Dishes

[Prairie Rose]

Before I started working in a kitchen, I didn't mind washing dishes. When I actually cook at home, dishes are no big deal, because I wash as I go. When I get home and have to clean up after everyone else....into the dishwasher they go! I have had good dishwashers and bad ones...little tiny ones that could barely wash a meal's worth, to big commercial ones with butcher block countertops that had to be rolled to the sink and would hold every dish in our house.

I think dishes get cleaner when washed by hand, plus they last longer and don't get chipped and worn nearly as much, and it is a very relaxing thing, to put a little music on after dinner and stand at the sink. I also enjoy being able to take five minutes with a machine and just hit start and walk away, too.

 

[seedcorn]

What I’ve never understood is, you have to wash them before putting them into dish washer. Somwhere is the time savings?

 

[flowerbug]

Doing dishes seems to be a bone of contention in a lot of homes. When the kids were growing up they had to take turns....after all, they were the ones dirtying all the dishes. When I was growing up~9 kids, mind you~dishes were also a chore that was a big deal and much hated. Mom was the only one who never seemed to mind doing them.

Then we moved off grid when I was 10 and all water was carried from a distant spring and heated on a wood cookstove for doing of the dishes. By that time the chore was mine and my next older sister, who managed to get out of it a lot. Carrying water, heating water, etc. gives you a wonderful appreciation for running hot water....so now chores like dishes, laundry, cleaning and such are no big deal. No matter how many dishes need washed, I still love the fact that I can get hot water from a faucet as I'm standing inside a nice, warm house.

Makes a huge difference in one's perspective.

If we know that we are going to have a lot of dishes to wash~family get together, etc.~we just keep a sink full of water and wash them as they come to the counter so they don't mount up. We've never had a dishwasher, nor would I trust one to get things clean.....I've seen the nasty dishes that supposedly have already been washed in dishwashers. Ick. No thanks.

I can't really say I mind doing dishes at all. I put on something good to listen to and they are done in a jiffy.

there's some pretty decent dish washers these days, but i still don't like them. i much prefer doing everything by hand.

when we have a lot of people over (a few times a year) i can usually do them all in less than an hour. i have a pretty good system down. just stay outta my way.

i'm glad i never had to haul water or heat it up on a stove, but i still appreciated having a home, etc. i know i whined some as any kid would but i was in the kitchen a lot - i thought it was normal and it went pretty well with gardening and learning how to put things up.

 

[Beekissed]

What I’ve never understood is, you have to wash them before putting them into dish washer. Somwhere is the time savings?

Exactly. Where is the sense in all of that? If you have to wash a dish, just wash it good and be done with it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Makes a huge difference in one's perspective.

Sure does Bee. I can appreciate your story though mine was different. We had an electric stove to heat the water. Most of our water came from a cistern on the porch but Mom really liked the cleaner water from the hand-dug well at the foot of the hill to wash clothes in a wringer-washer on the porch. We used coal for heat, you can probably appreciate why she did not like the cistern water for clothes. Of course you know who got to carry that wash water if I wasn't in school on wash day.

We raised our boys in the city. It can be challenging to find age-appropriate chores for kids. I remember how much of a big deal my wife made out of them just setting the table or loading the dishwasher, oh that was so much help. They did learn how to cut grass and clean bathrooms, you do what you can. I would have felt I had failed as a parent if the boys didn't learn how to take the trash out properly. If we'd have had a girl she would have learned too.

 

[Carol Dee]

When my dishwasher stopped working maybe 10 years , I had it removed and put shelving under that cabinet for the big heavy things like the canner, electric roaster etc... We try to wash as we go. Who ever cooks the other does dishes. There are usually dishes in the drain side but try not to leave item soaking for long.

 

[flowerbug]

What I’ve never understood is, you have to wash them before putting them into dish washer. Somwhere is the time savings?

for older dishwashers that was needed, the more recent ones really don't care that much. you do, however, need to know how to load it properly.

like any other kitchen gadget they may need some maintenance.

the one we had when i was a kid was not all that useful and eventually we got rid of it as cupboard space was much more useful.

 

[flowerbug]

When my dishwasher stopped working maybe 10 years , I had it removed and put shelving under that cabinet for the big heavy things like the canner, electric roaster etc... We try to wash as we go. Who ever cooks the other does dishes. There are usually dishes in the drain side but try not to leave item soaking for long.

we don't wash dishes all day, but we do put them in the sink and run some water into them and a few drops of soap - most days it's not that much, they can soak like that until we get around to doing them. it just depends upon how i feel if do them midday or not. we are on completely different schedules here. if i have to run the water to get it hot then i will usually do them.

we rarely cook in a pan so it isn't like we have a greasy pan sitting around or things like that. we warm up soups or whatever in the microwave if we want something hot as we'll keep a big bowl in the fridge or pull something from the freezer. for the two of us a quart jar works for a good enough portion. most evenings we have salad anyways.

 

[Beekissed]

It can be challenging to find age-appropriate chores for kids. I remember how much of a big deal my wife made out of them just setting the table or loading the dishwasher, oh that was so much help. They did learn how to cut grass and clean bathrooms, you do what you can. I would have felt I had failed as a parent if the boys didn't learn how to take the trash out properly. If we'd have had a girl she would have learned too.

Yeah....my boys were raised in a much easier setting also. They had to do the usual mowing, weedeating, carrying in wood and such, but in the way of daily work like clearing brush, slopping hogs, carrying water, etc. they didn't have much at my house but more so at their grandparent's home, so a person has to fill in where they can. So, the boys took turns on dishes, cooking, laundry(had to do their own), and making bread.....that chore came down to whoever ate the most bread that week.

A kid needs work to do.....what else would they be doing with their time? Eating, sleeping, getting into trouble, eating, more eating, then more sleeping. You can tell I raised all boys, huh?

 

[Beekissed]

When my dishwasher stopped working maybe 10 years , I had it removed and put shelving under that cabinet for the big heavy things like the canner, electric roaster etc... We try to wash as we go. Who ever cooks the other does dishes. There are usually dishes in the drain side but try not to leave item soaking for long.

That's generally how we do it too....Mom and I make a good partnership on such things. Since I do most of the cooking, canning, baking now, she usually does the dishes. Sometimes we don't generate enough dishes to warrant keeping the water in the sink all the time and sometimes we do, but generally neither of us like dishes sitting around too long.