melbaboutown

Sorry, this article is older but has more general information for those who don't keep chooks.

H5N1 affects birds, cows, cats, and humans (and more). High mortality rate. No known human to human transmission yet but it's global, we're like the last place that hasn't got it, and the risk to our birds is now considered high. There's a chance the virus may enter from the north when birds migrate in spring.

Structure and behaviour similar to Coronavirus. In addition to direct contact or respiratory and surface transmission it can also affect the safety of fresh milk and eggs (fact check this but it seems to according to what's happening in America).

Fingers crossed this doesn't become Covid 2:The Electric Boogaloo

This is paraphrasing and may need fact checking. However from what I've seen of the situation in America this can have a greater than 50% mortality rate, affects humans cats and other animals, and is spreading through cows. It seems to be global however Australia seems to be one of the few places still free of it so far.

If we get an outbreak here it's going to be similar to covid with the masks and disinfection, with the added recommendation of eye protection, and the issue of it affecting the safety of eggs and milk.

It doesn't seem to pass from human to human yet? But while we seem to be in the clear for now, let's watch our butts just in case that flip occurs and it gets over here on people or migrating birds.

It could be really sensible to do things like keep chickens and pet birds away from wild birds, wash hands after handling birds, use masks, be careful of having bird feeders, keep cats inside to not hunt birds... you know. Just use caution.

Colesworth jacking up the cost of Ice Magic? You can make some with chocolate and coconut oil to work out much cheaper.

There are heaps of recipes for "chocolate shell" so try them out

This is a bit more expensive due to fresh fruit but doesn't require a freezer except for ice cubes. So could be possible for people with only a bar fridge. You can use what you have (you don't need dragonfruit) but watermelon is usually always an ingredient. Traditionally the liquid was a floral/berry tea but in modern day it's a mix of strawberry milk and Sprite.

"This is called ‘Hwachae’, a popular Korean fruit punch

Ingredients used:

Watermelon

Banana

Kiwifruit

Peaches

Pears

Grapes

Ice cubes

Strawberry Jelly

Strawberry milk

Lemon soda

Strawberry ice cream"

cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/7762680

I don't have a recommended recipe (I'm not big on smoothies and haven't tested this out) but there are heaps of recipes out there depending on what you have.

Apparently using full fat coconut milk or Greek yogurt helps the icypoles stay a bit softer, as will adding cornstarch, and blending in pre frozen fruit.

You could even chuck some protein powder in and have a frozen smoothie on a stick for dinner when it's too hot to cook.

The freezing container is a bit awkward without dedicated equipment but depending on freezer space you could freeze it onto teaspoons in small cups or muffin tins.

Or freeze it as small icecubes and blend it again into something thick and semi-frozen like soft serve or a thickshake. Make sure your blender is up to handling ice though. I'm not liable for puffs of smoke.

Ps. Yogurt by itself is also ok to freeze this way. Warning: It's kind of hard so you might have to chip at it slowly, and the texture will change into something gross on defrosting though. At least Greek yogurt did when I ate it. It doesn't freeze smooth and soft like froyo from the shop.

(Sorry, I should have shared this here as well.)

cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/7752516

This is probably something you already know but a reminder doesn't hurt on such a hot day.

You don't need syrup or real coffee to make an iced coffee or Big M style drink.

Stirring instant coffee and sugar into a very little hot water first dissolves the crystals, avoiding the grittiness and unsweetened taste of throwing them straight into cold milk. Ice cubes or icecream optional.

If you have any icecream toppings or another kind of syrup those can also be a milk flavouring.

Unfortunately there is no 'reverse vending machine' near me but here are the locations with an interactive map to check if you have a local. You can apparently get refunds through different methods including Paypal or cash vouchers