Birdseed Biscuits

I'm having a slightly different kind of Tasty Tuesday today... it's one for the birds!

My mother-in-law, Kay, got me a subscription to Family Fun magazine for Christmas and my first issue arrived last week. One of the activities they had suggested was making "Birdseed Biscuits"! The idea immediately appealed to me--it's cheap, easy, a short time in the kitchen, and some time outdoors. Here's the recipe...

Birdseed Biscuits
(makes 4-5 3" biscuits)

1 1/2 c. birdseed
2 T. flour
1/4 c. water

1. Spray or wipe a metal cookie cutter with oil and place in on a foil-covered cookie sheet.
2. Pack the mixture in the cutter, inserting half a straw near the top to create a hole for hanging.
3. Bake the biscuit (with the straw) in a 170F oven until the biscuit is hard, about one hour.
4. Let it cool. Remove the straw, thread a ribbon through the hole, and hang it outside in a sheltered place.

As I don't seem to have any metal cookie cutters, I used one of those silicone heart-shaped muffin pans. It worked like a charm and I'm guessing it was a lot easier to "pack" than a squirrely cookie cutter would have been. I also used hemp string to hang the hearts up with since it's biodegradable.

We headed outside later that afternoon--it was in the teens that day I believe-- and hung our biscuits in a bush by our parking lot. It seems to be a shelter to many birds, even now that the leaves are long gone. The first day or two it seemed like they didn't notice it, but about two days after that 3 of our 5 biscuits had totally been eaten! I think we'll be making some more of these soon.

I had to end with this photo of Max. He decided to put Jared's wrap around ear muffs over his hat--I thought it was pretty cute, if not totally pointless! About a minute after this picture was taken he was wailing he was so cold. Guess Mommy should have put some mittens on him... oops!