I hate wasting things. It stresses me out to throw out the herbs after making a salve or syrup. (Although I don’t usually even do that— I compost them…) Every time I make elderberry syrup, which is pretty frequently in the cooler months, I have anxiety about all the cooked mushy berries left over at the end. I’ve tried reusing them but the resulting syrup was too weak. I’ve reduced the amount of berries I use with no ill effects, but I still feel like I’m wasting a huge amount of plant matter that I worked so hard to grow. And then I had a sudden brainstorm… I would make playdough with the leftover berry mush!! This stuff smelled so good that I wanted to play with it!! The color is entirely from the berries (and is a deeper purple than it looks in this photo) it’s a perfect fall/ Halloween treat!
(Mountain Rose Herbs had a good article about upcycling spent herbs recently too if you have other herbs to upcycle)
Upcycled Elderberry Playdoh
I like to think that this vaguely healthy for my kids to play with? Regardless it smells amazing and has a great texture and color. And those pesky leftover berries get a second life.
1 1/4 cups water
1/2 cup + 2 TBS salt
3/4 TBS cream of tartar
2.5 TBS vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups flour
Leftover strained elderberries with any crunchy bits removed (like cinnamon sticks or cloves)
Dump everything on a pot and whisk until reasonably smooth.
Cook over low heat stirring frequently until the mixture thickens and starts to form a dough that pulls away from the edges of the pot.
Keep cooking until the dough feels dry and it gets too hard to mush it around.
Cool and play!