savour and enjoy.

With the arrival of autumn, they are proud to introduce a delightful new pie that embodies the essence of the season - roasted pumpkin and cauliflower in a red coconut curry pie.

When production supervisor Pete Fartuszynski was tasked with creating a new pie, he knew exactly what to do.

Combining roasted pumpkin and cauliflower in a flavourful red coconut curry, encased in flaky golden puff pastry with a shortcrust base, Pete crafted a 100 per cent plant-based pie that truly captures the spirit of autumn.

To celebrate the creation of this delectable pie, bakehouse manager Sheree Mooney organised a competition within the bakery to name it.

After receiving many fantastic entries, they decided to honour the creator himself and name it Pete’s Pumpkin Curry Pie.

This pie is the perfect blend of flavours, with a mild spice that will warm you up as the days grow cooler.

In addition to Pete’s culinary talents, this year, Beechworth Bakery is celebrating a milestone40 years of Beechworth Bakery.

To mark this special occasion, they invite you to save the date and join them in Beechworth for a big street festival on Saturday, October 19. With a full schedule of entertainment lined up, you can witness Pete and his team in action as they create a giant-sized Lego Baker, showcasing his other talent - Lego building.

Come and celebrate with Beechworth Bakery as they continue to bring you delicious creations and memorable moments.