# Elderberry Syrup



## indie (Sep 7, 2013)

As I doled out the kids' chewable vitamin C tabs the other day, I looked at the ingredients for the first time. Food coloring, some of which is banned in civilized countries (ours is not, but you know that). 

Anyway, a more effective way of boosting the immune system is elderberry syrup, something that can be made from free foraged food. Elderberries grow almost everywhere in the U.S. and most states allow foraging on public lands.

Here's the recipe I'm using:

2 cups fresh elderberries (no stems or leaves, they're poisonous)
4 cups water
6 ginger cloves
1 TBSP cinnamon
2 TBSP fresh grated ginger
1-2 cups honey, to taste

Boil all but honey for 30 minutes. Strain into a pint jar and let cool until just warm, then add honey. Heat kills the beneficial enzymes in honey. The consistency is more like a juice. You could add pectin, boil a few apples with it or simmer it down further, but this syrup juice can also be used in other juices just the way it is.

Yesterday, I quadrupled this batch and canned it without the sweetener. Add a little lemon juice to each jar or 1/2 cup ish to the whole batch - or more, if you like, because lemon is great for colds too. Then, open a new jar, heat on the stove til just warm enough to incorporate honey, stir well and store in the fridge.

*To take:*
2 teaspoons for kids, 1 TBSP for adults daily during the season (ebola season?). When feeling ill, take several times a day until symptoms pass. Elderberry syrup is really effective. We just beat down a cold into mere one-day sniffles by taking this after the first kid got sick. It is also really tasty - my kids ask for more of their "medicine."

We're making extra for the family Xmas gift baskets this year, but will be canning those with regular sugar for those guys.


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