Elderberry Jelly

Elderberry jelly is a part of Vic's history.  His mother plucked the small berries out of wild bushes poking up in the fences and thickets around their farm, stripped them from their stems, juiced them, and then boiled the deep purple nectar down into sweet jelly. 

Vic was probably nine or ten years old when she taught him what her mother had taught her, which Grandma had probably learned from her mother, and on and on and on as far back as his family goes through Nebraska history. 

Vic still likes to make elderberry jelly, and last weekend he was willing to share his trade secrets with Audrey. 

I'm happy for my currently nonexistent grandchildren.  Maybe this tradition will take root in our family, and they will get to grow up on elderberry jelly.

And I'm happy for me, because I get to sample it now!