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.