Making Suet Bird Feeders

Last month when our church had their annual Sportsmen's Banquet, I brought home a 5-gallon bucketful of leftover fat and au jus from the prime rib. I poured all the natural juices into containers to freeze for soups and gravies later on. Then I cooked all the fat and poured it through cheesecloth to get out any bits of meat. I ended up with a large bowlful of nice white fat. Well, I've been keeping the fat cold to keep from going rancid. Yesterday I heated the fat until it was liquid. Then I added birdseed, whole grain flour, cheerios, a little peanut butter, and sunflower seeds.
This is what it looks like all mixed up. I found the directions to making suet cakes here on this wonderful bird website. There are several recipes to choose from.
My sister-in-law had given me 6 birdseed bells for Christmas. When the birds had eaten all the seed, I washed the plastic hangers so I could recycle them. So today I got my hands into the greasy birdseed mixture and pressed mounds of it onto these plastic hangers. Then into the freezer to harden.
Fortunately I have a commercial freezer in my mudroom, so there was plenty of space for the birdbells.
Today I threaded some cheap twine through the hangers and hung them on my porch. I've already seen a few birds nibbling at them, so I guess it was successful! I figure these 6 bells cost me a little more than $1 to make. They sell for $1.22 each in the commissary. Just when I was bemoaning the fact that I smelled like prime rib, my hubby walked in with a bunch of flowers!
Tomorrow we are having the old folks from church over for lunch, so we are busy cleaning and cooking. Today I made a pineapple upside down cake, a batch of brownies, a cheesecake, and a carrot cake. All week I have been building up my sourdough starter so that I have enough to make four 9x13 dishes of dinner rolls. It's so exciting...especially now that my home is spotless!

Tomorrow morning I will get up early to put the four beef roasts in the oven and form the sourdough batter into rolls. Everything else is a piece of cake.

Today we had 70+ degrees and it was beautiful. Tonight's storm could be severe. I'm hoping it holds off until Mike gets home from church with the two banquet tables.

Many blessings ~ Kathie