A well-deserved tribute, and a cherished family recipe

Since I started this blog, there is one person I continually think to write about because as the most frugal person I've ever known, and a talented home maker, it turns out we have a lot of similar interests. I've mentioned Mere, my grandmother, a few times here and here, and it is with bittersweet feeling that I say she died today. At 87, she was ready to go, but it doesn't make it any less hard to imagine living my life without her. She has been an anchor in our family as long as I've been around. There is much that we differed on in life choices and in overall outlook, but I always found her to be real, honest, and completely unlike anyone else in my life. She refreshed me the way an icy bath would, not altogether pleasant, but very stimulating.

I've been rummaging around in my storehouse of memories today and realizing just how much she imparted to me during her life. She introduced me to the smell and taste of freshly baked bread. And homemade jam--apricot with or without pineapple flecks being her favorite. She used to spin a lazy susan in her kitchen and let me and my sister pick a treat from one of the famously stale candies she kept in random, assorted jars with screw lids. I picked my first raspberry and carrot on her watch. And ate my first prune. (Another item on the lazy susan!) She taught me a nugget of wisdom about cleaning and staying organized that I think of often when my house is in shambles: R.U.R. Reach. Use. Replace. She never wasted something useful and always put things like old yogurt and cottage cheese containers to good use. I'm pretty sure she never bought a ziploc bag, opting instead for her homespun version which consisted of a left over produce plastic bag from the grocery store secured either with a bread bag twist tie or a rubber band from the newspaper. I really don't think I ever left one of our visits without holding one of these contraptions full of coupons, a handful of fruit she'll "never eat" , a few loose hot dogs, a collection of odd medicine cabinet items, or some of her famous Matheson sugar cookies. She valued fairness and always sent every person in the family a card with the same increment of birthday money: $15. She loved flowers and spring time and working the soil. She liked taking a dip in a swimming pool. And cashews. She had lovely hazel eyes. She cleaned and cooked and took keeping her home very seriously, something I admire so much in these modern times. Right up until the end she was fastidious about her house and kept herself busy and active with projects like washing bucketfuls of rocks from her window wells (not kidding you), or hosing off the garage floor, or vacuuming the leaves that fell onto her patio. She was task oriented and remarkably spry and full of energy, even at 87.

What does one do when someone close to our heart dies? I was a little lost today when I returned home from the hospital. I tried to lay down and rest but my mind got the better of me. Before I knew it, I was up organizing my pantry. And then mopping my floors and scrubbing the tub. I washed every pan in the sink and then I wiped the cabinet fronts. It was a little insane, but then again, it was also the perfect tribute to a woman who was never idle and took great pride in her home and her duties there.

Rest in Peace, Mere. I will miss you dearly.

winter cleaning

i just returned from a little trip with my family. it was a great change of scenery for me and the kids and a hit of much needed sunshine. we've had endless grey days this winter and it felt positively shocking to have the sun on my skin and sand in my toes.

i've said this before, but there is nothing like going somewhere (especially with little kids in tow) to make you appreciate going nowhere. it feels so nice and relaxing to be back at home. i've been puttering all day today; looking through closets and doing some much needed straightening and purging. i have been on a big kick to eliminate all the under utilized things that roost. i always think i've already done this and yet i keep finding ways to refine and pare down in every room of the house. it must be mood or bank balance related; sometimes i can let go and sometimes i can't!

we live in a culture where we all have things we keep but never use. plenty of storage is one of the top attributes in a home these days, for heaven's sake. we are well beyond the bare necessities and far into multiples, and bedecking and bedazzling, and cherries on top. going to the thrift store is amazing on so many levels. there is the whole generosity of spirit part--wow, people gave all these things up to those in need. but there is also a part that is pretty freaky to consider. if all these things are here because someone didn't need them anymore, it probably means they have plenty of things to spare. and it also means there is just that much stuff out there in the world that things can literally be homeless, without an owner. our world is overflowing with goods as far as i can tell. bins and piles and aisles and pallets, truck trailers, and shipping containers...it's endless. we're swimming in a sea of items these days and it has become no small task just to keep our literal things managed.

i've started asking myself some pretty strict questions when i'm sorting through drawers or closets. when is the last time i used/wore/admired/loved this? it has been five years, will i truly ever patch this moth hole in this sweater? in reality, will i ever bake a bunny shaped cake? do i really need so many vases? sentimental stuff is clearly the hardest to part with. i'm especially prone to cling when it comes to clothes. they remind me of different eras and choices of my life and i find it really hard to admit that i'm past it or that i simply could never squeeze back into it! when i really assess my stuff and force myself to admit that i don't need it for reasons xyz, i'm almost always relieved. and it even feels good. i finally got wise and started a few bins for donations to good will, things to sell, and things to pass along to friends. it makes the purging and sorting feel organized and less about piles that sit and waste away and get forgotten once again. and this way if i don't get around to going to good will or sending clothes off to my sister's little girl right away, i know the exact spot to go to when i'm ready to tackle the errand.

