Influenza - An After Action Report

The flu is distinctive.  Fever, body aches, chills.  I have only had the flu one other time (about 18 years ago) and was not relishing giving it another go.

I woke up Wednesday morning with a sore throat.  I didn't feel terrible, but I went ahead and drank apple cider vinegar (mixed in water), just in case it was Strep.  By the afternoon, my sore throat still hadn't gone away, so I took more vinegar and hoped for the best.  I managed to do school with the kids and get my afternoon work done, but by the time dinner was in the oven, I was feeling pretty rough.

If you'll remember, Sir Knight, Maid Elizabeth and I made Elderberry Wine last fall specifically because of its purported benefits for treating influenza.  Fearing that I might indeed have the flu, I drank a glass of Elderberry Wine before retiring for the night.  I felt really puny the next morning, but still had tea with Sir Knight before seeing him off to work and then went about my day.

Throughout the day I drank a few glasses of vinegar (mixed with water) and managed to get everything done (including a 3 mile hike) that I had on my agenda.  However, by 3 O'clock in the afternoon, I was a shivering, sweating mass under a pile of blankets.  I could barely make it from the bathroom back to my blankets without stumbling, I was shaking so hard.  I had another glass of Elderberry Wine and put myself to bed by 8 pm.

Friday morning, I was feeling positively perky.  Another swig of vinegar (ugh!) and we were off to town for a trip that just couldn't be postponed.  Although somewhat weak and lightheaded, I had plenty of energy to make it through the day.  But, by 3 pm, I was shaking in my chair under piles of blankets (again), although other than running a fever I didn't really feel too bad.  I shivered my way through the evening, drank another glass of wine and tucked myself in bed by 8 pm.  Once in bed, the shivering gave way to heat and I couldn't get the blankets off myself quickly enough.  After a miserably hot night, I woke up refreshed and ready for my day on Saturday.

I cleaned and baked and did laundry on Saturday (preparing for company after church on Sunday) with no problems.  Three o'clock came and went and I kept going.  I did drink another glass of wine on Saturday evening, just for good measure, slept well and got up on Sunday morning in time to prepare dinner and tidy the house before church.

Other than a bit of a stuffy nose, I feel great.  Obviously, I have no empirical evidence that Elderberry Wine aided in my quick recovery, but it sure did seem to do the trick to me.

Truth be told, I don't like the taste of wine much.  I never have.  However, you can be quite sure that when the frost is heavy on the ground and the Elderberries are ripe, the kids and I will be harvesting those little purple berries and we will be filling another demi john with a new batch of Elderberry Wine.

Bottling Elderberry Wine

After sitting on our counter for roughly six months, our Elderberry Wine was finally done fermenting and was ready to bottle.  This is the first time that we have made wine, so we really didn't know what to expect.  We did a lot of internet research so that we would know how to tell that fermentation was complete and then again when we were ready to bottle.

Taking the airlock valve off the carboy

Pouring the wine through it's final filter (double layers of sterilized cheesecloth)

Filling bottles

And so, on Sunday a lively group of us opened the air-lock valve on our much anticipated first attempt at wine making.  We filtered a little into some glasses, broke bread together and put the ruby-red wine to our lips.  Oh, it was wonderful!  I was so surprised.  Having used an old Scottish Highlands recipe requiring no modern chemicals or interventions, I wasn't really sure what to expect.  It was incredibly smooth and sweet (even a little too sweet, perhaps) and left no nasty aftertaste.  At this point we would definitely call it a desert wine, however, it will be interesting to see how it ages.  Most likely we will reduce the amount of sugar we use next time, but other than that, we are thrilled.

Dipping wine from the bucket

Passing the cork

Most assuredly a family affair

Corking the bottle

We waxed the top (although this is not necessary)

A finished bottle of wine

Packaged up and ready to give as gifts - or whatever!

Next on the list is Raspberry wine.  My friend, Lady Day has a freezer full of berries from her berry patch, so we are going to use the same recipe and give Raspberry wine a try.  It too should take about 6 months to ferment (although if the weather warms up that time will probably be reduced), so we should have a new wine to try in the fall.

As our wine ages, we will keep you posted on it's progress.  This should be fun!