Monday 21 December 2020

Vegan Chocolate Cherry Slice



Ingredients:
- 2 cups of plain flour
- 2 cups of white sugar
- 3/4 cup of cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 cup of water
- 1 cup of vegetable or canola oil
- Glace cherries for the top of the slice

Method:
- Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a bowl and add the other dry ingredients. Stir to combine.

- Add the water and oil to the dry ingredients and mix.

- Prepare a tray for the slice, you can use a smaller tray for a thicker slice. Line the tray with baking paper and pour in the batter.

- Place in the oven for about five to ten minutes and then remove. Arrange the cherries on the top of the slice. Starting the baking process stops the cherries from sinking into the batter.

- Cook for 30 minutes and check the slice. It may require more time depending on your chosen tray (if it is thicker). Use a skewer to check if it is finished (if the skewer comes out clean it is done).



Christmas Card Making at PVAS 2020

We have been preparing for the festive season this week and enjoying various baking and craft projects. One craft we love to do every year is card making. This year we particularly enjoyed using the Kaisercraft Australian range which worked well with our Australian native theme.


Cards featuring our Sanctuary farm animals and birds:






Thank you to everyone who supported our work in 2020 and wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

Vegan Pumpkin Damper Wreath



Christmas is a busy time at PVAS as we celebrate our volunteers, family and friends. We enjoy creating wonderful food for our guests at events. This is a delicious recipe we have adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Magazine's ‘Aussie Christmas’ special (December 2020).

Ingredients

The Damper:
- 400g of cooked, cooled and mashed pumpkin
- 4 cups of self raising flour
- 100g of Nuttelex, chilled
- ¾ cup of soy milk (or any other plant-based milk)

The Chive Butter:
- 100g of Nuttelex
- 2 tablespoons of chopped chives
- Sea salt

To Garnish:
- Cranberry jelly
- Dried cranberries
- Parsley sprigs 

Herb Butter

Method:
 
- Preheat the oven to 180C.

- For the chive butter, simply mix the Nuttelex, salt and chives together and chill before serving.

- For the damper, rub the chilled Nuttelex into the flour until crumbly. Stir through the cooked pumpkin, salt and then milk.

- Turn the damper out onto a floured board then knead gently and divide dough mix into balls  (approximately 5cm in diameter).

- On a lined baking tray, arrange the balls in a circle, forming a wreath shape and then bake for 25 minutes or until the top turns slightly brown.

- Garnish with dobs of cranberry jelly, dried cranberries and parsley. 
 






Sunday 20 December 2020

Carols in the Valley 2020


 
On the 5th of December, the Sanctuary held it’s annual ‘Carols in the Valley’ event. Over one hundred people joined us to celebrate the festive season Sanctuary style.   
 

 
Visitors enjoyed meeting the rescue deer - Elen and Freya - and volunteer Santa Dave. 
 


PVAS Donation Tree

Many enjoyed grabbing a sausage sizzle or bake sale goodies, finding gifts at our stalls, having their faces painted and patting Spud the Donkey.  
 

 
After dark, attendees settled in to enjoy the Christmas tunes of Tanya Mazzoti, Jane Hebitson Tassell and their supporting musicians. 
 
Thanks to everyone who joined us at our final big fundraiser for 2020 – we hope you has as much fun as we did!

Sunday 29 November 2020

PVAS Events December 2020



Join us this month for some Christmas fun! 
 
Attend one of our upcoming December events and help us help over 160 rescued birds and animals:

* Saturday 5 December, 5.30 pm, Carols in the Valley


* Saturday 12 December, 11.00 am, PVAS tour

* Sunday 13 December, 2.00 pm, Floral Glass Jar Arrangement Workshop


* Saturday 19 December, 1.00 pm, PVAS tour

* Saturday 19 December, 3.00 pm, Goat and Lamb Yoga

You can buy tickets for all of our events through the PVAS Facebook page. 

Merry Christmas! 



PVAS at EnviroFest 2020


On the 21st of November, PVAS attended EnviroFest 2020 at Whiteman Park. The focus of EnviroFest is sustainability and conservation. The Festival day is Whiteman Park’s flagship public conservation event. 


Activities at EnviroFest included displays, talks, workshops, market stalls and conservation activities for children.



We have attended EnviroFest for many years. It is always a great day for PVAS to fundraise and engage in community outreach. Many thanks to our volunteers and donors who assisted us on the day. 



 

Friday 20 November 2020

Spring in the Sanctuary Gardens


It's spring again and the Sanctuary gardens are flowering beautifully!

Fresh pickings for the possums in care. Roses are a possum favourite in the Valley. 

