Suet Balls for Birds (For Christmas)

"Tie these up with a big red ribbon and place in trees where birds have lots of places to perch. Fir and spruce trees make a magical look. source "Les Fougere's""
 
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photo by Dreamer in Ontario photo by Dreamer in Ontario
photo by Dreamer in Ontario
photo by Charlotte J photo by Charlotte J
photo by Dreamer in Ontario photo by Dreamer in Ontario
Ready In:
6mins
Ingredients:
5
Yields:
5 cups
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ingredients

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directions

  • Mix all ingredients toghter and form into balls with a looped string for hanging in the middle of each suet ball.
  • As a christmas decoration ad a red ribbon wired to the top of the ball.

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Reviews

  1. The suet balls came out great! The were a bit more work than I expected because when I asked for suet at the meat counter I was given a package with a couple of slabs of fat. I had to chop them up and render them down first. Next time I'll look harder for suet that's ready to go. In case anyone else has the same thing happen to them, here's the method for rendering I found:Grind the beef fat with a meat grinder or finely chop the fat. Heat the fat over a low to medium flame until its liquefied. Strain by pouring melted suet through a fine cheesecloth. Let cool to harden. Repeat steps 2-3. If the fat is not rendered twice, the suet will not cake properly. Let cool to harden and store in a covered container in the freezer.
     
  2. PLEASE do not use the mesh type bags shown in the picture for bird food! The birds can get pieces of them in their stomach and it can kill them. Great to make your own suet, just dispense it safely via a proper suet feeding device. This can be a wire suet cage, halved/hollowed out coconut shell, spread onto pinecones or even placed in a bowl/table feeder (though the squirrels will likely make short work of it from that). Just don’t use these plastic mesh bags.
     
  3. I made mine for a rabbit. I did not have to render the suet as I asked my dad for some. This turned out to be fairly easy and quite cute. There is quite bit of snow on the ground here so I am sure the rabbit will appreciate it. I didnt read the directions closely enough and got smooth peanut butter rather than chunky. I also used black sunflower seeds insted of mixed bird seed.
     
  4. These were fun to make. As Dreamer stated, the rendering WAS the hardest and most time consuming part about this recipe. It took 1 hour to heat the suet the first time, maybe I was just being to cautious. But even taking my time on heating it you could still see smoke. So I'd turn the heat off for awhile. All in all the kids had fun measuring out the dry ingredients. They were so proud to take their orange shell bird feeder home. I also used 1 1/2 to 2 inch tall meat trays to pour the mixture into to put inside my wired baskets outside. Oh yes, we also took pine cones and worked the mixture into I used rubber glasses to help keep our hands clean. Thanks for a fun project. Made for *Zaar Tag* game 2007
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/527607/cookswithcattitude.jpg I am a middle aged foodie who has had the luxury of living all over the world except asia. Lived in or grew up in Nigeria, Kenya, Chicago, Russia,and haiti. born in New Zealand, brother born in Austria and many more. I have chronic medication resistant depression after 10 years on anti depressants that worked well but would stop working after a year or two, so now do my best at home living on disabilty. Not a bad thing, many have far worse health issues but i have been able to concentrate on food/cooking. My main passions are my cats. I live in the woods and somehow many starving strays or "dumps" have found the message babies who passed on left in the woods saying "suck lives at xxxx road. Most arrive sick and/or starving. Right now i have 2 that arrived with feline herpes and their attendant 2ndry bacterial infections but are doing beautifully. One old man who was going to be euthanized bc a lady who found him as a stray was moving and didnt want him...well he was a biter and rather grumpy who was in ICU for 3 days with a deadly gut infection which was fixed but he left with a diagnosis of diabetes. 3 months on insulin and finally diet controlled and he caught the herpes virus, respiratory symptom version and turned into a cuddler. Butterscotch must think "why didnt i figure out this cuddle stuff was great before i got sick!" Doing wonderfully even though he has bouts. he and the other kids are my babies. Sadly Butterscotch died of Lymphatic cancer in winter of 2008. A year before Big Boy arrived in my life, starving and weak. Full of affection he jumped into my arms and stayed, turns out he has FIV (cat hiv) so he needs to be watched closely. I love him dearly <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/Adopted1smp.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"> <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/smPACp.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"> <img src="http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b280/carolinamoon21/Stockingswapcopy.jpg"> <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/participantbannerzwt5.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> <img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/cookbookswap.jpg"> <img src="http://www.caymandesigns.com/foodothers/fallswap.jpg">
 
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