These Snowflake Recipes Are for the Birds

Plastic Milk Bottle Bird Feeder

Make your own bird feeder.

Take one plastic milk bottle, cut out a portion of the middle while leaving the handle in place.

Hang the bird feeder by the handle on a tree branch or other convenient bird watching place.

Pour about a cup or two of wild bird seed mix into the feeder.

Enjoy!

Basic Wild Bird Cakes

1 cup rendered lard or suet
1 cup Peanut Butter
6 cups yellow or white cornmeal

Melt the fat or suet on low heat in saucepan. Mix peanut butter and cornmeal into the suet. Spoon the mixture into muffin pans and set aside to cool.

When cakes are cooled, wrap each cake individually in plastic wrap and store in the freezer until needed.

Get creative and refer to the ingredient list below to add tasty morsels to this basic recipe to make a unique treat all your own.

Deluxe Wild Bird Cakes

1 pound lard or suet
1 cup cornmeal yellow or white
1 cup Wild Bird Seed mix
1 cup black Sunflower Seed
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup peanut butter

Melt the fat or suet on low heat in saucepan. Mix peanut butter, oats, seed and cornmeal into the suet. Spoon the mixture into muffin pans and set aside to cool.

When cakes are cooled, wrap each cake individually in plastic wrap and store in the freezer until needed.

Get creative and refer to the ingredient list below to add tasty morsels to this deluxe recipe to make a unique treat all your own.

Wild Bird Treats Supreme

2 cups bread crumbs
1/3 cup chopped, unsalted nuts
3 apples, chopped whole
1/3 cup raisins or craisins
1/2 cup honey
1/2 pound lard or suet
1/4 cup cornmeal yellow or white
1/2 cup flour
1 cup black Sunflower or wild bird seed mix
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup peanut butter

Melt the fat or suet on low heat in saucepan. Mix all ingredients into the suet. Spoon the mixture into muffin pans or shape into balls and set aside to cool.

When cakes are cooled, wrap each cake or ball individually in plastic wrap and store in the freezer until needed.

You can also press this mixture into pine cones for hanging.

Kookie Birdy Cookie Molds

1 1/2 pound lard or suet
1/3 cup chopped berries, raisins, craisins or currants
1/2 cup hulled sunflower seeds
1/2 cup crushed nuts
1/2 cup cracked hominy or cracked wheat

Melt the fat or suet on low heat in saucepan. Mix all ingredients into the suet. Spoon the mixture into shaped muffin tins or pre-shaped jello molds and cool in the refrigerator until solid.

Note: To create a hole for hanging the treat, insert a drinking straw into the warm mixture. Remove the straw once the mix is solid and cooled, thread with wire or thick yarn and hang.

When cookie molds are cooled, wrap each individually in plastic wrap and store in the freezer until needed.

Wild Bird Hickock Bread

2 cups suet, lard or other type of fat
2 cups cornmeal or stale dry cereal or oats crushed into crumbs
2 to 3 cups wild birdseed mix
1/2 cup chopped berries, raisins, craisins or currants
1/2 cup nuts or chopped peanuts

Melt the fat or suet on low heat in saucepan. Add cornmeal, crumbs or oats into the melted fat. Mix in the birdseed, berries and nuts. Sparingly, add warm water as needed to make a stiff dough.

Press the mixture into pre-shaped pans or shape by hand into balls or small loaves. Refrigerate overnight.

Note: To create a hole for hanging the treat, insert a drinking straw into the warm mixture. Remove the straw once the mix is solid and cooled, thread with wire or thick yarn and hang.

Pine Cone Bird Feeder

No cooking or baking required. Great child activity.

Medium sized dried, open pine cone
1/3 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup cornmeal
wild bird seed mix
wire

Combine peanut butter and cornmeal in a small bowl. Press the mixture into all the cracks of the pine cone. Roll the sticky peanut butter covered pine cone in the wild bird seed mix.

Fix the wire to the top of the pine cone and hang it outside. Enjoy watching the feast.

Sweet Wild Bird Suet Recipe

1 Pound lard or suet
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups oats
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 cup honey
1 cup chopped berries, raisins or currants

Melt the fat or suet on low heat in saucepan. Mix all ingredients into the suet. Press the mixture into suet holder, shaped muffin tins or pre-shaped jello molds and cool in the refrigerator until solid.

Note: To create a hole for hanging, insert a drinking straw into the warm mixture. Remove the straw once the mix is solid and cooled, thread with wire or thick yarn and hang.

Wild Bird Seed Cookies

(Makes approximately 2-3 dozen)

2 1/4 cups flour (wheat)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup honey
2/3 cup suet or lard
2 egg yolks
2/3 cup wild bird seed mix
2 egg whites

Instructions

Sift flour and baking powder together. Cut the suet or lard into the flour mixture with pastry blender until crumbly. Separate yolks from whites and set whites aside. Mix the honey with yolks then into the dry ingredients and mix until well blended. Add the wild seed mix and kneed until smooth.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour or overnight.

On floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4" thickness. Cut out cookies with different shaped cookie cutters, birds, stars, snowflakes, etc.

Arrange cookies on ungreased cookie sheet and brush each cookie lightly with slightly beaten egg whites. Press more bird seed into the surface of each cookie to make designs - or simply cover the cookie. Cut a small hole into each cookie for hanging; a plastic straw is just about the perfect size for making this size cut. (Just don't cook the straw ;-)

Bake 325° 12 - 15 minutes or until cookies harden. Cool and hang with yarn or wire.