Tuesday 26th January
Hello everyone! How was your Monday? Did you get to play out in any snow at all? I know that a lot of places have had snow over the last few days. I love it when it snows! Everything looks so clean and - so different!
Sometimes I feel a bit sorry for the birds though, when there's a thick blanket of snow over everything, because they find it harder to get food. Then I had an idea! I decided to try and make a special recipe - just for feeding the birds! It's called a Bird Food Ball! Not a football! A food ball!
I thought you might like to try this, too! HEY! That reminds me! It's Try-out Tuesday today. You could even try making this for your Try-out Tuesday activity - if you have the right ingredients at home, of course. But don't worry if you haven't. You could always make it another day! Here's how to make it.Bird Food Ball recipe
Ingredients
Vegetable suet or vegetarian lard
Use at least 3 of the following:
- Sunflower seeds
- Bird seed (N.B some seed packets may have warnings that the seed is prepared/packed in a factory handling nuts)
- Oats
- Barley
- Sugar-free cereals
- Bread crumbs
- Grated cheese
- Currants
- Raisins
Equipment needed
- Gardening string/twine
- Cupcake cases (ideally paper) or yoghurt pots
- Scissors
- Mixing bowl
- Saucepan/microwaveable bowl
- Spoon
- Cup for measuring ingredients
Method
Use 1 part suet/lard to 2 parts dry ingredients.
Prepare moulds:
If using yogurt pots, make a hole in the bottom with a nail/needle or scissors (make sure you have an adult to help you with this). Thread string through and tie a knot on the inside of the pot. Pull the string through and cut so there is a good length for tying on to a tree or fence.
If using paper cupcake cases thread the string through the bottom of the case using a knitting/crochet needle as above. Put the cases in a muffin tin so they keep their shape
(If using a plastic cupcake case you may not want to cut holes. In this case the cakes can be popped out and left on bird tables or in holes/gaps in trees).
Melt the suet/lard in a pan or bowl, with help from a grown-up.
Meanwhile mix your dry ingredients in equal measures in a large bowl.
Once the suet/lard has cooled so that it is safe to touch (though not solid) mix it with the dry ingredients with your hands.
Spoon the mixture into the cupcake case/yoghurt pot.
Refrigerate the pots/cases overnight.
Once solid, remove cake cases or yoghurt pots (if cold enough they should come away easily).
You can see what it looks like from the pictures I've put in my diary for you! Isn't it great! And the best thing is that when you hang a bird feeder outside, it attracts lots and lots of birds! Oh, that reminds me - a school sent me a picture of a chart that they're making to count the birds for their very own Big Garden Birdwatch survey! It's fantastic. I'll find it and put it in my diary tomorrow.
Well I'm going to dash off now because I've got quite a lot of school work today. I hope you have a happy Try-out Tuesday and I'll see you tomorrow for Work-out Wednesday! The weeks just fly by!
Just before I go, though, I just wanted to say a great big THANK YOU to all of you who wrote to me about the things that you're grateful for. I loved reading your lists and in fact I think I'll include some in my diary later this week, for other people to enjoy. Thank you!
Maybe you could write to me and tell me the things that you've been up to so far this week! If you want to you can email your ideas to me at cle@coram.org.uk
REMEMBER to ask permission from a grown-up first!
Stay happy and healthy.
Love from Harold xxx
