Monday the kids and I made the trek to my husband's grandparent's house to celebrate Grandpa B's 85th birthday. We had a great time celebrating a wonderful man, eating way too much and hanging out with family in the back yard.
Towards the end of the party some of the cousins and Aunt Ruth started to raid Grandpa's elderberry bush. Aunt Ruth and I got to talking about the immune boosting powers of the elderberry and my recipe for homemade elderberry syrup and the next thing I know I'm heading home with all of the berries - not that I'm complaining! ;)
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| Aren't these babies gorgeous?! |
Elderberries are packed full of good stuff, but most notably the elderberry contains flavanoids, which are thought to reduce swelling and inflammation, as well as vitamins A, B and C. Given these immune boosting components elderberries are often made into a syrup or tonic that is taken as a preventative to illness as well as to reduce and ease the symptoms of a cold or the flu.
Most health food stores carry elderberry syrup and you can certainly buy it ready made for around $16 per 7.5 oz bottle. Orrrrrr, you can use my super easy recipe to make your own 8 oz bottle of elderberry syrup for around $5. Yeah, that's right, you can make your own elderberry syrup for about a third of the cost of store bought brands. If you're lucky and manage to snag fresh elderberries for free the cost comes down even lower to about $2.50 per bottle. Aside from cost savings, making your own elderberry syrup allows you to use local honey for added health benefits as well as avoid any nasty sweeteners and additives that may be in ready made syrups.
No brainer, right? Right. So, let's get started!
Combine elderberries, water, cinnamon stick and cloves in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until liquid reduces by half - approximately 1 hour.
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Most health food stores carry elderberry syrup and you can certainly buy it ready made for around $16 per 7.5 oz bottle. Orrrrrr, you can use my super easy recipe to make your own 8 oz bottle of elderberry syrup for around $5. Yeah, that's right, you can make your own elderberry syrup for about a third of the cost of store bought brands. If you're lucky and manage to snag fresh elderberries for free the cost comes down even lower to about $2.50 per bottle. Aside from cost savings, making your own elderberry syrup allows you to use local honey for added health benefits as well as avoid any nasty sweeteners and additives that may be in ready made syrups.
No brainer, right? Right. So, let's get started!
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| DIY Elderberry Syrup |
What You Will Need:
- 1c fresh or 2/3c dried elderberries (like these)
- 3c water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 whole cloves
- 3/4c honey - raw and local if possible
- 1 8 or 9 oz container for storage
- potato masher
- saucepan
- fine sieve, coffee filter or cheese cloth
Combine elderberries, water, cinnamon stick and cloves in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until liquid reduces by half - approximately 1 hour.
Remove pan from heat and use a potato masher to mash the berries to release the berry juice.
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, discard the pulp. Allow liquid to cool until barely warm to the touch before stirring in the honey. The syrup will still be fairly liquidy, but don't worry, it will thicken some as it cools.
Pour the syrup into an air tight container and refrigerate. Keeps for 2-3 months and can be taken once daily as an immune booster or up to 4x a day at the first sign of cold or flu. The general suggested dosage is 1/2-1 tsp for children and 1/2-1 tbs for adults.
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