One cold winter morning, young eyes peered out the window, watching little birds flitting from limb to limb in the nearby maple tree. Several more birds hopped busily around the frozen ground searching for something good to eat.
Shawn, who had been watching the birds with quiet wonder, turned from the window and asked, “Mom, is there anything we can feed the birds? They look hungry, and it’s too cold for them to find any worms.”
Mom turned from washing the dishes, and, with twinkling eyes, she said, “If you children will help, I have an idea of what to feed them.”
As Mom went to find a recipe in her recipe box, the children eagerly gathered around to see just what Mom had in mind. Turning she showed the children two recipes. “Let’s make a birdseed wreath and suet blocks,” she said.
Mom brought an old wire wreath from the storage room. Spreading a piece of parchment paper on the table, she placed the wreath on it and traced around both sides of the wreath. Mom then asked Bradley to carefully tie a piece of twine to the wire, leaving a loop to hang it up later.
Next, Mom asked Briana to get 1 cup of very warm, but not boiling, water. Briana carefully poured it into the mixing bowl. Kayla then added 2 packages of unflavored gelatin to the water, stirring until it fully dissolved. As Andrew added 6 tablespoons of corn syrup, the children giggled, thinking of birds getting syrup in their food.
Sara was eager to help and added ¾ cup of flour.
“Now we will add their favorite part,” said Mom as she helped the children add 8 cups of bird seed.
After mixing everything together, Mom carefully spooned part of the mixture onto the circle she had drawn on the paper.
Then making a firm, flat circle, she pressed the wire form into it. With well-greased hands, Mom pressed the remaining mixture over the wreath.
“Now, children,” she said, “you can each press some of the remaining mixture into these greased cookie cutters. Then we will use a pencil to make a hole to hang these little treats for the birds.”
The wreath and cookie cutters were placed on a pan in the refrigerator to harden overnight. After removing from the refrigerator, these need to dry. It may take several days. For the wreath especially, after the top is dry, flip it over so the bottom can also dry.
A ribbon adds a nice touch to finish off your wreath.
“May Asher and I make the suet block recipe?” asked Apryl.
“Yes,” said Mom. “That recipe is much easier and faster to make.”
Apryl melted 1 cup of crunchy peanut butter and 1 cup of lard together. Asher added 1 cup flour, 2 cups quick oats, 2 cups cornmeal, and ⅓ cup sugar to a mixing bowl. Apryl then carefully poured the lard mixture over the dry ingredients and mixed them together. They pressed the mixture into greased freezer containers. They would be stored in the freezer until needed to refill the suet feeders.
As everyone began cleaning up, Shawn asked with sad eyes, “Mom, what can we feed the birds this morning? These recipes are not ready to use yet.”
A project from her school days came to Mom’s mind. She brought some pinecones and tied a piece of twine to each one. She helped the children spread peanut butter on each cone before rolling them in birdseed.
After making these small feeders, the children put on coats and boots to go outside. They found branches to hang each little feeder from.
When they came back into the house, Mom had hot chocolate ready for the children to enjoy as they watched the hungry birds find their new snacks. Shawn turned to Mom with a happy smile and said, “Thank you, Mom. That was fun. Now our little friends will have lots of different snacks to eat, and we can reuse the pinecones all winter long!”