Feathered Friends

This time of year, at least for us, creates a pretty barren food supply for our local birds. Every year we try to help them out by filling up a couple large bird feeders. The birds only seem to get a small snack from those because we also have a furry little (well not little really) raccoon family near by. Intelligent as raccoons are, no matter what we do, they always empty out those bird feeders in less than a day. I want the raccoons to see Spring time just as much as I'd like the birds to, don't get me wrong, but those furry little masked bandits have a lot more options than their feathered neighbors.

So, we're trying out something new this year. The kids and I sat down one afternoon and made a very large amount of seed cakes to hang from the trees and bushes. So far the raccoons have stayed away from them. I'm hoping it stays that way, but we'll see. We made a combination of small and large cakes. The small ones were molded in an ice cube tray, with the hopes that maybe I could include them in my gift giving (as alternative ties/tags). Though my husband only responded with an eyebrow raise. Poor man, he must think I'm nuts. He'll go along with it, but not while keeping a straight face.

And so, some will be tied to our trees, and others will be tied around packages so a few more birds can be fed. Honestly, the one batch made too many for our little area to keep them all in one place.

If you'd like to try some yourself, this is what you need:

1 box of gelatin (yes all 4 small packets inside get used) or reserved cooking fat
3-4 C bird seed - depending on what you use
3 C Hot water
wooden spoon
wooden skewer or pencil
baking sheets or large flat surface
parchment paper
cookie cutters (or ice cube tray or both)
jute, kitchen string, or yarn for the ties - cut to around 10-12" each

1) Dissolve the gelatin in the 3 cups of hot water by stirring. If using the cooking fat, warm it up until it is in it's liquid state again. If you choose to use the fat, it's fine in the winter, but avoid this in the summer because the fat can go rancid in the heat.

2) Add the bird seed one cup at a time until it won't combine anymore. This should be very thick, but you should still be able to stir it well.

3) Place parchment paper on the baking sheet (I did this so I could transfer to the fridge for quicker setting times) or just on a flat surface.

4) Lay the cookie cutters on the parchment and then spoon the seed mixture into them. Pack them in good.

5) Using a skewer or pencil end, make a hold half way threw the mix to push your string into, then cover with more bird seed to secure. You might want to tie some knots into one end of the string so it has more "gripping" ability inside the mold.

6) Allow the mixture to set by either putting it in the fridge for a few hours, or allowing it to sit overnight on the counter.

That's it!

Take care,
Lisa :)