Baby it's Cold Outside

The chilly record breaking temperatures felt all over North America this last month have kept most of us indoors and grumbling about our lazy ancestors who decided to settle in the north instead of continuing down south.

"Big deal", I'd say to them, "so you built a log cabin. That's no reason to lay about making maple syrup and cooking bacon. Two words, palm trees."

However, my time machine is broken so I guess the temperatures are something I'll have to weather, whether I like it or not.

Did you see what I did there? I made a homonym pun.

But let's not forget about all the little creatures that can't come into the warm log cabin and enjoy some maple syrup. In the winter the birds need extra fat to help them weather the colder temperatures

I think Mary Poppins said it best, "Feed the birds..."

So while we're all lamenting about the frigid winter, here's something to do with left over bacon fat to help our feathered friends.

Notice I didn't mention left over syrup. That's because there's no such thing as left over syrup.

Five easy steps to make a wicked awesome winter bird feeder!

Step 1.  Gather up store bought bird seed, one of those garbage bag twist ties, a big bowl, a mesh bag (the kind the grocery store uses to package onions), and some reserved bacon fat. We save ours in a tin can and keep it under the sink. You should never pour hot fat down a drain.

Step 2. Mix your bacon fat and bird seed in the big bowl until it gets a sloppy porridge kind of consistency. I used about a full soup can of cold fat and probably five cups of seed. This is MESSY and gooey fun.

Step 3. Cut an opening in your mesh bag. Then spoon the bird seed mixture into the sack. Some seeds will spill out.

Step 4. Use the green twist tie to close up the opening, making sure to leave enough on the ends to attach to the tree branch.

Step 5. Secure the mesh sack to the tree branch with the twist tie.

And voila!

You've done a great thing. Now all you have to do is pour a cup of coffee and stand by the window in your housecoat to wait for the birds to show up!


The next morning this is what I saw from my living room window.

And then a few minutes later...

And then it soon became a party...

Have fun making your own feeder and enjoy all that bacon!