Dear Heloise: I would like to make bird suet but cannot find my recipe. I have purchased all of the ingredients. Now my yard is full of birds, and I need the recipe. Where can I find it? —Judy, Baton Rouge, La.
I'm glad you asked. It's that time of year, and we don't want to leave our little guys and gals waiting! They will love this homemade recipe, and it makes a big batch, so you can wrap leftovers in wax paper, put in a freezer bag and freeze it. The recipe calls for:
1 cup lard (rendered fat of hogs, not vegetable oil)
1 cup peanut butter (crunchy or plain)
1 cup flour
2 cups instant oatmeal
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup raisins
1 cup ground peanuts (unsalted)
Carefully melt the lard and peanut butter in a very large pot over low heat, then add all of the other ingredients and stir to mix. Pour it into a large pan and put in the refrigerator overnight. It will firm up. Then just cut into blocks to fit your suet feeder. Or you can reuse the containers that commercial suet comes in.
And why spend a bunch of money on fancy feeder hooks when a good old coat hanger will work great? Just bend it into a hook on each end, or use two if you need it longer, and you'll have a strong, inexpensive suet hanger! —Heloise
Dear Readers: J. Greeger of Carlisle, Pa., sent a photo of her 1-year-old cockapoo, Duffy, sitting in his favorite chair. J. says: "Despite the dismay of our granddaughter, Duffy fell in love with her chair. Now when we relax in our easy chairs, so does he. It is his primary place of abode." —Heloise
Dear Heloise: After reading your latest article about uses for pantyhose, I wanted to share one of mine.
One of my cats had a sore on her back near her rump, and the vet put an Elizabethan collar on her to stop her from licking the site. Since we live in a two-story townhouse, my cat had a hard time getting up the steps.
I removed the collar and took an old pair of pantyhose, cut off the legs and cut out the crotch area for the cat's tail and privates. Then I put each of the cat's hind legs through the panty legs, and the sore spot was covered. I pinned the excess hose together so it wouldn't fall off. The sore began to heal and within a week was completely healed. —Eleanor C., via e-mail
If you can get your cat to wear pantyhose for a week, I'm very impressed! Don't know what the cat thinks, though. —Heloise
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