Elderflower Cordial

 Hello from Thistle Hill! This summer, I have decided to embrace the thistles in my backyard. I dig them up and they keep growing back. So to celebrate the heartiness and tenacity of these prickly plants, I've named my home Thistle Hill. I even made some merch...

This is my first crafty project of the summer! Credit for the hat idea goes to Kristie, who told me about someone who embroiders trucker hats. We just happened to be in Hobby Lobby at the time and I decided that sounded like fun to try! These hats are only a couple dollars. I got some cross stitch waste canvas and got to work stitching. A quick, fun project! 

I've noticed that the park I walk through has elderberry bushes. Every June I think about making something with the berries. The birds usually beat me to it though! So this year, I decided to try making elderflower cordial with the beautiful, fragrant flowers. 

I crawled around in some swampy weeds to try and pick some flower heads. And then I realized I could go around behind the spot and there were lots more bushes there! It had a small path through with elderberry bushes on both sides. It felt like a secret garden back there!

I collected a grocery sack full of flowers and took them home. 

Spread the flowers out on some paper for about an hour to let the bugs crawl out. I've heard that elderberry stems and leaves are toxic, so the next step was to snip the flowers off the stems. That was a fun little task to do while sitting outside in my thistle patch 😊 I was covered in elderflower pollen!

The rest was easy! Boiling water, lots of sugar, citric acid, lemons and elderflowers go in the pot.

I let this mixture sit for a little more than 24 hours.

The next day, I strained the mixture and put it in bottles.

It's ready to drink! Add a little of the cordial to a glass and top it with water or sparkling water. It's a refreshing treat! It tastes lemony and floral and sweet. Really nice! 

This is the first time I've tried making something like this. I watched a few video tutorials on how to do it. This one made the most sense to me and I pretty much followed her recipie. Elderflower Cordial 

Have you tried making a cordial before? I really enjoyed doing this! I think the next drink I want to try is making a shrub. And maybe my own coffee syrups.