PopSugar

Are You More Likely to Hand Wash Dishes?

CasaSugar — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:00:40 -0700

While we do have a dishwasher, I find that I am a much better dishwasher than it is. Plus, I hate waiting until the dishwasher is full to run a load. There's something that bothers me about knowing that the dishwasher is half full of dirty dishes. Call me crazy, but I actually enjoy doing dishes by hand. What about you?

Do You Own Fashionable Servingware?

partysugar — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:00:43 -0700

Twinsies Gaia & Gino Are Twice as Fashionable Food Options

PetSugar — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:25:01 -0700

Way back when, I confessed that North's two dishes cost more than my entire collection of flatware. I remember feeling pretty remorseful about my choice, but the stainless steel has lived up to that investment nearly seven years later! After spotting these sleek twosomes, I'm not feeling guilty but a bit jealous since this is a splurge-worthy set if I've ever seen one. Ringing in at $90, twins Gaia & Gino come in glossy melamine and seven color choices to be set up together . . . or separately. The design's also practical – with a built-in handle for filling and refilling – so no sloshing here! Could you see this mod design adding style to your household?

Bare Bones: Aqua Bol

PetSugar — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:00:05 -0700

With temps still reaching the 70s in SF lately, North and I have been taking advantage of the weather, and going for nice long walks on the weekends. You can pretty much bet that two out of three times, I'll forget to grab his pop-up bowl from my car, leaving me to buy a sports cap bottle in the nearest convenience store and play drinking fountain with it as he laps water mid-air. Although there's nothing wrong with this practice, I've found a solution I will never run out of the house without (unless I forget my wallet . . . and then we're both in trouble): The Aqua Bol ($6).

This simple, yet stylish water bowl comes in three colors, and folds up to the size of a credit card so you can stick it in your wallet when you need it. No more using your hands! Although I'm sure it's the germaphobe in me talking, it feels a little unsanitary for North to drink from my grubby hands after petting other dogs during a walk in the park, and handling his dirty fetching ball. I know I wouldn't want to drink from those hands, so why should he? Either way, this is a genius solution that had me saying, "Why didn't anyone think of this sooner?"

Etsy Find: Do the Dishes Tea Towel

CasaSugar — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 04:30:48 -0700

Sometimes we all just need a straight talkin' to. That's especially true when the pots and pans are piling up. So beyond a bit of Palmolive and some elbow grease, perhaps the answer is the Show Pony Do the Dishes Tea Towel ($20), a fair trade organic cotton towel with the kitchen commandment spelled out in screen printed stacks of dirty plates. Perhaps you're a gal who goes for the three-packs of striped dish towels from the grocery store, so this one may not be for you. But I love me some tea towels, and have an ever-growing collection, so you can bet your bottom dollar that this Show Pony piece will show up in my kitchen.

La Table: Spoiled Sweet or Spoiled Rotten?

PetSugar — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:30:59 -0700

Eating off the ground . . . how barbaric! Well, your precious pets no longer have to put their noses (so close) to the floor as these ceramic dishes come with their very own wood dining
"La Table," $110 for the set. I'm betting this modern design has a place in someone's sleek home . . . but is it you?

Let's Dish: What Family Recipe Did You Love to Eat as a Kid?

YumSugar — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:45:04 -0700

Growing up, there were a few dishes that my dad cooked, and one of them was an item that my mother taught him to make: almond tofu. In retrospect, the quasi-traditional Chinese dessert, which actually contains no tofu, sounds like it came right out of a 1970s recipe book, as it was simply canned fruit syrup, cubes of almond-flavored gelatin, and pieces of canned peaches, pears, and - my favorite - cherries. But back then, whenever Dad made that dish, my heart (and stomach) would do a little dance inside.

As an adult, I crave my father's barbecue: I make a special request for it every time I fly home. (I suppose canned fruit no longer makes my stomach flitter the way it once did.) What special dish requests do you make of your family? Growing up, was there a certain thing that you were always excited to eat?

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Casa Verde: Efficient Dishwashing by Hand

CasaSugar — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:00:42 -0700

I've told you before that using an energy-efficient dishwasher is the best way to go when it comes to getting your dishes clean, but let's be realistic . . . we don't all have one and some of us just can't afford to buy one at the moment. There are some ways you can increase your efficiency at washing dishes by hand so you don't use more than a couple gallons of water, though. To begin, put a stopper in your drain (not just the strainer). The easiest way to waste water is to leave the faucet running down the drain, so plugging the drains will create a pool of water you can use to soak your dishes. And even if the water is dirty, you can still use it on your thirsty plants. If you have a double sink, wash your dishes in one section filled with a couple gallons of water and then use the other one with hot water for rinsing. If you have a single sink, use some sort of basin or bucket for rinsing your dishes with hot water, so the dishes you're rinsing reuse the same water. But, before you wash, wait until all of your dishes have piled up; it conserves water to wash as many dishes as possible at once.
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Who Does the Dishes?

CasaSugar — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:00:29 -0700

The general rule in my house is that whoever cooks gets to sit out when it comes time to do the dishes. But it often ends up being a shared task. Who does the dishes in your house?Source

Casa Quickie: Easier Egg Cleanup

CasaSugar — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:00:16 -0700

I like eggs. I like scrambled eggs and fried eggs and poached eggs and hard-boiled eggs and deviled eggs. Omelettes and French toast are friends of mine. I'll eat eggs in any style. I like them, Sam-I-am! But, I do not like dried eggs on dishes! Peeling dried eggs off of my spatula is an unpleasant Saturday morning routine. Fortunately, I learned to save myself a little headache by washing my dishes used for cooking and eating eggs (whatever style egg it may be!) with cold water. Hot water, I now realize, just cooks dried egg (and milk) further onto dishes and cooking utensils. Cold water still requires a little elbow grease, but that's nothing my guns can't handle.