Make Your Own Cold Syrup!

   This year was the year! I finally did it! I was determined that this would be the year. I watched my elderberry bushes daily to beat the birds and find just the right picking time, so I could get as many berries as I could. I searched for an easier recipe that I was less like to mess up. After years of trying to make a batch of homemade Elderberry syrup and failing, I finally succeed! It tastes better than any syrup I've had before! My kids even like this one! 

*A word of caution, as with all wild edibles, please research your wild edible and learn as much as you can about it! 

What I need to gather for this homemade syrup:

Elderberry: We have been blessed with several elderberry plants on our property and have made sure to take care of them for future medicinal use.

Honey: I once again was blessed as providence stepped in and acquired freshly gathered that day, honey! I called my local "bee guy," as I call him, a local farmer/church member, who happened to be gathering it up that very morning. Y'all I've never tasted anything so purely fresh before, even my kids commented on the flowery taste! 

Mint, Rosemary, & Thyme: all gathered straight from my small corner herb garden.

I had to buy the cinnamon & ginger from the store, but I'm hoping to one day at least try to grow ginger. 

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups fresh elderberries (you can gather them a little at a time and freeze them until you're ready) 
• 4 cups of water
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
• 1 sprig of fresh thyme
• 1 sprig fresh mint
• 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, which you will peel and grate.
• 2 cinnamon sticks 
• 1 cup of raw honey

   Combine elderberries, water, and herbs in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce to a brisk simmer, let simmer for an hour or until it is reduced to about a cup. Remove from heat, strain out the solids, and let the liquid cool completely. Once it is cooled, whisk in the honey and then pour the cooled liquid into a mason jar or small bottle. Store the cold syrup chilled in the refrigerator where it should keep for several weeks.

2 teaspoons of syrup every 3-4 hours as needed when the first sign of a cold appears! I take a teaspoon every day as an immune booster. 

Keep wandering, 

Kara