I’ve had it with that dishwasher.
Not the guy at Nye’s, even if he does pretend not to know
English for “fork” and laughs at my attempt to remember the Spanish for
it.
I refer to that machine wedged under my kitchen counter. The one with the helpful demeanor.
I’ve never had a dishwasher before.
“You should use it,” Kurt says. “It’s like a machine. That washes your dishes.”
So I did. You might
not know it to look at me, but I’m pretty amenable. You want me to use the dishwasher? Sure.
Why not.
But the dishwasher, she mocks me.
‘Baked on,’ I think to myself, pulling a pan from the
rack. ‘Sparkling, but encrusted.’
I scrape. I rinse. I do everything but actually wash them before
I have them washed.
And yet, every now and then, there it is: the pot in which I had mashed the potatoes,
the fork I had neglected to massage clean.
I can get this kind of abuse anywhere.
So I’ve returned to the sink. It’s winter here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes,
and a basin of hot water has its appeal.
I stare out the window at the house next door and think about spring, think
about my Grandma’s hands in the sudsy water, think about having discovered that
yogurt and kiwi turns into a bitter, inedible mess overnight.
Every day, people.
Every day is a learning experience.
31 comments:
I do the same thing. I clean the dishes so well prior to putting them into the dishwasher that it's really not worth the water and electricity to turn the thing on.
I'm afraid I'm in love with my dishwasher.
But then, I hate any form of housework. I don't care if it's good for my eternal soul.
If I could afford a housekeeper, maid and gardener, I would have them!
I hear you. I used to be the only dishwasher in my house. I'd stare at the inverted face of a clown in my serving spoons during the period when I went through divorce years ago. My tears would pop sudsy dishwater bubbles.
My mom always put them in clean. She claimed the dishwasher was only to sanitize. I do the same, just incase she's watching.
I haven't met your dishwasher, but my initial opinion is that it sucks. Our dishwasher cleans everything no matter how much gunk we leave on things (except peanut butter; for some reason, peanut butter will stubbornly cling to a knife even when blasted by hot water and dishwashing detergent.)
I've had a dishwasher in most of the homes we've had, including the Krewe when they lived at home, by the by. ;) This house HAS a dishwasher that no longer functions and the MITM has decided that we should wait until we do the kitchen remodel. (2016 please!) Anyway, all of this to say, we alternate who gets to do the dishes and after a dinner party (which only happen when he's home, I might add) we do the clean up together. So, I've already picked out the dishwasher I want and it will be mine! xoxoxox
Hari Om
With ya gal... I'sa dishwasher from childhood. Worried the heck out of mother with my love of the sink and suds...what to say? I love the satisfaction of knowing, next time I put a fork to mouth, who the dishwasher was and how thorough they were... YAM xx
Suldog is right. Not every dishwasher makes more work and gives out such abuse. Still there is a lot to be said for hand washed dishes and the super clean hands that also result.
I miss my dishwasher... mine was really good... I didn't have to rinse even... now it's broke, boo hoo... I wouldn't mind if it was just my own dishes... xox
I swear--ONLY Pearl could write with such wit about washing dishes.
I think your dishwasher and my dishwasher are cousins. Or perhaps siblings from an incestuous relationship...
I've heard it said that gunk left on the dishes after going through the dishwasher doesn't matter because it's "sanitized gunk". I still prefer to rewash those ones.
What program/buttons are you using? If you have an option like Turbo Wash or similar, give that a try before you give up. And there are some foods that don't like hot water whether it's in a dishwasher or in a sink - eggs, cheese, peanut butter. I don't understand the peanut butter one, but somehow that doesn't keep it from happening.
Signed,
Your Fellow Dishwasher Newbie
Oh, and potatoes and rice :) Anything gluey.
Cripes, now I'm thinking our brand new dishwasher is a dud, too.
When I married I was given a third generation Hoover canister vacuum. I mean the pre WWII job, huge silver torpedo. I bought a dishwasher. When the dishwasher died I was about to buy a new vacuum. No contest. A new dishwasher won.
Washing dishes is the only way I can warm my hands this time of year. I might think about installing a dishwasher in the spring.
I agree that there can be times when washing dishes by hand can be a soothing almost Zen like experience .. but not often.
I have a super duper all stainless steel Bosch dishwasher that was on sale CHEEEEAP because it was smaller than normal ..which just happened to be the size I needed. I love my dishwasher :)
I am (mostly) our dishwasher. Despite the mechanical one which lurks under the sink. I am quicker (quite a bit) and more thorough.
We've never had a dishwashing machine. It was a tough choice, kids or a dishwasher --who could afford both? We could afford one now, I suppose, but we didn't think that far ahead. Oh, the word is tenedor.
Mom used to wash the dishes before she put them in the dishwasher to 'sanitize' them. Me...I just throw them in willy nilly....most times it comes out fine.
When I was growing up we had a broken dishwasher that my mom refused to have fixed (this was back in the days when it was cheaper to fix rather than replace; unlike today) - so we were the dishwashers.
Since I've left home, I've always had a dishwasher and love it (except this one that came with this rental) - when you have a husband that cooks as much as mine and makes HUGE messes, it's a necessity really.
Sometimes the scraping and rinsing need to be preceded by a good long soak, to soften and loosen all the baked on bits.
I'd love a dishwashing machine, but like you said a sink full of hot water has its merits too.
Seems silly washing dishes to put in a machine that dirties them. Just sayin'...Hug B
Dishwashers: Faye says she washes the dishes but it is really the machine... Since it is only 7 years old (maybe 8, it is one of those which cleans even crudded up plates and utensils. I used to hand-wash and understood that Zen feeling one gets but now it's load and forget... wish it was quieter, though.
Baking anything with cheese is asking for trouble, no matter who has to do the washing, imo.
Generally speaking, when the dishes come back to the kitchen from the dining room table, they get scrapped and rinsed then put in the dishwasher. At the end of the evening, when there will be no last minute snacks or glasses to wash, the dishwasher is turned on and that is that.
I wake up to dishes that sparkle and want to go into their cupboards.
Sometimes an older dishwasher will need a cleaning out of its parts that we cannot see.. as happens to many humans also.
Then you can maybe do that or hire a dishwasher man to do it.
Sometimes it is easier to just spend the money and let something with the right tools who knows what a thingamajiggy is ..
love, C
Our dishwasher (hereinafter called 'washdisher' because we Tolleys are weird) does everything except egg and peanut butter. What's with that . . .?
Every day? Good, because a day in which one doesn't learn something is a wasted day.
I've lived in places both with and without a dishwasher. If I have one available, I do use it, but I rinse them first, so I'm probably just wasting hot water and electricity. They get done a lot faster when I do them all by hand, and it is a lot quieter too.
SWMBO tells me I don't have to wash the dishes by hand before putting them in the dishwasher. But . .
Probably wasn't intended, but the title is giving me a Lesley Gore earworm!
Probably wasn't your intent, but the title gave me a "Lesley Gore" earworm.
Never had a dishwasher except for the two attached to my wrist. Just seems like more work, and no nice warm soapy water to play in.
Did I hear right, 33 below up there? Could not be.
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