That's for the birds!

Today..I baked! I made up the most delicious (questionable!) recipe and it turned out perfectly! All of my guests seemed to thoroughly enjoy their dining experience. To top it all off, the entire meal was served alfresco! My guests dined in the front yard cooled by the breeze from the Bay! Nothing like it..if you are a bird! And my guests were..all birds!

After canning pecans and almonds and making two batches of blackberry/grapefruit jelly, I turned my attention to cooking for the birds. Now, I don't normally cook meals for my fine feathered friends, but I found a bunch of items on the pantry shelves that would not be the most appetizing for human consumption but might appeal to a member of the avian family.

From the jelly-making, I had lots of blackberry seeds and pulp and from the grapefruit, more seeds. What to do with all of this delightful gunk? I hit upon the idea of baking cakes for the birds! Son looked at me dubiously.."Are you really going to bake for birds?" I just smiled at him..he knew the answer before he questioned me! I handed him the long wooden spoon and began my recipe! I dumped all of the seeds into the jelly pot..added some stale pinenuts, some assorted mixed nuts, old pistachios and about 5 cups of birdseed. Now before anyone panics that I am feeding a bunch of salt to the birds and compromising their heart health..I soaked and rinsed the nuts and pistachios until they were salt-free..I know..I tasted them...blech! Anyway, to this yummy concoction, I added several cups of all-purpose flour to make a dough...are you feeling it yet?? Oh my, what an appetizing mixture! Son stirred..begrudgingly. The "dough" was still a bit "soupy" so I added more flour! Son was ecstatic! He looked at the conglomeration as if it was toxic.."Stir!" I demanded in my most mom-like voice! He stirred..then started snickering. "What???" I asked. "Only my mom would make soup for the birds." Oh, geez!

After the mishmash obtained the desired thickness, I scooped it onto an old (well-greased) cookie sheet and scored the top into squares. I made the squares the size of my suet feeders so that I could use them to serve my birds. This whole jumble was then baked at 400 degrees for about twenty minutes. Surprisingly, it smelled awesome while baking! Not that I would ever be tempted to eat any.....

Now the moment of truth! The goldfinches have been eating me out of house and home lately. We shall just see if any are interested in my homemade offering. I slipped a small broken piece into a suet feeder and hung it near the finch feeder. Sure enough within minutes one found the enticing treat and then another and another! My baking was a success! My fine feathered friends dined quite jubilantly on the meal I had prepared..ok..so Son DID stir!