Homemade Elderberry Syrup

I found these walking out to get my mail the other day - the elderberries I planted last fall finally have ripe fruit!

I gathered all of the berries (I snipped off the base of the umbel and brought it in the house that way, then picked off the fruit in the kitchen) and off of both bushes I got a grand total of - duh da duh! - half a cup. Not as much as the buckets full I saw on the sites I searched for elderberry recipes, but I suppose these are, comparatively, baby plants - I'm just grateful to have any!

After a quick search online, I found this informative site, and used the recipe there (halved, obviously) to make my very own syrup:

Elderberry Syrup
1 cup fresh or 1/2 cup dried elderberries
3 cups water
1 cup honey

Heat the berries and water to a boil, then reduce to simmer for 30-45 minutes. Mash the berries, strain, and stir in honey. At this point, it's ready to use (up to 1 teaspoon every 3 hours from the onset of a cold). This will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 months.

I'm planning to keep mine in the freezer until January (about when the post-Christmas colds hit) and then keep it in the fridge until spring.

Hopefully in the future, when I have more berries, I can make enough to use as "preventative medicine" - a.k.a. yummy pancake syrup!

This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday at GNOWFGLINS.