Shoptalk by Sturbridge Yankee Workshop

• To make suet, use any combination of fat (leftover grease or lard), or even peanut butter
• Save tuna or cat food cans to form your suet shapes
• Birds also like dried fruit pieces like raisins, currants, apricots or citron
• Pinecones are a great option for hanging bird feeders; simply coat them in peanut butter and roll into birdseed. Hang the pinecone with biodegradable jute twine so that it will decompose naturally.

Adjust the ingredient amounts to suit your needs.

• 2 parts melted fat (bacon fat, suet, or lard)
• 2 parts yellow cornmeal
• 1 part peanut butter
  

Mix all ingredients together and cook for a few minutes. Pour into small containers (tuna fish cans are good), and refrigerate or freeze until needed. Mixture can also be stuffed into 1-inch holes drilled in small logs to hang from trees. The recipe can be made all year long as long as you accumulate fat. Fasten containers securely to trees or feeders.

Take one part suet, recipe above, and mix it with the following ingredients for a tasty treat for any bird visiting your yard all year long!

• 1 part cornmeal or finely cracked corn
• 1 part peanut butter or other nut butter
• 1 part sunflower kernels or chopped nuts
• 1 part brown sugar
• 1 part chopped dried fruit (currants, raisins, prunes, etc.)

Kids love making bird feeders, especially when they are able to enjoy watching the birds congregate around their creation all year long. Here are some ideas to get those creative hands working hard:

• Coat a pinecone in peanut butter (or sunflower seed butter), then roll in birdseed. Tie the pinecone to any tree with jute twine.
• Hollow out orange halves and fill with birdseed. Hang the orange halves by punching holes to thread with knotted jute twine.
• Mix suet (recipe above) and birdseed or dried fruit bits and shape the mix by pressing into cookie cutters. Make a hole in the top of each shape for the jute twine to fit through. Lay the shapes on foil to dry out (or freeze), then hang in your trees.