My Aunt Neva was a good soul...when I was growing up, she had a saying she repeated with alacrity...a child of the original depression, the one in the 30s...the saying embodied her general approach to life...she would be very pleased to know many people repeat it often...and follow its tenets...now that sustainability has become de rigueur...
The saying goes something like this:
Use it up,
wear it out,
make it do
or do without.
A few weeks ago, I could hear Aunt Neva's soft voice call to me...as sweetly and clearly as if she was in the room...I was about to discard leftover pesto...yes, I am guilty of pushing things to the back of the refrigerator well beyond their stale dates...then throwing them out with the garbage...something I admit to having done with pesto more times than I can count on one hand...
Even though it was still fresh, I was sure I wouldn't be using it all before it went bad...I was considering whether to toss it when I felt Aunt Neva's presence next to me...as if she was right there watching me decide...encouraging me to reconsider...commanding me to seek an alternative...
I poked around and found an ice tray long ago relegated to the back of the cupboard...I was rewarded with a sense of cosmic approval as the last teaspoon of pesto filled, precisely, the only remaining open cube...and I was even happier about that today when I needed to quickly throw together ingredients for a last-minute meal...
Bless you, Aunt Neva...rest peacefully knowing that your guidance continues to be felt...and, when followed, produces right action...even in me...
Heart-shaped servings of pesto...from an ice cube tray stored in the freezer, waiting for the perfect meal...