Christmas plantings of petunias at the Sanctuary gate in readiness for the upcoming 'Carols in the Valley' event on Saturday 5th December.

 
The roses and pelargoniums put on a gorgeous display at this time of the year.
 
 
 
Colour is everywhere in the PVAS gardens.
 

 
 Visit us for an upcoming event and enjoy the beauty of spring at PVAS!


Native Wreath Workshop

By Chris R.  

 

With the success of our recent ‘Make a Foraged Native Bouquet’ workshops, volunteer and florist extraordinaire Emma organised a ‘Make a Festive Floral Wreath’ workshop on the 14th of November.  


It was a wintery spring day in the Valley, but the heavy showers didn’t stop workshop participants gathering an array of garden treasures and their handiwork was spectacular! 


A mix of eucalypt foliage and fruit, proteas, kangaroo paws and acacia were just some of the species used in the wreaths with great effect and we are confident there will be some very pretty front doors coming up this Christmas!

 

Saturday 31 October 2020

Vegan Lemon Cupcakes


These delicious lemon cupcakes are another favourite at our fundraising events.

Vegan Lemon Cupcakes

Ingredients (cupcakes):
* 1 3/4 cups of plain flour
* 1 cup of sugar
* 1 teaspoon of baking soda
* 1/2 a teaspoon of salt
* 1 cup of soy milk
* 1/3 of a cup of canola or vegetable oil
* 1 tablespoon of white vinegar
* 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
* 1 tablespoon of lemon zest

Ingredients (icing):
* Icing sugar
* 3 tablespoons of lemon juice

Method:

* In a bowl, mix the oil, soy milk, white vinegar, lemon juice and sugar with an electric hand held mixer.

* In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and zest. Stir the ingredients.

* Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with an electric mixer until combined.

* Spray patty pans with cooking oil and add the batter.

* Bake at 180 degrees C for approximately 20 minutes. When the cupcakes are brown on the top, they are done.

* When the cupcakes have cooled, make an icing out of icing sugar and lemon juice. You can make the icing a thick paste, or you may need to add some hot water to thin the mix if you prefer a thinner icing.  

PVAS Coming Events - November & December 2020

PVAS has some great Spring events coming up!

- Sunday 1 November, 2.00pm, Goat & Lamb Yoga 

- Saturday 14 November, 11.00am, PVAS Tour

- Saturday 14 November, 12.00pm, Wildflower Wreath Workshop

- Sunday 15 November, 2.00pm, Goat & Lamb Yoga

- Saturday 21 November, 8.00am onwards, PVAS Visits Envirofest (at Whiteman Park)

- Sunday 22 November, 2.00pm, Goat & Lamb Yoga


- Saturday 28 November, 11.00am, PVAS Volunteer Information Session

- Saturday 28 November, 1.00pm, PVAS Tour

- Sunday 29 November, 9.30am, PVAS Busy Bee

- Saturday 5 December, 5.30pm, Carols in the Valley 

- Saturday 12 December, 11.00am, PVAS Tour

- Saturday 19 December, 1.00pm, PVAS Tour

All events require booking. Visit PVAS on Facebook and click on the 'Events' link to book: https://www.facebook.com/possumvalleyanimalsanctuary  




Garry the Sanctuary Cat



If you have ever visited Possum Valley you will know Garry the Sanctuary Cat. 
 
Once a shadow lurking in the forest, Garry is now adopted and is a favourite PVAS resident. 
 
You can follow Garry's adventures on Instagram as he has his very own account! Find Garry at @garry_the_sanctuary_cat. 
 

 

Wednesday 28 October 2020

Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes

 

These cupcakes are a PVAS favourite. They always sell out at our fundraising bake stalls! 

Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes

Ingredients:
* 1 3/4 cups of plain flour
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* Approximately 14 strawberries (riper berries are better)
* 1/2 cup canola oil
* 1 tablespoon of white vinegar
* 1/2 cup soy milk

Method:

 

 * Place the strawberries in a flat bottomed bowl and crush to a pulp with a potato masher or fork.

* Sift the flour and baking soda into a large bowl. Add the sugar and stir with a spoon.

* Put the oil, white vinegar and half the soy milk into another bowl and stir. Add these wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a hand held mixer or a spoon.

Strawberry pulp

* Add the strawberry pulp and stir it through the batter with a spoon. Add the remaining soy milk if the mixture is a little dry. The juiciness of the strawberries with determine the dryness of the mix so you may not require the additional milk.

* Spoon the batter into large cupcake patty pans. Bake at approximately 180 degrees C for around 20 minutes. The cupcakes are ready when they become slightly brown on top.