Showing posts with label elderberry syrup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label elderberry syrup. Show all posts

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Swallowtail Saturday


Here's another picture of one of the many Swallowtails that have graced our homestead. I hope you'll indulge me a little while longer in posting butterfly pictures. In the end, I made another batch of elderberry syrup yesterday. I had already turned it into juice, so made the syrup an alternate way I'd read about. I brought the juice close to boiling, then added in some cinnamon basil honey I'd created a few summers back. The ratio was approximately 2 3/4c juice to 3 1/2c honey. Once the honey dissolved, I took it off the heat and added 1 1/2c alcohol (finished my brandy & topped it off with vodka). When cool, I poured it into brown glass bottles I had boiled for 10 minutes, then capped it with their lids, which had been put into a pot of water just after it boiled. You don't want to boil any lid with plastic parts. A taste test assured me that a spoonful of this will go down easily. I've been cleaning up and taking pictures of my vintage finds, and have begun adding them to my shop. Have a marvelous weekend, friends!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Pawpaws & Purple Fingers







Today I turned our elderberries into medicine. They'd been soaking in brandy for several weeks, & I strained & sweetened the juice. Studies show elderberry syrup to be one of the most effective remedies for flu, beating out even Tamiflu for avian flu. They're deep purple & pretty messy to work with, but worth it. I made a batch of Cedar Lemongrass soap & turned some soap scraps into liquid soap. The cucumbers were turned into lacto-fermented pickles, & I've got some bread rising. Last night I made Fig Sherry Cake with some figs my Mom gave me. And a Pawpaw Pecan Pie. I mostly use them fresh in my smoothies, but a few days ago the last bunch of them fell off the trees. I think they gave up with the drought. The pie was pretty good, but I'm still looking for the perfect recipe. A few years ago, I tried making pawpaw cake in canning jars. To say I wasn't impressed is putting it kindly. This evening, I gathered a bouquet of flowers for the table. It's been one of those days that makes me thankful to be here, with time to do all the homesteading things I love. Now I've got to figure out what to do with all the passionfruit!