Elderberries Consumed

Oh, I almost forgot. .. the elderberries. I haven't had them before I don't guess because I certainly don't remember their flavor. It's like a blackberry without the tartness, sweetness or any other flaver . . . basically they taste kind of woody to me. Do elderberries always tast like that? I made the elderberry-vodka lemonade splash and a Shirly Temple version (elderberry lemonade) for my aunt. The elderberry juice looked brown to me and I thought it might make a murky looking martini, but the juice gave the drinks a fun deep pink cast. As for taste, the elderberry juice I added wasn't enough to flavor the drinks-which I considered good luck since the taste wasn't noteworthy anyway. Also, you might note the skimpy elderberry juice I used in the martinis due to not wanting the elderberry flavor to ruin an otherwise perfectly good drink did make for a Barbie pink beverage, which as my sister pointed out did not look too manly when sipped on by the men of the bunch. Next time I think I'd brave more juice for a richer red color. And, thanks very much to my boss and mother-in-law for picking the elderberries for us.

For breakfast the next morning, which was my dad's birthday, I made the elderberry-lemon corn muffins. I thought I'd finally hit on a recipe I could criticize when I tasted the batter. It was really sweet. But, the elderberries balanced the sweetness quite well. They are beautiful muffins and pretty darn tasty, too. I really enjoy cooking muffins and have tried several kinds. These would not be my absolute favorite, but I'd make them again and they were very attractive and unique to serve to company with the generous amount of elderberries. I served them with fruit smoothies and it felt like a great breakfast to start the day out strong. At the end of the weekend what I really felt was that I have an awesome family and sharing the woods to food project with them was pretty nifty.