Elderberry cordial with your {bits & pieces}
The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
(This will all look and work better if you click on the actual post and do not remain on the main page.)
{Confidential to Becky, expecting your fourth: You apparently put the wrong email on the form — I am ready with an answer but can’t send it! Email me again!}
Wow, so much information in the comments to my UTI post! It’s so interesting to me how different people are and how one thing works for one person and another for another. One definite benefit to being connected online is that the knowledge base expands so much.
Long ago I had tried the cranberry cure (and the “100% pure cranberry juice, organic” version) to no avail. It does work for some! For me, what I posted works. You might find that another tip works for you.
The main thing is that it does not make sense to keep taking antibiotics (often the wrong one) for years. Some commenters noted that they are now being told to stay off antibiotics completely! This is a crazy situation to get into, because obviously we may need them for real at some point. But you can totally see how it happens. We just don’t have all the information we need (and that includes medical professionals). We really need to address the overuse of these important substances…
Anyway, thank you so much for chiming in! I find it all so fascinating.
Here’s another home remedy that I find works for me in preventing colds and making the ones I do get less severe:
Elderberry cordial.
Elderberries are very good for you and have been shown to be beneficial in preventing or treating many diseases (you can do a search for it on the NIH site if you want to read the studies).
You can make a syrup and leave it at that, but the cordial is so nice and Anne-of-Green-Gables-ish that somehow it hardly seems medicinal. In fact, I have developed a cocktail I call The Immunizer using it (I’ll have to do a post on my cocktails, most of which don’t pretend to be particularly healthy — meanwhile you can find it here on my Facebook). It’s nice by itself too. And a spoonful won’t hurt a child and may help them just drift off to sleep…
Here is my recipe (adapted from my friend Jennifer’s recipe that doesn’t call for boiling, but just for steeping for two weeks). The recipe is very flexible — I’ve added some things (like the hibiscus) that I think boost the goodness, but you can leave it all out if you want and just stick with the elderberries. It happened that I found the spices in the form of a half-price wine-mulling mix at my grocery store (and it was organic to boot), so I just opened that handy packet and was all set. If you don’t have all those spices, the ginger is the active ingredient.
Elderberry Cordial, Like Mother, Like Daughter
1¼ cups dried elderberries (I buy on Amazon — affiliate link — but am looking for a source out in the meadows near me!) You can use 2 cups of fresh elderberries if you have them. Do remember that the seeds of the elderberry are poisonous, so the straining step at the end is important.
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger or 1 tsp. dried
1 stick cinnamon, crushed or 1 tsp. dried
1/4 cup dried rosehips
2 tablespoons dried orange peel or the fresh peel of one orange
1/4 cup dried hibiscus flower (also called Jamaica in Hispanic stores or Kerkaday in Middle Eastern stores)
Water to cover; about 3 cups
Boil/simmer these ingredients together for at least 3 minutes, up to about 10; let steep for an hour. Alternatively, you can steep them for two weeks in the jar with the brandy (below).
Strain well through a couple of layers of cheesecloth or a clean potato sack towel, pour into a large container or pitcher.
Add:
About 3 cups brandy
Raw honey, to taste (about a cup)
Mix well.
Decant into jars and keep in a cool dark place. I put the amount that we are going to be accessing in the near future into a dark bottle so it’s handy.
Take a teaspoon as needed (for children too), or a little snifter for you.
On to our links!
In honor of it still being Epiphany, I’d like to share my friend Michael Olbash’s presentation of a Lessons and Carols service at our church, St. John’s in Clinton. This is a most ambitious effort of his; the children from a small school, IHM in Still River, MA, assisted by just a few adult singers (including our Bridget whom you may spot in the video), offer under his direction a lovely time of prayer and singing. The motets are challenging! It just shows you what can be done (well, if you have someone with Michael’s talent and time to do it — but the kids did it too!). Here is the program if you ever wanted to try something like it next year…
Eve Browning of the University of Texas at San Antonio is working on a book about Xenophon. Seems a fascinating topic, judging by this article. I particularly enjoyed the part about the Phoenician merchant ship’s orderliness and Xenophon’s fictional narrator’s pleasure in domestic tidiness as well: “even pots appear graceful when they are arranged in a discriminating manner”!
Ever since I have understood the importance and unique quality of chant, I have been committed to helping others understand as well. Here is a great article to introduce you to the reasons this form is different and much needed in worship today (why other forms of music, no matter how beloved, can never be a substitute for chant). By the way, the “Swain” mentioned in the article is Joseph Swain, whose book Sacred Treasure (affiliate link) is a must-read on the subject (it’s so expensive, but perhaps a library near you has or could be persuaded to buy a copy).
Monsignor Pope on some common-sense Catholic teaching on some aspects of immigration. Whether you are pro- or anti-building the wall, it’s well to review these thoughts.
The St. Hildegard Abbey, a look at the continuation of the abbey begun by the saint (and doctor of the Church) herself.
Writing tips from Walter Benjamin. Like one’s health, some things work for some people and not all, but I found these tips food for thought about the writing process.
A Victorian Lady’s Guide to Cleaning Dresses of Muslin, Silk, Velvet, and Lace.
From the archives:
Some thoughts of mine on dating: for teens; for adults; how your marriage is God’s plan for preparing your children for theirs.
Getting some traction on your plan to get organized? Here’s how you make meals a little easier on yourself: Stash these 12 things.
It’s still the season of Epiphany; in the old calendar, two saints to celebrate: St. Hyginus and St. Theodosius.
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