the "things to sell" category may take some people by surprise, but i am a big utilizer of websites like craigslist, ebay, and our local Utah KSL classifieds. sure i could send everything to good will and still feel really good about it, but, for me, selling some of the "good stuff" i no longer want makes me feel like i'm really putting a value on what i have. and i like that; it means i respect the attainment and the disposal and that means something to me. and of course earning back a little cash from the things we've previously bought is nice too. but my favorite part is that, in general, the person who responds to my ad is really looking for that particular item so i know it will go to good use.

if you are interested in taking your stuff management to the next level, i think the site unclutterer has a lot of valuable tidbits and advice.

today i kept thinking i was onto something....why doesn't everyone say winter cleaning instead of spring cleaning? who wants to stay inside and clean and organize when its blue and dazzling out? in my book this is the perfect realm of activity for these cold, grey days!

The best medicine

I've felt the need for a little boost this weekend. I've been feeling a little off, a little sick, a little bit tired of my own self. I tried to take Gretchen Rubin's advice to "act the way, you want to feel", but it wasn't resonating. Instead, the best medicine I found was making a gorgeous chicken pot pie, watching the entire 5 hour BBC version of Pride and Prejudice last night, and letting myself be inspired by random tidbits from the modern day oracle-the web.

There are so many people out there in the world making things a little bit brighter. And on the days when I don't feel I'm doing anything of that sort in my own little realm, it is nice to be able to view things from someone elses' eyes. I freaking loved this video project, The Beckoning of Lovely (great name too), by the children's author Amy Krouse Rosenthal. (Her books, incidentally, are fabulous and get my kids giggling every time.) Click the above link and watch for 7 minutes and get all choked up and awed just like I did.

I also was very happy to discover thankfulfor.com, a constantly streaming, communal list of what people feel grateful for. It is addictive to read. People list things big and small, and all of them make me feel happier. I signed up and post something each day too. It's a good reminder that even when grey skies loom and whines are never far from earshot, there are things to smile about.

Brown baggin' it...

I am grateful that little things still have the power to impress me. I wanted to share with you one of those amazing little things that is dumb simple, but may even be able to change your life for the better. My kids have a love affair with popcorn. Cleo is not really a great eater of anything not covered in butter or salt, so, by those parameters, popcorn is pretty much manna from heaven to her. The kid can put away a large bucket of popcorn at the theater and still find time to bat your hand away if she thinks you are taking an inappropriate share. Flynn seems to be following her lead and popcorn is one of the most requested snacks and treats in our house. I shuddered when I first heard the awful stories about people going to the emergency room with mysterious breathing problems only to find out that the culprit was their daily bag of microwave popcorn laden with chemicals and fats that stick to lung lining and other precious innards. Yuck! After that, I switched to the healthy Newmans, 0 trans fat variety, but it is expensive and made Cleo root around to find the "buttery, yellow" ones which equalled a lot of waste and a big mess.

Enter my brother in law Brooks telling me offhandedly that you can pop raw kernels in your microwave in a simple brown paper bag! What? Maybe I'm late to the show on this, but I'd never heard of it. I looked online and found loads of recipes and instructions. And here I am months later ready to tell you....stop buying chemical laden, expensive, packaged popcorn and pop your own! No air popper or other contraption required. All I do is scoop 1/4 c. raw kernels into a regular brown paper sack, fold the top a few times and set it to pop. In my microwave, my "popcorn" button cooks it just right at about 2:00. Once it is done, I put it into a bowl and pour a couple tablespoons melted unsalted butter and some sprinklings of kosher salt. It is delicious and tastes so much better than the store variety. If you want to go even more upscale, this recipe from Food Network's Alton Brown is delicious too. The olive oil really changes the flavor.

And while I'm telling tales of culinary revolution, another little joy we've discovered at our house is juicing oranges. Years ago for Christmas my in-laws gave us a small juicer designed for citrus only. It was one of the best gifts I've ever received! 10 years later and it's still in great condition. Lately, I've been filling a big basket of navel oranges and placing it on the counter. Every few days the kids have a heyday juicing a big pile. It is a great project to keep their little hands busy. They can last 30 minutes doing this which is seriously amazing in my book. (The towers of halved oranges turn out to be pretty fun stacking toys and provide counting practice too!) Plus the juicing infuses my kitchen with the smell of a much warmer clime, something I'm really appreciating at this point in a snowy, cold winter, and it gets us all a good dose of healthy vitamin c.

Like I said, little things.... but more and more I find that is what the joys of life really are about: simple pleasures and new discoveries.