elderberries and hallucinations

Yesterday I visited my grandma and besides strolling through wood and field, we also collected elderberries to make this delicious syrup that keeps me healthy while the world turns cold and grey. No lie – last year I haven't been sick once! Okay okay, that's partly a lie: I came down with a cold right after the syrup was gone.. ;) You should try it, too.

One thing that I wanted to write down so that other people can learn from my foolishness: I was fascinated by all the bright colors of the foliage, mushrooms and berries so that I had to touch them. After some time I became a bit hungry and tried to pick a blackberry which wasn't that easy.. I rather squashed it than really picking it and after a while of not getting it I let it be and licked my fingers – BIG MISTAKE!! On our way home I saw weird lights pop up and I would have gotten really panicky if my grandma wasn't by my side. Not that she helped me to calm down with words but I thought that I couldn't start to panic in the middle of a forest with an old lady by my side... Therefore I just spat out the remains of whatever has been on my fingertip and just told her that the blackberry juice was kind of sour...

You can find a recepy in German here. If you just understand English, here's a slightly different recepy with honey and cinnamon.

Enjoy your own syrup and remember: DON'T DO DRUGS ;)