For the Birds ❄ Christmas Treat

Ingredients: 

2 cups beef fat

6 tablespoons birdseed

4 tablespoons dried cranberries 

One morning, after I had had barbecue short ribs in the slow-cooker the previous evening, I took the pot out of the refrigerator to whip up a treat for the birdies. ;) 

All that good fat rises to the top up the broth and solidifies in the cold, so it's easy to scoop off and put to good use. 

It actually looks really appealing... like soft soap. 

 

To make it easier to use, you'll want to put the fat into the microwave for about 30 seconds, just until it's softened and a little liquid has pooled on the bottom like here....

( The kitchen smelled like barbecue while I did this, and the two spoiled kittens we have running around the house thought I was making something for them. They planted themselves in front of the microwave and mewed their little noses off. )

Now mash it all together with a fork...

We had a bag of premixed seed for wild birds such as sunflower seeds, cracked corn, and white millet. You can select whichever seed your bird-feeder frequenters tend to prefer.

I threw in some dried cranberries, too. It's Christmas... I can share...

~~Mix it all up~~

Line a baking sheet with wax paper and select your cookie cutters.

Carefully distribute your mix, and use a toothpick to guide the "batter" into all of those little nooks and corners to get the full shape in your finished product. 

 Now you can either slip it into the freezer, or set them outside to chill. 

I thought I would be clever and put a toothpick in each one so that when they were hard I could slip a ribbon through them to be hung up. That didn't work for me. 

The holes were too small and the toothpicks were too firmly stuck inside for me to remove them without breaking the hardened suet. 

I didn't want them to thaw any, either, or they could get ruined. So I ended up breaking them off and just tying ribbon around the middle of each. So the molds with pointy little edges like those leaves are the best to use. 

   

The giant rose bush is where all of those little finches and sparrows hide out on these wintry days. So that's where this suet gets hung.  

The Lord even cares for the sparrows.

So I say that Merry Christmas is for the birds, as well as us. :)