Life without a dishwasher

Sucks. Big time. I didn't actually think it would be a big deal, probably mostly because I didn't ever really do the dishes, I did the cooking. But if you've ever seen my kitchen, I make a huge mess, every time, with as many dishes as possible. So there has obviously been a transition for me and my cooking, which I liken to my laundry habits when I went to college. Prior to going to college (and doing my own laundry) I would wear a t-shirt for 5 minutes, decide I didn't want to wear it and put it in the laundry. Then once I went to college I would wear jeans for about 3 months before I put them in the laundry. But I was talking about dishes, not laundry.

So you might be wondering, "hey, she doesn't do anything all day, I don't think that she can complain about dishes." And you have a good point, but the frustrating thing is that every time you walk into the kitchen, there are dishes. Whether they are in the sink or in the drying rack (clean), they are always there. And that gets pretty annoying. I even got a dish break last weekend when my mom (thankfully!!!) did all the dishes, and it didn't take 2 days for me to get sick of them again.

Finding an apartment in NY was hard enough (and I already had a million criteria), so I wasn't really allowed to add any more criteria to our search menu, so I was willing to give up the dishwasher, although maybe I should have prioritized having an elevator too. Some day I'll write about the apartment search in NY; every day when Jeff leaves for work he gives me a kiss and says "write about the apartment search today." One day he'll get his wish, but not today.

So I'm always on a search for recipes that are: quick, use few dishes and can be eaten on one plate/bowl. I've taken to using foil when I roast things so I don't have to wash the pan (and can recycle the used foil, I think I can at least). And I definitely don't wash strainers every time I drain pasta (really, how dirty do you think they get? and I haven't gotten sick yet). I'm curious to see what happens when I'm actually working, but I think our little NY kitchen will become more of a typical NY kitchen, one that doesn't see much action.

But for now, I'll keep up my dish routine, and I'll keep hating it. As for recipes, the best ones are really stews and chili's and things which really are one pot meals, that also can be eaten in one dish as well. But everyone knows those. A technique that I've really taken too is the pan saute with the gravy/sauce made in the same pan. It's great - take your meat of choice (chicken, turkey, whatever), dust it with flour (which will help thicken the sauce later) and saute the meat in a pan. When it's almost done, take the meat out and wrap it up in some foil (don't use another plate), add some garlic, onions, peppers, chilis, whatever, to the pan. Add a little broth or wine and cook it all together, reduce it a bit and then add whatever else from your fridge (herbs, other vegetables, beans, dried fruit). Last night I added some spinach and some heavy cream, but fresh tomatoes and basil is great too. Then you just add the meat back into the sauce and let everything cook together a bit longer until the meat is done. You can round out the meal with some roasted veggies (cooked on foil, of course), like sweet potatoes or asparagus, two of our favorites. It's easy, it's quick, and there aren't very many dishes to clean!