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Elderberries!

Bumper crop this year. I usually pick some of them only to keep them from falling around the front door and getting tracked into the house.

First year here, I tried making elderberry cordial from a recipe I found on the web. It didn’t mention that you have to cook elderberries or they’re poisonous. I drank a thimbleful of the stuff and it was a seriously potent emetic. WHOOOSH went the weasel.

I’ve been shy about them ever since.

I think I might make some jelly or syrup this year, though. I’ll try not to go WHOOOSH.

Comments


Comment from Carl
Time: August 6, 2020, 7:51 pm

Elderberry wine!


Comment from Mark Matis
Time: August 6, 2020, 8:16 pm

Must be a UK thing. We ate raw elderberries regularly when I was growing up and NEVER had any problems!


Comment from p2
Time: August 6, 2020, 8:46 pm

Gives a whole new meaning to”….your father smelt of elderberries!”


Comment from ExpressoBold
Time: August 6, 2020, 9:23 pm

Gin!

Oh no, that’s juniper berries… sorry.

Meanwhile, Dementia Joe is trying to kill off his campaign in spite of total support from legacy media and the entrenched bureaucracy.


Comment from Deborah HH
Time: August 6, 2020, 11:52 pm

Elderberry syrup sounds delicious. And pretty.


Comment from weasel again
Time: August 7, 2020, 9:33 am

Not even a UK thing, Mark. I think it’s the particular variety that grows in our drive. I’ve seen recipes for raw from here too. Others say they’re poisonous uncooked. The stems and leaves are apparently the most dangerous.


Comment from Mark Matis
Time: August 7, 2020, 11:24 pm

One tends to not eat stems and leaves of anything unless nothing else is available and one is terminally hungry. Those of us males who went to college long ago learned that anything green in the refrigerator was NOT that color when it went in there. And was therefor inedible…


Comment from BJM
Time: August 8, 2020, 4:20 pm

@stoaty Oh…I am sooo jealous. Do make syrup it’s really easy and it’s so good for your immune system and really tasty too. A shot of elderberry syrup over ice, a shot of gin or vodka topped up with sparkling water is a refreshing cocktail. Booze plus immune support…what’s not to like, eh?

@Mark the European Sambucus Niger is much more potent than the N.American native Sambucus Canadensis…almost all the ready made concoctions, cordials, syrups, gummies, lozenges, etc are made with imported S.Niger….maybe that’s the difference.


Comment from Jon
Time: August 10, 2020, 7:22 pm

Gosh I miss the holidays I’ve had in England with Elderberry liqueurs and proper cider. Though I have to say the Gin factory tour I had was proper fun too… just caught in December before the crazy times happened.
Stay safe whoosh weasel!

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