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!