By Last week of July. The daycare is in its deepest summer mode and I love it and I am also ready for fall the way you are ready for the next season when you have fully inhabited the current one. My toddlers are sunscreen-scented and slightly feral in the best way, the way kids get when they have been outside all summer and their bodies are fully alive to the world. I will miss this version of them when September comes and we go back inside to the routines.
I have been making watermelon granita again this summer, same as last year, and this year I added a cucumber version alongside it: blended cucumber with lime and honey and a tiny pinch of salt, same scraping technique, frozen into pale green crystals that taste like the best version of a cucumber ever. I served both versions at the daycare parent appreciation day and the adults were more excited about the granitas than the kids were, which I found deeply satisfying.
Crystal called me on Wednesday. This is the first time we have spoken on the phone rather than texted. Her voice is lower than I expected. She said she wanted to hear my voice, not just texts. I said okay. We talked for twenty minutes. She asked about my job. I told her about the kids. She laughed in a few places and her laugh is not like my laugh at all, which I noted as a piece of data in the ongoing project of understanding what I have and have not inherited. The call was careful and short and when we hung up I sat in my kitchen and thought: we are building something. It is small. It is real.
The granitas were the hit of that parent appreciation day, and what I kept thinking about afterward was how much adults need permission to have something cold and sweet and a little special — not a juice box, but not a cocktail either, just something made with care and handed over. This raspberry snow cone syrup lives in that same spirit: bright fruit, simple technique, the kind of thing you make a jar of and keep in the fridge so you can pour it over ice whenever the afternoon calls for it. It felt right for this season, when I’m building small, real things — a frozen treat, a phone call, a few pale green crystals that taste like the best version of something familiar.
Raspberry Snow Cone Syrup
Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 15 minutes (plus cooling) | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- Pinch of salt
- Crushed ice, for serving
Instructions
- Combine and cook. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the raspberries, sugar, and water. Stir gently and bring to a low boil, pressing the raspberries down with the back of a spoon as they soften, about 5 minutes.
- Simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for another 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the syrup has thickened slightly and the berries have fully broken down.
- Strain. Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl or large measuring cup, pressing firmly with a spoon to extract all the juice. Discard the seeds and pulp.
- Finish. Stir in the lemon juice and pinch of salt. Let the syrup cool to room temperature, then transfer to a jar or squeeze bottle and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Serve. Pour generously over crushed ice in cups or cones. Syrup keeps refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 105 | Protein: 0g | Fat: 0g | Carbs: 27g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 10mg