Elderberry Syrup

It's January 28th, 2013.
So it seems like everyone has a touch of some sort of illness right now doesn't it?
Unless you are living under a rock, (which sounds good to me right now), you are bound to run into people that are sneezing, coughing, vomiting, and all sorts of other expelling from orifices.
Remember, I'm a nurse, so this is the kind of talk I have while eating lunch.
Admittedly, I'm currently one of the sneezy people. That's not necessarily unusual for me. I'm prone to allergies, which frequently lead to the minor irritations of sneezing 22 times every morning while trying to get ready to go to work, and red eyes and nose, to the more serious and problematic issues such as sinus infections and respiratory infections.
In any case, my sneeziness usually takes a break in the winter, and goes into high gear in the Spring and Fall, my two favorite seasons which tie with Summer as my favorite. So yeah, basically, usually, my sneezy nose usually gives me a break in the one and only season that I don't really enjoy. Which also happens to be the longest season of them all here at the base of Adirondacks where I live, cause winter here can usually last about 8 months, leaving only four months for the other three seasons. But I find myself sneezing all the time right now, and I'm worried it's going to develop into some kind of illness.
So, I've been using my Neti Pot, and I promise to someday write about a blog about the joy and happiness a lukewarm sinus bath with a Neti Pot can invoke.
But still, I'm sneezing. Every morning. Sometimes I try to wait it out, but then, just as I'm about to apply my mascara I start my sneezing. Practically causing me to poke my eye out with that wand of emerald black which promises to never clump or dry out which is a big lie. And poking out my eye would be even worse than a sinus or respiratory infection. Unless of course you are like a relative of mine. Who once sought treatment in an emergency room due to injuring her eye with a wand of mascara. The handsome, funny, delightful ER doc eventually proposed to her. Of course, they did not marry. Don't be silly, she was not really THAT serious, but he was enough of a gentleman to let her keep the rock. She then went on to poke herself in the eye a few more times, going to different hospitals for treatments, but I don't think she ever got that lucky again. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating. But I doubt it.
Back to my blog.
So, because I think I may be on the verge of actually getting ill, I decided to finally make some of that Elderberry Syrup. I bought the dried elderberries from Lise Fuller of Adirondack Herbals.
Now, you may be wondering, what in the world is an elderberry? Whatever you do, don't read what it says on widipedia. Instead allow me to tell you what I know, which is not much.
Elderberries grow in clusters on flowering bushes. The berries can be many colors, but you don't want to use the red ones, they can be poisonous. Of course, the elderberry bush has some Latin name but since I'm not a horticulturist, I'm just gonna tell you that the name for this bush during the Middle Ages was the "the witches tree". I'm sure you can see why that appeals to me.
So the berries of this bush have long been used for medicinal purposes, and of course wine.
My berries got placed in a trusty saucepan this evening.

Now, I am making a double batch, because a coworker/friend also has a touch of something that she just can't shake, so I'm making a batch for her, and well, I haven't asked if I could use her name in this blog, in fact, I'm not even sure she knows about this blog, so since I don't have her permission to use her name, we will just call her Shannon Houlihan.
So, that is 2 tablespoons of dried elderberries in that pan and to that I added 4 cups of water.
I then covered it, let it come to a boil, then lowered the heat and simmered for 20 minutes, still covered.

When that was done, I uncovered the pan, and let the liquid reduce by half.

 Then I drained the berries.

Then I added the honey. Local stuff. Not that stuff that comes in the plastic thing shaped like a cute cub bear. This honey comes from Lupo Apiary in Hudson Falls NY, I was unable to find a website for them.

I stirred and stirred. Then jarred it up. I've recently developed a worrisome habit of saving just about any glass jar I come across. So, here is a jar for me, and one for the coworker/friend we are calling Shannon Houlihan.

Directions for preparation did not indicate a recommended dosage, but I'm thinking one teaspoon twice a day will be sufficient. Ok, maybe 2 teaspoons. My batch is not too bitter at all. Tastes rather earthy to me. Of course, somewhat impossible to test the results of intake, if I don't get sick, maybe I just wasn't going to get sick to begin with?