Flu Season Fix

Here in the Little House we are getting very tired of illness. Well, to be fair, those at the Big House are tired of it too. Someone has been sick there ever since Christmas – sometimes the same person will come down two or three times in a row with a cold. It seems endless!

Davy had a day of fever, and was just getting over the lingering runny nose and cough, when he got feverish again. It was very strange to have him so quiet on the sofa all day. He didn’t fuss much, or want to do anything. I would ask him if he wanted me to read to him or something, and he always said, “No, I just resting,” in a resigned little voice.

Thankfully he is feeling better and acting normally again…just in time for Betsy to start coughing.

Definitely time to try to beat this thing. Grandma told me how she makes elderberry syrup for the flu season, and I knew I had to try it. I can’t take much vitamin C without bringing on nosebleeds, but Echinacea and elderberry tinctures and syrups have always worked very well for me – every time I feel the slightest symptoms of a cold coming on, I dose up, and as a result almost never get sick anymore. But buying those things is expensive!

I’ll probably still purchase echinacea tincture, but I can make my own elderberry syrup at a fraction of the cost. I bought a 1 lb. bag of dried elderberries on Amazon, and this is the result. I have at least another 2 batches worth of berries left! I read that if you stock up in the summer you can get the dried berries for a lot less, but even still I think it’s pretty cheap, especially if it works. For around $15 I should have enough to last us through the winter or longer – plus I can sweeten it to my taste (i.e., not very much).

For my first batch I boiled 1 cup of elderberries, 5 cups of water, 2 cinnamon sticks, and 14 cloves together, and simmered it for about an hour. It reduced quite a bit. Then I strained it into the jar, and added honey to taste.

I kept a little bit out and sweetened it slightly with maple syrup so I can give it to Betsy if necessary.

The taste is not unpleasant, and I can tweak it next time if I want to. Next time I will cut down on the spices. I read of one recipe that also added dried orange peel to the mixture, which sounds delicious.

It didn’t get very syrupy, so it’s a thin consistency, but that’s not a big deal to me. Despite all the reduction, I still got a good pint’s worth out of just a fraction of the bag. I put the rest of the berries in the freezer and know I can make another batch any time. Just a little research on how expensive a pint of purchased elderberry syrup would be, shows how cost effective this is! I keep the jars in the fridge, and happily dole out spoonfuls to myself and my family.

Hopefully this will help us beat this bug, and keep healthy the rest of the winter! I’m just enjoying how easy and inexpensive it is to have my fridge well stocked.