Fight the Cold with Elderberry Syrup by Mary Lawrence

Winter weather brought out sniffles, chills, and burning fever? Turn to Nature to provide you comfort and revitalize your health.

You’ll need:

½ cup dried elderberries
1 16 oz. jar of raw honey
2 cups water
Mesh sieve
Large glass jar

Place dried elderberries and water in a quart pot and boil for 10 minutes on high heat. Reduce, and simmer for 30 minutes. The liquid should be a deep, dark garnet.

Strain liquid into the large glass jar through the sieve and set aside elderberries. Pour in raw honey and stir until thoroughly blended. When it’s cool, refrigerate. Take one tablespoon once a day to ward off the chill, and keep you bright all winter!

Elderberries for medicinal use grow wild in Europe and parts of Asia, and were used for centuries to build immunity. Raw honey contains antibacterial properties that work with elderberries for double potency. Look for elderberries in www.mountainroseherbs.com and pick up raw honey at your local farmer’s market.

About the Book

In the mid sixteenth century, Henry VIII sits on the throne, and Bianca Goddard tends to the sick and suffering in London’s slums, where disease can take a life as quickly as murder. . .

For years, alchemist Ferris Stannum has devoted himself to developing the Elixir of Life, the reputed serum of immortality. Having tested his remedy successfully on an animal, Stannum intends to send his alchemy journal to a colleague in Cairo for confirmation. Instead he is strangled in his bed and his journal is stolen.

As the daughter of an alchemist herself, Bianca is well acquainted with the mystical healing arts. As her husband, John, falls ill with the sweating sickness, she dares to hope Stannum’s journal could contain the secret to his recovery. But first she must solve the alchemist’s murder. As she ventures into a world of treachery and deceit, Stannum’s death proves to be only the first in a series of murders–and Bianca’s quest becomes a matter of life and death, not only for her husband, but for herself. . .

About the Author

Mary Lawrence studied biology and chemistry, graduating from Indiana University with a degree in Cytotechnology. Along with writing and farming, Lawrence works as a cytologist near Boston. She lives in Maine. The Alchemist’s Daughter is the first book in the Bianca Goddard Mystery series.