Doing the dishes

Sometimes I secretly wish for a dish fairy to come and clean up after a meal. No, it's obviously never happened, but heck, what's the harm in wishing? Recently I found a little extra boost for this chore...Mrs. Meyers cleaning products, especially in her Geranium and Basil scents.

Not only are they all natural and clean like the dickens, they smell so good. No, not like that manufacturered apple smell. Like a candle...while you are doing the dishes!


Case and point. On Monday night, Mr. Big and I made a big bowl of popping-hot spicy chili. Being lazy (shocker I know), I left the dirty pan in the sink to soak with some of her Geranium scented dish soap. This isn't going to be a good reflection on me, but three days later I finally dumped the water (and other stuff) out to clean the dish. It still smelled good! Like really good.

Another time, I had a tradesperson call me back two days after finishing our job. Want to get paid? Nope. Forgot something at the house? Nope. He wanted to know what type of hand soap we had by our sink because it smelled so good. A tradesman!


Check your grocery shelves for this good stuff. There is an entire line of household products worth taking for a whirl. Let me know what scents you like and what you think!

Inspiration vs reality: driveway pavers

Throughout our build, I was set on taupe and grey pavers for our driveway. No questions, don't fight it, this was certain. Right. The day that we were scheduled to place our order, I came across this image on the Hanson Hardscape website.


The deep brick color surrounded by green grass was so fresh (to me at least). Gorgeous. With Mr. Big shaking his head in the background, I changed my mind completely and we changed our order completely. I secretly hoped that I wouldn't regret this impulse.

After living with the finished product for a year, we're both really pleased with the last minute change. We went with the Hanson Abbey Road pavers, which combines larger and smaller pavers. It provides an imperfect, but interesting pattern.


Our workers were cursing us throughout the project (talk about a puzzle...), but we ended up with a driveway that we really like. And thank goodness, the brick red color did exactly what we were hoping for.


So there you have it, another "inspiration vs. reality" summary. I've been slow to post them all, but they will begin making their way here once again. And if anyone out there is looking for pavers, we certainly wouldn't hesitate recommending Hanson.

Product review: Miele steam oven

Is it possible to live without a microwave? We weren't sure. But when we were trying to decide between our old faithful and a steam oven, we were intrigued by the health benefits of cooking with steam. As this is a product review on the steam oven, I suppose you can guess which option we chose.


Pros:

• Perfect steamed vegetables. Really perfect. We eat more broccoli and asparagus now that we live with this cool cat.
• Maintains original flavors when reheating left overs. It's virtually the same as the original day you cooked it.
  
• The use of steam must be healthier than microwaves. Listen, I'm no expert and don't know all the nitty gritty details, but it has to be.
  
• It's easy to use. The display walks you through everything. Fill the water tank and you're off to the races.
• Pretty much everything can be cooked in it. Other than popcorn (boo hoo), this puppy can take care of virtually any dish.
  

Cons:

• Takes a while to heat up before it starts cooking. We didn't expect it to be quite as long as it is. Now that our expectations are adjusted, it's no biggie. It's definitely a transition from a microwave.
• Need to look closely at your settings. I've had a few times where the broccoli has come out very overdone. Once I experimented with different vegetables and dishes, it has become clear. But there was a tad of learning necessary at the start.
• No popcorn
  

It was a bit of an adjustment, but we would go this route again. A year after getting it installed, we've learned to s-l-o-w d-o-w-n our cooking expectations a bit. In our rush, rush, rush society, it's been a good thing.

Hope this might be helpful to someone going through similar dilemmas at the planning stage!

Product review: Miele dishwasher

Is there anyone out there that enjoys unloading their dishwasher? No? That's what I figured. A year after living with our new Miele dishwasher, it's no longer fair to hold out the secret. Miele makes it much more bearable.

The first 2-3 times I loaded up our new dishwasher, I was cursing the fact that we had to individually place each piece of cutlery into the separate cutlery tray (as opposed to my usual toss into a basket). A read through the instruction manual recommended that you place similar pieces together. Aaahhh!


Since that fortunate day (fortunate that I read the manual at all), I no longer dread unloading the dishwasher. Plates and cups fly into the cupboard and my cutlery takes two swift seconds. Presto...on to better things!

If you are in the market for a new dishwasher, this is a really good option (plus the fact that it's unbelievably quiet...we can't even tell when it's on). Don't worry, I still don't enjoy unloading the dishwasher. But then again, I don't dread it...which is a step in the right direction.