Most people would have made their own Elderberry Syrup earlier in the season. In fact I’ve been meaning to make this Elderberry Syrup ever since a friend of mine gave me the recipe! It still seems like folks are battling various colds and flus and I figured it’s never too late.
If you don’t have a local source for black elderberries you can actually buy them online. I found the best deal on Amazon but if you know of a better deal please let me know! Everything else I had on hand. You can actually buy Organic Elderberry Syrup kits online but I wanted to do it myself. Try to use local raw honey in the recipe.
Elderberry Syrup
Ingredients:
2/3 cup organic dry black elderberries (3 ounces)
3 ½ cups water
2 Tbsp. fresh ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon powder
2 whole cloves
1 cup raw local honey
Instructions:
Pour the water into a medium saucepan and add your elderberries, ginger, cinnamon and cloves.
Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce heat to a simmer for about 45-60 minutes.
The liquid will be reduced to almost half. Remove from heat and let cool. Mash the berries using a spoon. Pour through a strainer into a glass jar.
Discard the elderberry mash into your compost. To the elderberry syrup in the jar add one cup of honey and stir well.
That’s all there is to it! Store in the refrigerator and take daily for its immune boosting properties. Standard dose is ½ tsp. – 1 tsp. For children and ½-1 Tbsp. for adults. If you do get the flu you can take the normal dose every 2-3 hours. I am not a doctor so if you are really sick don’t hesitate to see professional advice from your primary care physician! Hopefully you are enjoying a healthy winter!
Nancy on the Home Front 