Birds love my fat balls.

Something a little different for this blog,
keeping our feathered friends happy and fed during the cold weather. 

When you spend a lot of time cooking and kitchening, you realise that there are some things that you just cant save for human consumption even if you are an avid believer in never throwing anything away.
If you have a big enough freezer, you can save fat and stock from meats for stews/dripping etc but you never get to use it all. No wukkas me old China-plate, just save it 'till winter.
Get a big mixing container like the one in the picture and lob your nuts in it, with the renderings of the various animals you have consumed throughout the year. For binding, I also throw in bits of bread, crackers, bacon rind, bird seed mix, pretty much anything apart from Mars Bars and chocolate etc because despite what you may have heard, birds aren't that keen on chocolate.
 

I covered a 12 hole fairy cake tin in foil and pressed each fat ball in to the dip. I have experimented with setting looped string into them for hanging the fat balls from the tree, but don't bother, it really is pointless, because five minutes of even the daintiest of birds pulling your nuts out will have your balls all over the shop. 

Squish all the mix together good and tight, so the bread and fat bind and help the nuts and seeds stay in place. You can put these in the fridge or freezer and take them out when needed, just leave them on the grass or bird table but they work very well in the round hanging cages you can buy for putting nuts in.

So go on, feed the birds from your left overs, Don't throw anything away.