Al's Musings

Suet Hotdish

Deep-fried tater tot hotdish on a stick walked by me.

It wasn’t alone. A smile on legs was carrying it. I was at the Minnesota State Fair where there was a vendor selling tater tot hotdish on a stick.

Tater tot hotdish on a stick offers some of the basic food groups and the stick provides needed fiber.

I love tater tot hotdish. A hotdish or casserole is starch and protein bound together by something like the universal Lutheran binder, cream of mushroom soup. The natural habitat of a hotdish is a church basement, but it has been expanding its territory to such places as state fairs.

My family ate hotdishes before they were cool. We suspected that Grandma put fresh roadkill in some of her concoctions, but couldn’t prove it. When questioned as to the origin of hotdish ingredients, she’d say, “If it wasn’t good for you, I wouldn’t feed it to you.”

One day, as we sat comfortably on folding chairs at a church potluck, my neighbor Crandall said, “There is not a problem in the world that couldn’t be solved by a good hotdish.”

I know what you’re thinking. You’re saying to yourself, “What does a hotdish have to do with feeding birds?”

People are giving you funny looks because you just said that aloud, but that’s OK. I understand.

I’m going to tell you what hotdish has to do with birds. I’m going to tell you just as soon as I think of what hotdish has to do with birds.

Oh, yeah. In those thrilling days of yesteryear, when things were so tight on the farm that the only toys I had were dirt and sticks, my parents fed the birds. Not all the feeding was intentional. We had the world’s largest bird feeders. They were corncribs holding eared corn. The corn on the cob was a staple for red-headed woodpeckers and squirrels. Civet cats (spotted skunks) patrolled the perimeters of the cribs, preying upon rodents and spraying boys playing with dirt and sticks.   

We also fed the birds with homemade feeders filled with scratch grain swiped from the chickens while they weren’t looking.

We fed suet, too. We got suet from our local grocery store (three aisles and nearly nine shopping carts). Kenny cut meat in the back of the store and saved suet for us. The price fit our budget—it was free.

Suet is high protein meat fat. The fat provides calories that give birds energy. I’m amazed at the many species of birds that eat suet. Hanging a suet feeder from a branch or shepherd’s hook works well. Place the suet in a feeder—cage, log, platform, etc. They’re all good. If placed in an area with bird activity, the birds will find the suet.

Offering suet to birds is a potluck supper in which a bird doesn’t have to bring anything but an appetite.

Our local grocery store is gone. I can’t visit Kenny and swap stories for suet. I need to provide suet for my feathered friends. The birds are hooked on suet and if I don’t provide it, I will be picketed by chickadees carrying signs reading, “Batt is unfair to birds. All the fat is in his head.” No worries. There are a number of commercially produced suet packages that are perfect for the backyard menu.

Or I could make some bird treats.

Here are some recipes I’ve collected through the years. Oddly enough, none are from a church cookbook heavily laden with hotdish recipes.

I cannot divulge Julia Child’s favorite suet recipe. Sorry.

Make some bird treats. Pretend you are prepping for an appearance on American Idol in the suet category. You might be a trendsetter. Some recipes will work better than others. The birds will be the judges. 

How is suet like a hotdish? Both are good grub.

A hotdish is great for feeding humans. I advise feeding one to your nearest human as soon as possible.

My advice to anyone who wants to feed the birds is simple.

Just suet.

©Al Batt 2010