My mother gave me this recipe for making cakes for a suet bird feeder. Save the fat trimmings from beef, chicken, and pork and keep them, along with the grease from bacon and hamburger, in 13-ounce coffee cans in the freezer.
When you have two full cans, thaw and then heat the contents so you can filter the fat from the solids. Discard the solids. Let the fat cool, but not harden. Add 1 cup of peanut butter and 1 cup of cornmeal, and mix well. You also could add birdseed, fruit, or ground nuts. After stirring it together, pour the mixture into half-gallon milk cartons. You could also use foil muffin cups in muffin tins. Refrigerate until hardened. Store in the freezer until you’re ready to feed the birds.
To use, cut the frozen block into 1-inch cakes. Put a suet cake or muffin into a mesh bag and hang it high enough that your dog can’t grab it.
Jody Purington
Grafton, New Hampshire