Elderberry Syrup

I have a post started on how to combat and prevent the flu...but twins, so here is the Elderberry I promised for now.

Elderberry Syrup

3/4 cup of dried elderberries  (flu season has increased the demand and price, they are normally $18-19)
4 cups water (reversosmo. if you are lucky enough, distilled great, filtered will work too)
1 TB cinnamon
2 TB dried ginger or about 1/2 cup fresh peeled and chopped or about half that grated (see what you like)
1 tes cloves
1 cup Raw local honey (I use a little less than a cup, the more honey the sweeter but it also stores longer)


In a sauce pan place the water, berries and spices (NO honey at this point).  Bring to a boil decrease heat and simmer for about 30-45 mins or until it has reduced to about 3 cups...meaning a little more than half for my non kitchen savvy friends.
Turn off the heat and let it sit covered.  Then squish the berries a bit, I use this, you would be amazed at the things I use this for ha!
Then strain the liquid into a medium size bowl ( love this set!), add the honey and stir well...again you want the liquid to be close to room temp, not hot.
Once it is nice and mixed, use a funnel to put it in your favorite jar....If I was supper messy, and I normally am in the kitchen, I strain it again into the funnel to catch the extra bits.

Store in the fridge.
To prevent illness and boost the immune system the recommendation is to take 1 TB for adults and 1tes for kids (over a year old cause it has honey) once a day.  If you are starting to feel the crud coming on take it right away, 1TB every 1-3 hours.
If you really want a boost, add a shot of AVC to one of those and you will kick a cold, sinus infection and heal your guy all in one.

Don't want to make it?  No worries!  Try this great local to the Charlotte area one call Sweet's Syrup.
They are getting new retailers all the time or she ships as well. It has become a big thing in the last year, so I bet a local farmers market has someone selling it...I am hoping the price on the berries decreases when they meet the demand.  It is cheaper to make and supper easy!

Once you have it down, try adding more or less of the spices you like...We will talk more about what they do later.  In summery...it boost the immune system, fights colds/sinus stuff and interrupt virus replication.

Ps The links are affiliated, they don't increase the price to your product and I get credit for introducing you to it.  Also I am not your primary care these are just suggestion you take freely, so take your own health into consideration with all topics here...when in doubt call your midwife or family practice.

Cuban Pork Recipe...you know the first post in two years...

The last two years have been crazy!  I use IG a lot to share updates, food, support and create.
I like the space and it is about all the time I have some days.
I recently posted a recipe on Cuban pork and would love to share it...I thought a longer blog post might be easier to navigate.

The original recipe we used is here with some changes on how we cooked it.




You will need:
-Pork shoulder (ours was around 7lbs)
-6 garlic gloves
-1/4 cup of olive oil
-2 cups of OJ
-2 limes, zest and juice from both
-4 tsp of cumin (or a little more if you like cumin)
-1TB oregano (I used dried and worked great)
-1/2 cup mint leaves (fresh, 1/2 if you are using dried...we did fresh)
-1/2 cup cilantro (fresh!)

Mix all the ingredients except the pork in a bowl or food processor.  We have this immersion blender (so I used a a bowl), I have the older model and it is wonderful for soup making and milkshakes. They also have this one on amazon.  It blends nicely with the hand/immersion blender and smells amazing!

Put the pork in a large bowl and pour the marinade over, it should cover about 3/4 of the meat or so.  Cover and and let it soak in the wonderful flavor at least 6hrs...but who has time for that planning, so just leaving over night and take it out first thing in the morning **unless you are going to smoke it overnight then adjust and prep as you wish**
Take out the meat in the morning and let it reach room temperature.
We decided to smoke the meat first.  We received this fun grill for Christmas and wanted to test it out.
After reading up on the all the grilling masters forums, we found that 2-4 hours is a range for absorbing the most flavor.  We smoked for 2.5 hours and then transferred to a roasting pan and cooked in the oven at 225 for 7ish hours.

We loved it and will to do it again...next time we are going to try the all day grilling approach but, you can easily do it in the oven.  The linked recipe above shows a much higher heat.  Anytime I have made a roast shoulder in the oven it is always done on low heat over many hours.  It can be adapted for the instant pot as well but you won't get the crispy layer unless you finish it in the oven.  You can slice and eat once you have hit the optimal internal temp, or for us keep cooking until it falls apart.
We make tacos, wraps, put it on sweet potatoes with a fried egg, and other times ate it straight from the pot.  If you run out of time or want to try it both sliced and shredded, slice the first night and then 2nd put it in a dutch oven with any left over juice and a splash of broth if you need it.  Cook it on the stove top and it will fall apart : )

Make it!  It is supper easy and you will love it!

ps the links above are affiliated...this means I get credit for telling you about cool stuff at no increase cost to you!  Thanks for checking them out!