elderberry syrup

elderberries

are so good.

good tasting.

and good for you.

oh yeah.

super duper high

in antioxidants, bioflavonoids, anthocyanins.

plus vitamins A, B, and lots of C.

(in one study, people with the flu

who took elderberry juice

recovered 4 days faster

than those who didn't have

the precious

purple berry.)

so we went and got ourselves

more than we could possibly use...

for our first experiment,

we decided to make syrup

and used this recipe as a general guide:

we took about 8 lbs of elderberries

(ours were frozen, stems already removed)

and defrosted them in a big pot.

(fyi: stems contain toxic compounds so you need to remove them!)

then we added water to make any extra stems or unwanted stuff

float to the top.  removed any floaters, and drained.   

then took the immersion blender

and blended them up every so briefly

(so as not to chop up too many of the seeds,

which would make for a bitter syrup... bleck!)

then brought the berries to a boil,

stirring often.

then came the food mill:

processing through the mill to remove seeds and skins.

look at the beautiful purple juice coming out:

and there's this beautiful dry mash of seeds and skins

which we saved for our chickens

they looooooooove seeds:

we sent the juice through the mill 2 more times

to get every last seed out.

then it was time to re-boil,

and add sweetener, until it froths:

we chose to add honey

which is also good for sore throats, flus, etc.

due to it's anti-bacterial properties.

simply sweeten to taste.

then comes the bottling:

you can bottle straight up and store in the fridge

or you can process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

you can use it as a health tonic

throughout the winter

to prevent colds / flus

sipping it by the spoonful

or adding to tea...

or you can

drizzle it for the

earthy deep berry flavor

on goodies like

crepes, pancakes, waffles.

or as a sauce for any dessert

over ice cream

panna cotta

or a nice spritzer

by adding a dash to some seltzer.

might also be great as a glaze

on pork or poultry or wild game...

(check out this recipe for "pontack")

could even be a nice addition to

a vinaigrette...

so many things

you could do!

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