Kitchen Appliances

Back in California, I had a dishwasher. The area I lived in did not have any older homes, so dishwashers were in every home, and I thought they were standard across the United States. Well, I was wrong. When I moved here to Iowa, I was baffled and shocked that the apartment I now live in, did not have a dishwasher. I despised rinsing off my dishes before putting them in the machine, now I have to wash dishes? By hand?! I have done it for about 6 months now, and had reached my breaking point. Standing in front of a sink for 1 hour or more every night... is miserable to me. I hate it. I wish to cook more, but never want to because I hate doing the dishes.

On the ride from the train station back in December, the fiance's mother offered her portable dishwasher to us. But, she didn't have a truck, or large enough car to transport it to us. So, it continued to sit, unused, in her house. After complaining about dishes for months, fiance finally rented a truck on Monday, and we brought it home. We were rushed, because UPS was delivering a package that day, and Tyler had to get to work by 2 in the afternoon. But luckily, we were completely done by 9am. We had a dolly to help us bring it up 3 flights of stairs to our apartment, and Tyler did the majority of the work, by literally pulling it up each stair. I just stood under it and pushed it up a little. Just doing that though, my arms were so sore later that night. I need to work out, maybe?



We got it into the kitchen, I loaded it up for the first time, and tried to hook it to the faucet. Problem one arose. The hose isn't long enough, and we have a tiny kitchen. Every time I want to use it, I have to move it to the walkway, blocking the back door, the stove, and the garbage can. And, once I move it, I literally have to climb on top of it to get out of the nook it creates. My chubby body can barely squeeze around it. Then, problem two arose. The faucet has the wrong adapter piece. So, we ran up to the Home Depot and were directed to a $6 piece, that was apparently made just for portable dishwashers, and clothes washers. Ran home, screwed it on, and presto! Dishwasher!

It's a lot of work setting it up to wash dishes, but really, would I prefer 10 minutes to set up an appliance, or over an hour hand washing? Yep, the 10 minute option, please.



I had also ordered a bread machine on Friday, and expected it on Tuesday. It came Monday evening, which was exciting! I immediately got out my bread making ingredients and made my first bread. It was fantastic, I stood in the kitchen and ate almost the whole loaf by myself. Late last night, I also made pumpkin bread, of which I'll be posting the recipe, probably within the next few days. Also, my cute little coffee pot. It's a little 5 cup machine, just perfect for me, since the fiance doesn't like coffee.

Our kitchen is extremely small, and our counter space is limited, but I just keep adding more crap to them. Soon, I don't think there will be any place to cook or move around in. Appliance hoarders, maybe?