Doing the Dishes

I was thinking. How many hours do I spend doing the dishes each month? Even if it's only 20 minutes a day, that's still easily ten hours a month. I'm sure it's more than that. Tracking it accurately over a month or so would be interesting and a challenge in itself.

The easy option out would be to buy a dishwasher. Unfortunately, there isn't really a good place for it in my current apartment. The only place with the necessary space and water outlets is the bathroom. It might be unconventional, but I was seriously considering it. In the end, however, I decided against it as it would not be very convenient. An astiankuivauskaappi, a cabinet with a built-in drying rack normally placed over the sink, would solve at least the drying problem. Though I haven't seen one outside of Finland. I wonder why they aren't in more homes without a dishwasher.

Ultimately, if you enjoy cooking, there's no getting around it. However, some things can help to mitigate it. Start with a clean kitchen to avoid making more mess than necessary. Then, cut things in an order that makes sense (e.g. vegetables first, then meat), see if bowls can safely be reused (e.g. if it had chopped carrots in it before, it can also hold peppers) and clean and reset your station, which is likely the whole kitchen, between major steps. Having lots of dish towels that can be used for everything also makes life in the kitchen easier. While it might not be the glamorous part of cooking, it is always there, so you might as well make it a bit more enjoyable.