For the Birds, of Course.
[This is so not what I want to post today, but I already have it written, and so up it goes! Suet is hardly what I want to be thinking about on our first nice day in weeks. I want to write about dandelions and asparagus and seedlings and spring-type stuff! But I can’t. Why? Because I have to work on soccer. Stupid soccer. Endless soccer. Thankless soccer. No, that’s not true. People thank me. They really do. So I’ll stop complaining now. And you can’t complain about this stupid, seasonally inappropriate suet post, Deal?]*******
Am I the only one who seems to invest hundreds of dollars a year feeding the birds? Suet is the worst. Honest to Pete. A buck and change for one block and it’s gone in about three days — less than one if I’ve got a raccoon lurking about, which I do right now. Or, just one Pileated Woodpecker visit (so cool and fun) and the whole thing is about gone in minutes!
This winter a friend who I am doing some work for paid me with bird feeders from her online store, feathersdelivers.com, and suddenly I’ve got these new suet feeders to fill. Circular holes need special suet plugs and guess what? They cost more! So maddening. But since I absolutely love the suet feeder and don’t want to part with it, I decided to make my own. Pretty easy, really.
I bought a big bag of beef suet, some cheap peanut butter and peanuts, and about three pounds of cornmeal.
I read online that the beef suet can be so strong smelling that you’d want to melt it outside. I didn’t. I piled it into my crock pot and turned it on high. When I lifted the lid of the crock pot the first time a few hours later, it was with some trepidation that I took my first sniff…
Strong? It smelled DELICIOUS! Like a nice, big, fatty steak! It was all I could do not to reach into the bubbling cauldron of fat and snag a gelatanous piece for myself. The birds be damned.
What? You think I’m kidding? I love fat. Love it. And I’m not ashamed to say it. Well, not anymore I’m not. I figure, who cares? Fatty loves fat. And that pot of pure fat bubbling away for hours was a lesson in restraint. [Yuck. It even sounds gross to me as I write this, but it’s the truth.]
I expected the beef suet to melt completely, but it didn’t. I suspect what you get from the butcher or grocery store contains some small bits of muscle or tendon. I don’t know. I let it cook for hours. Then I strained it and pressed it and poured it back into the pot. I stirred in the peanut butter, the chopped peanuts and almost all of the cornmeal.
I’m lying. My dad took over. He stirred it all together because he’s done it before and because he loves to do that kind of stuff. He gets all bossy and opinionated. We yell at each other and throw our hands in the air. It’s fun. He also did it because I was busy making the Peruvian Pleasures meal for later that night.
We let it cool enough to roll it into logs. We’d certainly like to tweak that process for next time, as it was messy and we kept thinking of ideas that might make it easier. My dad’s ideas, always complicated and intricate — like having molds made (?) and to pour the hot suet in to… Mine simpler and more ‘make-shift’, like “let’s just let them cool more” or “let’s just use the Silpat mat”.
It took us about 30 minutes to roll them. I let them cool a bit more then cut them and put them on a sheet in the freezer. After they were hard we put them into zipper bags for storage. I’ve used them already and they work great.
The best part? We made about 75 plugs for $13. The plugs you buy in the store go for anywhere from $1 to $1.75 each ($3-$5 a package). That’s a savings of about 85%!
Someone should probably check my math. I skipped 8th grade math and percentages have always escaped me. That and absolute values, though I find lack of absolute value skills to be less crippling in real-life.
I don’t think the raccoons have figured out how to devour the suet plugs yet, but I’m sure it’s coming. I might try to trap the big momma tonight. If I do, I’ll post a picture. Raccoons are so cute from afar and like Satan’s evil twin up close. A video might be better.
Dayna says
Those turned out awesome. I love your feeders. We order beef now and again and last time we did we asked for the bag of parts for making lard. My husband rendered the lard (we tried french fries in it…yum!) then we used the rest for the birds. We added seed and make suet like cup cakes. You can see them here: http://phoneticallyspeaking.blogspot.com/2009/02/for-birds.html
Never through to make the PB kind. Will have to add it to the list.
Jennifer Menke says
I read your suet post. That’s so funny that you made your own too! I bet people think we are ridiculous. So next time, you’ve got to roll them into logs so you can pop them into your log hangers. I love those things (and I should have made my own…)
Nat Alea from OK says
I love the post!!! This was great and informative as always. I was thinking of using small cardboard milk boxes for the molds, like when you were in elementary school. I hope I’m not dating myself, because you realize that I’m uhhh, 21, RIGHT!!!!!! I don’t even know if they use them anymore in the cafeterias. ANYWAY, if you use small milk boxes they make excellent molds. We would collect our milk boxes and make candles for christmas with them. It’s the same process right? Crap. I can’t use 21 anymore, because that would make me younger than my daughter. OK, I’m 31. That’s sounding better.
Kristen says
I always love visiting your blog… I do live vicariously through your beautiful garden! 😉 I actually showed my dear husband pics of your raised beds – begging, yes begging him to build a few for me. They would look nice next to our large garden! Thanks for the seasonally inappropriate blog ;0)! I am definitely trying this in the fall. Squirrels (or tree rats as my Uncle affectinately calls them) clean us out of suet, seed etc in a matter of hours! It does get costly!
Kristen says
I always love visiting your blog… I do live vicariously through your beautiful garden! 😉 I actually showed my dear husband pics of your raised beds – begging, yes begging him to build a few for me. They would look nice next to our large garden! Thanks for the seasonally inappropriate blog ;0)! I am definitely trying this in the fall. Squirrels (or tree rats as my Uncle affectionately calls them) clean us out of suet, seed etc in a matter of hours! It does get costly!
admin says
My raised beds are made of plastic! I’m probably poisoning us all with toxins and BPAs, all the while adhering to my ‘organic priniciples!’ Hilarious, if you really think about it. Or is that hypocritical? I’d rather be hilarious. Let’s stick with that.
Jami says
It’s so weird that you post about things that I have recently done or have on my list to do soon. Honestly, it’s been freaking me out during this entire stalker-atzi time I’m spending with you.
Newly added to my list: geo caching with my kids. I am still navigating your site but I’ll search to see if you’ve done it after this comment is posted. I want
Kristen, you don’t have to beg your hub – you can do it yourself or smile at the nice old guy at Home Depot’s lumber department and he’ll do it for 50 cents per cut. They don’t have to be sturdy or anything. 3 boards, cut one in half for the short sides, nail or screw them together with one side that is flat so it lays on the ground. Fill with vermiculite, peat-moss and compost (even amounts) then plant away. Refresh the compost each year and enjoy. Oh, and I like to lay alfalfa hay across the soil to keep it moist. (sorry to stick my nose in like this Jen). Hey, Jen, you can probably make your’s out of clay and hay instead of plastic or wood. I also saw this cool post on BHG about using cement and vermiculite mixed together – you can put that on your plastic and then you will be shielded from harmful toxins… 😉 plus it would look so pretty!
admin says
I know. It’s always so fun to ‘meet’ someone new who you have that freakish sort of thing going with. I was just sitting at a soccer game and met some mom from the other team — same thing. Same shoes, same top. Started talking, same interests. And then *poof* she is gone and I will never see her again. And I wonder: have I lost a potential life-long friend? At least YOU know where to find ME! And we can have this quasi- dialog, right?