I make my own suet cakes. Below is a recipe that one of our bird rehabbers uses so I thought I would share it here. It is almost identical to what I use and compared to commercial suet cakes costs pennies to make. I keep mine in the freezer and take them out as needed. I press the mixture into rubbermade sandwich keepers or if you have the plastic trays that the commercial stuff comes in you can use that as a mold and after you freeze the 'dough' just pop it out of the mold and wrap in plastic wrap or put in sandwhich bagss until needed. --A 2 lb bag of yellow corn meal --About 2 large, heaping serving spoons of peanut butter --About 4 large heaping serving spoons of vegetable shortening --(We add avian vitamins only because we have them, nice but not necessary). Mix thoroughly and adjust ingredients as necessary to make the consistency of a soft sugar cookie dough.

Whoa, if you get a degree in industrial arts you get to acquire carpentry textbooks along the way?!? Sweet! Kim, I've always enjoyed/appreciated your contributions; given the wisdom of trial and error that was behind them, I see why they stood out. My mom got us a couple of the Reader's Digest fixit books (have to run downstairs, one of them might be the very one you have); I like the way they are encyclopedic and detailed. I know Jane Powell but not the Small Houses books (do you mean The Not So Big stuff by Susanka, or the Small House anthologies from Fine Homebuilding?) Thanks for mentioning books; I think I might start a reference book thread for this forum. Hey Casey, THANKS for taking the bait. And you are NOT a bloody genius, you are an old house DEITY for crying out loud! Would you please start your own show on youtube? Or maybe just a house tour? Even Petch house has youtube videos. Or, do you already have a project blog and everyone knows about it but me? Actually for someone with a degree in historic preservation, I am impressed with how low-key your posts come across; they read more like an old friend who's "been there" and wants to pass along lessons learned along the way, it's really very nice and encouraging. But if you ever want to browbeat me feel free; I would take it as a compliment. To be honest if I post about something I'm thinking of doing to my house, and you don't opine, I figure one of two things is going on: 1) you're not on the forum; or 2) you're politely disapproving. Most of the time I assume it's 2 because you seem to be pretty consistent around here. But I just want to say, and I hope I speak for many, that I love love love your posts, especially when I'm searching on a problem I'm trying to solve and something from you pops up! (PS I finally got around to using that general finishes gel varnish you recommended and it was fantastic, thank you; I will post photos to the woodworking forum sometime before the next census.) Oh, and I love the way you "aged" the color tones in the new pine beadboard in your kitchen; reminds me of the pine in my grandmother's kitchen. When I was really little I used to look at the gleaming pores and think it was the closest wood could get to 24K gold.

We prefer to research charities that provide *vital* needs, and who screen for true need. You have to read a charity's annual report. See what percentage of the budget goes to those in need and what's salaries and overhead. (You run a business. You know what to look for!) Don't fall for 'Non-profit'. That only means the whole budget is used; you can find some amazing salaries, perks and rent kick-backs within a non-profit. We do not contribute small amounts here and there. We do not fund 'fuzzy', feel-good causes like Christmas toys or blankets for animals. We concentrate on three main charities. We don't fund national organizations; we give locally. 'Our' charities provide food, housing and medical/hospice care to people with verified need. I've learned to look carefully about where donations go. When I joined the board of our communty-based VNA it provided excellent home care and ran a free well-baby clinic. However, Mrs. Gotrocks paid the same pittance for care after her facelift as someone bedridden and scraping by on Social Security. We instituted a sliding fee scale. Also, there were separate VNA's in each of four communities in the same township -- each paying a supervisor, staff, rent and other overhead. Three supervisors and three landlords had to be edged out, but we combined into one VNA. (We became so organized that the local 'non-profit' hospital saw a business opportunity and started their own home health care division. No more community-based VNA.) A tenant of mine with a good union job once told me he always volunteered to deliver Thanksgiving turkeys to the needy. He said he had a year's supply in his freezer. I want my dollar stretched by a reputable, penny-pinching charity serving vital human needs of individuals who are truly in need.

I have an acquaintance, a friend of a friend, but I know her socially, who is extremely wealthy because of something her father invented that is in such common use that he (now his kids) get huge royalties each year. She is successful on her own and doesn't need the money (or most of it). So she just gives it all away and is always looking for creative ideas to distribute it (besides all the usual avenues). One year (or maybe more), she gave a group of her women friends each a fairly substantial amount of money for THEM to give away as they saw fit. Few people knew the original benefactor and she was A-okay with that.