Mix together in a large bowl:

• 2 cups quick-cooking oats

• 2 cups cornmeal

• cup flour

• ½ cup sugar

Melt:

• 1 cup lard

• 1 cup crunchy peanut butter

in the microwave and add to the dry

ingredients. Mix well. Pour mixture into a square pan about 2 inches deep, or spread it directly onto tree limbs. You may double or triple this recipe and store in the freezer.

When you make a sugar-water solution (4 parts water to 1 part sugar, boil, and cool), make a large batch. After the solution cools, measure how much liquid is needed to fill your feeder and pour equal amounts into resealable freezer bags.

Then simply remove the bag from the freezer; thaw it on the counter or in the microwave and pour it into the feeder.

Mix:

• 1 cup peanut butter

• 4 cups yellow cornmeal

• 1 cup unbleached or whole-wheat flour

Add:

• 1 cup fine sunflower seed chips

• 1 cup peanut hearts (or finely ground nuts)

• 1/2 cup Zante currants (or raisins cut in halves)

Drizzle and stir in 1 cup rendered, melted suet. Cool resulting mix will be crumbly and should have bean/pea-sized lumps from the drizzling of the melted suet. If too sticky after cooling, mix in a bit more flour. If too dry, drizzle in more melted suet. Refrigerate any mix you are not using to prevent the suet from turning rancid. Use a commercial pure bird suet cake or you can render your own suet. Grind or cube butcher store suet. Melt over low heat. Watch carefully as suet is fat and can start on fire with too high heat. A microwave can be used. Strain out the stringy bits (cracklings). Cool. Remelt a second time for the recipe.