Yes, my family caught the flu two years ago, right around Thanksgiving. We missed a trip to see my extended family, all because we got busy and didn't take enough precautions to stay healthy during flu season. My bad.
Although everyone in the family got sick, I did manage to stay well-even though I was caring for 5 other people day and night. My secret for staying well for the duration: elderberry and garlic. These are two very useful and powerful herbs that I depend on for keeping infections at bay. My family, on the other hand, didn't want to take my honey-infused garlic OR the elderberry rob ("rob" meaning thickened, sweetened juice) and they didn't fair as well as I.
The first thing you need to do is find a good source for your elderberries. I had a hard time finding them in stock at my go-to online stores, since I didn't make this until well into January (oops). But, I did find wild crafted elderberries from the Monterey Bay Spice Company. I bought 1 lb, which is perfect for my elderberry rob recipe!
To make the "rob", you need to either find 5 lbs fresh elderberries -OR- 1lb dried elderberries. I do not have a source for fresh berries, so I opted for dried. I then soaked them overnight in spring water to plump them up a bit. (Just cover the berries with water to about 1" above the berries.)
Once soaked and plumped, I brought the berries to a simmer. Add more water if necessary. Crush the berries as you simmer them with a spoon.
Once the berries simmered for approx. 30 min., I processed them quickly in my ninja blender to make sure I was getting all the juicy goodness out of the berries. Next, filter the juice through cheesecloth or an old rag. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze all the juice out! Your hands will probably be purple after this step, so use gloves if you are worried :)
Once the berry juice is squeezed out, add your sugar. You will need 2 cups unprocessed, evaporated cane juice. Mix this into your juice and return the pot to the stove top.
Simmer again for about 20-30 minutes, until the "rob" coats the spoon and becomes thick like honey. Lastly, pour the "rob" into sterilized canning jars with new lids. Tighten lid and invert the hot jars to seal. All three of my jars sealed and are ready for our next emergency!
To dose elderberry rob, just add 1/2-1 Tablespoon to a cup of hot water and sip. I have even taken this directly as syrup when I was in a hurry! It tastes like raisins, my kids tell me. And they will never shake their heads at my homemade immune boosters again ;)
Enjoy your health this year, and don't take your chances at catching colds or the flu!
