Making syrup -"saft" - out of red berries

Last night I made syrup. In Swedish we call it “saft” and it’s a syrup made out of fresh berries that you mix with water and drink like juice. There is a big berry bush in our garden, red berries, and the boys & I picked a big bowl full, washed the berries, boiled them with water, added sugar and poured the syrup into the Husband’s washed out ex-whiskey bottles. All the while I felt like a reincarnation of my own grandmother, my mother, her sisters, their mother and grandmother. I suppose I come from a long line of syrup-makers, and I remember swearing over and over again throughout my childhood and adolescence that I would never EVER as an adult pick berries to make “saft”. Such a boring and difficult process for what?! Something you could buy in the store! Well, I guess your perspective changes as you grow older. Now I found it quite rewarding, and the boys were naturally very interested in the chain of events that led up to a sweet drink.

Exactly where in this procedure we went wrong I don’t know, but the “saft” didn't taste like when my grandmother made it; it was less sour, sweeter and didn’t have that red berry edge. I wish I could ask her how she did it, but she passed 1 week after the oldest boy was born. It’s funny how you constantly come upon situations throughout your life, situations you didn’t anticipate, when you really miss a loved one that passed. Last night, I missed my grandmother and her “saft”. As I had a glass of my own, I thought of her: our “saft” might not taste as good as grandma’s, but it was worth making; just to see the boy’s faces, their interest, and to recall everything that I associate with “saft” - associations I didn’t even realize I had. So, here’s to memories of young summers, my mother, aunts and grandmothers – my “saft”-making family!

By Lovain