Nommy-Nee makes elderberry jelly

[vaneramos]

Wild elderberries anyone? I have some to give away.

I was in luck this year. Last September I searched the Eramosa River in vain. The birds had eaten them all before I got there.

On Monday I paid my first visit to the river since July and found a huge bush where I hadn't even noticed it before—festooned with ripe black clusters. I wasn't taking any chances. I went back with a bag right away. The branches were so heavy with fruit that I didn't even have to move from one spot to gather about ten pounds.

While I knelt in the shade of those boughs, a couple cedar waxwings squeaked from the nearby trees. I'd be the last one to steal from them, but the bush still had enough to feed a flock of hundreds. I was just glad to be in the right place at the right time to snatch a few for myself.

Quite a few, as it turned out. Tonight I pulled two quarts off the stems and made a batch of elderberry jelly. Another five cups went into the freezer for pies. That's as many elderberries as I can use.

I still have enough bunches for at least four more quarts of berries if anyone in the area wants them. I'll be driving to Toronto midday tomorrow, and will bring them along if anyone wants them.

~~~~~~~~~~

Elderberry jelly reminds me of a character in the children's book, Pookie, by Ivy Wallace. Pookie is a little white rabbit with wings. His family teases him so he runs away to find his fortune. He ends up living in Bluebell Wood. His best friend is Nommy-Nee. I can't remember whether Nommy-Nee is an elf or fairy, he looks somewhere in between, and he lives in a toadstool.

In the sequel, Pookie Puts the World Right, Nommy-Nee makes elderberry jam.

This all comes from my early childhood. The books disappeared many years ago, and even Mom doesn't know what became of them. We thought they were published in Britain, and probably long out of print.

Tonight in memory of Nommy-Nee I did a web search and found that the books have recently been reprinted (the first publication was 1945). I hope it is as wonderfully illustrated as I remember. I had to have a copy of Pookie, so I did something I've never done before: ordered from Amazon.

Blame it on the elderberries.

Comments

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the dark side of Amazon. I've ordered from them on several occasions in recent months. Mostly books and/or CD's or DVD's. :-)

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I don't plan to use Amazon much. If I had thought twice, I could have gone to the local independent bookstore and ordered it there.

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

I'm with you there. Whenever I can, I try to shop at the local mom and pop stores. However, sometimes, Amazon has what a lot of the smaller stores don't have.

[dakoopst.livejournal.com]

See, elderberries always remind me of Monty Python ...

"Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!"

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. You may remember, Brenna is a big fan of Monty Python. I've had that line running through my head for the past three days.

[dakoopst.livejournal.com]

LOL..I had forgotten...*snickers*

[wonderboynj.livejournal.com]

I've always wanted to taste an elderberry; and elderberry jam tastes delightfully yummy!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

You're not missing much. They taste bland and have a vaguely unpleasant smell. They improve a lot with cooking. The last time I made elderberry jelly I was a teenager. I forgot how nice it is. Yum!

wine..um jam making ingredients.

[queenmomcat.livejournal.com]

Shoot. I'm working tomorrow. Otherwise, you can just BET I'd be up in Toronto for some of those elderberries. (We are within driving distance of Toronto and we've got passports so watch out! We may yet be up there.) I've made elderberry wine from dried berries, as I haven't had access to the fresh but I can only assume that like all other dried fruits they're but a pale shadow of the real fresh thing.

Sigh. I'll have to make do with hunting down the new rust-resistant varieties of black currants...

Re: wine..um jam making ingredients.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Actually the rule doesn't hold with elderberries. Unfortunately I haven't tasted elderberry wine, but the jelly is better than the real thing. The raw berries are bland with a slightly unpleasant odour, but cooking improves them.

Give me a little warning if you decide to come to Toronto so we can meet!

Re: wine..um jam making ingredients.

[queenmomcat.livejournal.com]

Definitely.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

Ooh. I wish I were close enough! Meanwhile...could they be dried? Could you send them to California if they were dried?

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

bitterlawngnome tells me they would dry easily but, being an agricultural product, be next to impossible to send across the border. Besides, dried elderberries are yucky (so I'm told).

The jelly is delicious. If I have a chance to pull some more berries off the stems this weekend and make another batch, would you like to receive a jar? Apparently that would not present an export problem.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

I would absolutely love a jar, and would be willing to reimburse you via Paypal. The other thing I love is elderberry syrup.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Do you have a recipe for elderberry syrup? If not I will try to look it up. I can just imagine it on pancakes or waffles!

[trinker.livejournal.com]

I don't have a recipe, alas, since I don't have any elderberries handy! It's quite yummy, though.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I presume you're interested in culinary uses. My search turned up many references to elderberry syrup as an herbal cough and flu remedy, but that's prepared a little differently. I'm recording a couple links here for my own reference because I'm away from home at the moment.

http://www.recipecottage.com/preserving/elderberry-syrup.html
http://www.nealsyardremedies.com/info_pages/herbalism/autumn.html

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping to make elderberry syrup and/or jelly either this afternoon or next week. If you send me an email with your mailing address, I'll send you some. My addy is vanwaffle AT gmail DOT com.

Yes, please!

[scottybear.livejournal.com]

If you still hve them available, I would love to take some from you.

If you could give the berries and the recipe to make the jelly or jam, that would be great.

I have actually never had Elderberry Jelly... but am always game for giving stuff a try.

Someone should be home tomorrow throughout the day.... and could transfer whatever you give directly to the freezer.

Re: Yes, please!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

The berries themselves smell like stale socks, but they make one of the best jellies. There's a link in this post to the recipe I used. I found the frozen berries were a little skimpy on juice, so I'll bring about three quarts, which will still leave me enough to try making some syrup.

It would actually be easier for me to run them over this evening. Does that work for you? Otherwise I would drop them off around 4:30 tomorrow.

Re: Yes, please!

[scottybear.livejournal.com]

Either is fine....

Tonight I should be home by about 8pm or so... give a call before heading there.

430 tomorrow would be OK... but I will not be home... but our house-guests should be home.

Regardless... I will warn our houseguests that you might show up. *grins*

*hugs*