Making Suet

*shiver*

Akasha by Modern Scribe Photography

It's cold, outside. I can feel it leeching through both of the double-paned windows and clinging to my joints...pooling like a fog on the floor and setting my feet to aching.

Just a couple of days ago, I remember quite distinctly, there was a blissful, sweet, early spring warmth! That first taste of the days certain to come once that bugger February gets the hint that you don't want him around no more.

I drove with windows down, grinning like a fool in a thin hoodie jacket.  I danced! I dug up around my gardenia and added some coffee grounds to the soil and watered her...and then had to wrap her back up before this chill settled in again.

Nonetheless, those warm days got the whole household upturned, cleaning and rearranging, our windows opened to the sweet breeze blowing over the hills and up to our ridge. Full of joy and motivation, we decided to finally complete a project we'd planned back in fall - making suet to feed the birds! 

Just in case you aren't sure, suet is those big old waxy blocks you can buy at the store, stuffed full of seeds and colorful bits, for a couple dollars each. You put the suet block in a wire cage and hang it in your tree and watch the birds go to town...

Anyone can make suet! All you need is an overabundance of bacon grease and enthusiasm! And well, a few more ingredients.

How to make Bird Suet - as basic as it gets!

On low heat, melt together:
1 cup bacon grease (or any rendered fat)
1 cup peanut butter

Once melted, stir in just about 3 cups of unbleached cornmeal and a couple cups of birdseed. Then stir in whatever else you think those birdies might want to nibble on! Oats and wheat flour are great additions if your suet seems too runny.  Dried fruit like raisins or cranberries are healthy sugars for a bird's diet, and some folks even add a bit of honey to the mix at the start of spring to give the birds a sugar boost.

When it's all mixed together evenly, just line a baking pan with waxed paper and pour the suet mix in. Tamp it down evenly all through the pan and pop it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to harden. 

Cut the suet into appropriate size and shape for your bird-feeding apparatus and voila! The extra suet stores well in a plastic freezer bag with bits of waxed paper in between each one to make life easier.

Birds of all breeds go NUTS over this when you hang it in a tree! Each block I offer them only lasts for one day when I put it up, so I've only been feeding them suet on the really cold days, like today.

*sigh*

The full moon is almost here and time marches on, bringing eventual spring.  I'll have to keep the birds well fed and make good friends so they won't eat my garden once it's warm!

Stopping the Moment - Modern Scribe Photography

"Self" by Sarah Thomas

I'd like to take a moment to introduce you to someone who's been a friend to me for many years.

Sarah Thomas of Modern Scribe Photography has been a great help to me in building my infused honey shop at Etsy, "The Pixies Pocket," with skillful product shots and a keen business sense.

As we share a love of flair, fantasy, and the timeless game of Dress Up, I have been slowly, but surely, growing more comfortable in front of her camera lens. She's captured belly dancers in magical moments during performance, frozen time with candid shots from Renaissance Festivals, and completed family portraits with ease.

"For Amber" by Sarah Thomas

We have collaborated on many photographic projects, from head shots for modeling portfolios, to indulging our imaginations with character and fantasy shoots, and of course, just being goofy in front of a lens.

I love to watch her do her work, becoming quickly and deeply absorbed and focused on her model and the details that are waiting for the right moment to be shown. Trained in classical art techniques, traditional 35mm film development, and well versed in modern digital techniques, Sarah uses each of these realms to create masterful compositions.

As the weather grows more consistently warm and the ice gives way to rushing waters, Sarah plans to spend some time among the rocks and trees of the Pisgah Forest with her camera. Asheville is among many other things a very picturesque place to live.

Sarah has begun a blog of late: Stopping The Moment.  She's been using this blog to share some of her work, to tell the story behind the picture, and she even explains techniques and shares her equipment details for some of you photo-geeks out there. It's all magic to me!

"Mustang at Cruizers" by Sarah Thomas

Contact Links:

• Sarah Thomas, Modern Scribe Photography, Professional Portfolio on Flickr

• "Stopping the Moment" - Blog for Modern Scribe Photography

• Model Mayhem Photographer Profile

Pixie's Pocket Spotlight: Mother Love Honey

Photo by Modern Scribe Photography, Sarah Thomas

A gift from the moon, Mother Love Honey is available for purchase at Pixie's Pocket.

This new electuary is for those sore of heart, exhausted from stress and grief and emotional trauma.

Motherwort is a gentle nurturer...holding you close while you weep deep, cleansing tears. Oatstraw is a strong nutrient, green like spring and bright. It holds you up when you are sagging down to your knees with exhaustion. Lavender is the gentle hand brushing your hair back from your face - soothing, sweet, and humming soft melodies to you while rocking you to sleep.

