A Boodle Of Elderberries

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That September gave me an elderberry harvest I'll never forget. However—as I learned the following June—I had completely missed out on half of the amazing plant's food products: the flowers!

The white-petaled clusters—called "elderblow"—can be used to make tea . . . added to muffins, pancakes, and custards . . . cooked up as fritters (just dip an unshucked cluster in your favorite batter and fry) . . . and more.

All in all, I bless the day my neighbor told me about elderberries. I still wonder, however, how the generous plant came by its name. Perhaps it's because the "elder" berries ripen when the other wild fruits are pretty much gone . . . or just because folks have known about the source of good eating for so long. But one thing's for sure: Since I keep on learning new culinary uses for the delectable fruit and flow ers, elderberries will never get old for me!

EDITOR'S NOTE: Marion has discov ered a great deal about elderberry "eats", but she's right when she says there's more to be learned! Here are some good leads for further food and drink fixing ideas:

[1] As George E. Luther revealed in MOTHER NO. 59's Down-Home Country Lore column, there is an easy way to pick the ripe berries off all those twigs! Simply put a small piece of 1/2" mesh hardware cloth over a bucket or large bowl and rub the berry bunches across this screen. The fruit will come off cleaner (and with less bruising) than if you'd picked them all by hand!

[2] If you want to absorb some helpful knowledge about other elderberry—and elderblow—wines, you'd do well to read Sandra Oddo's "Feedback on Elderberries" in MOTHER NO. 27, page 17 (see page 116 for information on how to order back issues).

[3] And for more elderberry and flower recipes—covering everything from cough syrup to chutney to exquisite elder-sumac jelly—the best resource just has to be that old forager's masterpiece: Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons (available from your local bookstore or for $5.95 plus 95¢ shipping and handling— from Mother's Bookshelf, P.O. Box 70, Hendersonville, North Carolina 28791).

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