Cooking for the Birds
Every year about this time I pull out my peanut butter suet recipe and cook up a treat for my backyard birds. Sure, you can buy suet in the store, but I have to believe this must taste better as they eat it twice as fast. If this recipe sounds familiar, it is, because I posted it last year. Publishing it again gives me an opportunity to post one of my photos of a woodpecker enjoying some suet, and to show it to new readers or those who may have missed it.
Female Downy Woodpecker enjoying some suet.
This recipe does not work in warm weather as the peanut butter will melt into a sticky mess. The stores sell a no-melt formula that works well in the summer, but I take the suet feeder down during the hottest months. There is plenty of natural food available for them and many of the summer residents are insect eaters and won’t come to a feeder.
Peanut Butter Suet
Ingredients
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup lard or vegetable shortening
• 2 cups plain yellow corn meal
• 2 cups quick oats
• 1 cup flour
• ⅓ cup sugar
• raisins (optional)
• chopped nuts and/or hulled sunflower seeds(optional)
Preparation
Melt peanut putter and shortening or lard in large pan on low heat. Add remainder of ingredients and mix well. Pour into a pan and allow to harden at room temperature.
Chop into chunks or squares and place in a suet cage. I like to re-use the plastic molds that the store bought suet comes in. It can also be served crumbled in a shallow dish or pressed into holes drilled in a piece of dead branch and hung in a tree.
Store in refrigerator or at room temperature.
Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Participation is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs.
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© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Under My Apple Tree 
That’s so cool that you make your own, the birds in your garden must be very happy!
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My birds think they are at a resort. A variety of food, 4 bird baths, one heated, and several roosting boxes to stay warm in during the cold winter nights.
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Thanks for sharing … 🙂
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This sounds good enough for humans…LOL thanks for sharing:)
Sorry I haven’t been able to comment much as I’ve really been busy and sadly putting minimal effort into blogging. Hope you are enjoying your day.
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It is! It’s all people ingredients and yes, I’ve tasted it. Not eaten it, just a taste to see what it was like.
Understandable that real life sometimes interferes with our blogging fun and that does need to come first.
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I live in South Florida and anything like this would attract Palmetto bugs 😦 In the right climate I wouls use your Suet in a jiffy! I hope you get visited by many lovely birds.
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This would not work in Florida. Too warm and too many bugs. I don’t put this out until the daytime temperatures are 50F or lower, which unfortunately should be any day now.
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I know 🙂 I used to live in sweden, France and DC area so I can appreciate how fun that can be. I enjoyed the post but Florida seldom gets that cold! 🙂 I have a really fun guest and giveaway that you might enjoy http://thebridgeofdeaths.tumblr.com/
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Thanks for sharing! I’ll probably try this recipe out. It’s interesting to hear that you take down your suet feeder in the hottest months. We keep our suet feeder out, but you’re right that we don’t get as many birds during that time as we do when it’s cooler. We do get some red-bellies at the feeder during the summer, though, probably because their nest is so close to it.
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The birds will have a Thanksgiving feast in your yard.
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Oh I’m glad you reposted this. I never did get around to trying it. Maybe this winter.
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My in-laws love to watch the birds in their yard, I’ll have to share this with them.
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Great idea! Thanks for sharing. And a gorgeous photo, too!
Sue
Book By Book
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I love the idea of homemade suet. That’s a gorgeous picture of the woodpecker!
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As a beginner in birdwatching, I admit I never knew people cook up meals for birds. You’ve shown me what a dedicated birder is like. Thanks for all the tips, tidbits and great photos. I used a 55-200mm lens so not as powerful as yours. But I’ve learned to crop them using iPhoto editing on my laptop, as long as they’re sharply focused. So, until I’ve a better lens, I’m afraid I’ll have to make do. 😉
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This would be fun to try. The bird in your photo sure looks happy with it.
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What a great idea. It must be bird paradise over at your garden! I do hang up a few feeding nets (bought from the shop) every year but don’t pay much attention to them. Maybe now that I have my own camera, I will.
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I love your devotion to your birds and am always in awe of your beautiful photography!
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Great photo. Thanks for the recipe. This year, I’m definitely going to try to make some of our own birdfood. My daughter would really enjoy it.
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