You can read about the birth of Mother Love Honey here.

"Let's Talk About" Series

As I have accumulated a new group of followers and readers, maybe I should show y'all what I've done so far in discussing herbcraft, nutrition,  and my green allies. There are certainly more profiles to come as I grow and learn and expand on my knowledge to share with you all.

Let's Talk About:

• Chickweed

• Violets

• Damiana

• Honey vs. Sugar

• Ginger

Recipe Box: Best Ever Biscuits!

Image by me! Biscuits fresh out of the oven.

Breakfast is big in my house, and one of my household's favorite comfort foods is homemade Biscuits and Gravy! Now, everyone likes different gravy; with or without meat, peppered or plain, scratch or easy mix, etc. etc...but I've finally found the BISCUITS that please everyone!!

This recipe makes wonderful biscuits!  They are crunchy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside - dense, but not too heavy.


Best Ever Biscuits
(makes about 12 or so)

2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tablespoons softened butter
about 3/4 cup milk

Heat up your oven to 400 degrees.

Sift the flour before measuring it, add baking powder and salt, and then sift it all together.

Pinch the butter into the flour until it is well-mixed, moist crumb. Use your fingers! It's fun.

Add milk as needed, gradually, and stir until you get a soft dough. I never use the whole 3/4 cup.

Knead your dough for about half a minute on a lightly floured surface until it holds it's shape.

Roll it out 1/2 inch thick and cut with your biscuit cutter of choice, or make hand biscuits by patting out small rounds in your palm.

Bake on ungreased sheet for 12-15 minutes.


That's it! Plain and simple. I'm never buying biscuit mix again - this is too easy to make, and you end up with amazing results! 

Mmmm...time for warm biscuits and honey...

Let's Talk About: Honey vs. Sugar

Click here to visit the Pixie's Pocket

I have spent most of my life like most other folks do, blissfully unaware of the power of the foods that we consume.

Candy was a constant, being the first grandbaby on either side of my family for my generation had its sugar-crazed benefits. I didn't like most veggies until I turned 20, and has only been since I began walking the path of a green witch at that time that I've come to seriously turn my focus towards what I ingest and how it affects my health.

Other than now enjoying fresh and cooked vegetables and greatly reducing fast food from my diet (every now and then is quite alright), the biggest change that I've made is to cut down on processed sugars and high fructose corn syrup. Now, I know, a lot of people don't believe all of the hype about heavily processed sugars, and I don't make a practice of following overblown fads of panic myself.

What I can attest to is that by reducing the amount of processed sugars in my diet has produced the following effects:

My skin is clearer! I've been an itchy person my whole life, and when I cut out sugars a great deal of the irritation disappeared. There have been less pimples and blackheads to glare at in the mirror, as well.

My weight decreased! Now, this one is iffy because around the same time as cutting out the sugars, my activity level increased greatly. I still believe that both of those things contributed to the thirty pounds that I lost in the past 2 years! I'm now holding steady at a healthy weight for my size with almost no conscious effort.

My teeth squeak! I don't have the best teeth in history, that's for sure. But maintaining the health of my mouth and gums has been much easier without a film from my soda coating them, or bits of candy between my teeth! It even got so that my normal old toothpaste tasted like candy once I was unused to the super sweet stuff!

Candida begone! Anyone can get Candida overgrowth, men and women, old and young. Candida is in our bodies and is normally not a problem, but it feeds on sugar. If you swing the balance in the favor of Candida, it will bloom and grow like mad, causing yeast infections and thrush to make itchy places of anywhere warm and wet on your body. Mouth, tongue, genitals, armpits...it makes life quite uncomfortable!


And yet there was this realm that was so far away...chocolate cakes, and cinnamon latte. Sticky buns and pound cake were too sweet to maintain my healthy balance. This is unacceptable!

There had to be a medium...a compromise to be made. So instead of the usual two spoonfuls of sugar in my morning coffee, I used one spoonful of honey. If I wanted fruit juice, I'd dilute it a bit with spring water to no bad effect. Pasta and bread were all right, but sparingly used was better than the normal, painful gorging that I had been doing!

Honey seems to feel more bold and fulfilling than white sugar to me now...it has flavor and body and a fire inside that golden glow that nurtures me in ways that processed cane just doesn't do!

I'm won over by the bees...and so is my skin, my teeth, my health!


Soon to come, honey as medicine, honey for beauty, honey for first aid, and more about bees and their versatile gift.