Here's One for the Birds!

If you've never checked out a "Family Fun" magazine or been onto their website do it! They have fabulous craft ideas to do with or for the little ones. The other day the girls and I attempted the "Birdseed Biscuit". Attempted being the key word. Two kids on a small table (too lazy to clean off my sewing stuff on the big table), birdseed everywhere, a dog that wants in on the craziness and you have a craft that has failed before it has even begun! Don't get me wrong, we did make them but they weren't nearly as pretty as the ones in the magazines! Not only that, I don't think the birds enjoyed them. We made about six of them and while most of them are gone I don't think it was the birds that got them. I think it was the bird dog.

Bird-Biscuit-Eating-Culprit?

With all the leftover birdseed I decided to try and make the biscuits again without the girls. Well, whattayaknow. It's so much easier to make them on your own! The recipe makes about two or three biscuits, depending on the size of your cookie cutter. I made four times what the recipe calls for and came out with about eight of them. Here is how they turned out:



Want to know how to make them? Here are the instructions that I got from the Family Fun magazine (Feb 2009 issue, p24) in my own words.

To make 2-3 biscuits you will need:

Birdseed
Flour
Water
Cooking oil/spray

As well as the following supplies:

Cookie sheet
Aluminum foil
Heart-shaped cookie cutter (or shape of your choice)
Plastic straws
Measuring spoons & cups
Ribbon

1. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees.
2. Spray/wipe the cookie cutter with oil and place it on a foil lined cookie sheet.
3. Mix the birdseed, flour and water. (It is important to mix it well and saturate the seeds so that the mixture will stick together better rather than flake off easily.)
4. Spoon the birdseed mixture into the cookie cutter and pack tightly.
5. Cut the straw into fourths.
   
6. Insert the straw into the top of the biscuit to make a hole for hanging. Make sure the straw goes all the way through - this well help avoid breaking the biscuit after it's been cooked. Do not remove the straw.
   
7. Bake the biscuits for about 1 hour or until they get hard. Cool.
8. Place ribbon through the straw and thread it through the biscuit. Once through remove the straw. (The original instructions say to remove the straw then thread the ribbon but I found that if I did it that way a lot of the birdseed started to fall off.)
9. Hang and enjoy!

PS Even if the birds don't enjoy them they still look cute hanging in your yard!