Jun 30, 2002 4 min read

By Jennifer Harr Herald-Standard

I want to say something for which I am going to apologize to my mother in advance: I hate to clean.

To clarify even further, I specifically hate to do dishes – even though we have a dishwasher.

I suspect if my husband, Brian, didn’t routinely load and unload the contraption, we’d be eating directly out of the pots with our hands.

Oh, I do on occasion have to load it, but it leads to an inevitable fight. According to my husband, there is a right way and a wrong way to load in the dishes. I do it completely the wrong way. And I don’t always immediately put the clean dishes away, which further aggravates him.

I would just rather not do it at all.

Even when I was in grade school, I avoided dish duty at my parents’ home in pretty much any way possible. They didn’t and still don’t have a dish washer, so I was the designated dryer – a chore I came to loathe.

I had a plan that worked for quite some time: eat quickly and run for the piano.

My parents put me in lessons when I was in second grade. I wasn’t much for practicing unless it was a song that I knew and liked – except at dish drying time. I perfected many a song while avoiding dish duty, and my parents really didn’t argue because they didn’t have to nag me to practice.

Unfortunately, as with all good things, that arrangement came to an end when my assigned songs got more difficult and I got too frustrated to practice them. My parents kept hearing the same songs over and over and caught on that I was only practicing to avoid my daughterly duty of dish drying.

While the piano might have drowned out their requests for help, they started walking over and tapping me on the shoulder.

I tried other things, but after the piano charade, nothing really worked.

Looking back, I realize that they probably knew what I was doing all along.

So, just how does this fit into cooking, you ask?

As I’ve mentioned before, I rarely measure. My reason is simple: fewer dishes.

I recently made steak salad and twice baked potatoes and dirtied all of five cooking implements in preparation because I didn’t drag out measuring cups or spoons to precisely calculate how much of an ingredient I used. I was so proud.

Even though Brian says he doesn’t mind setting the dish washer, I want to make sure that he doesn’t get the desire to start taking piano lessons any time soon.

If you have any questions, comments or recipe column suggestions, please write to me at the Herald-Standard c/o Jennifer Harr, 8-18 E. Church St., Uniontown, Pa., 15401. You may also e-mail: jharr@heraldstandard.com.

SIMPLE STEAK

CAESAR SALAD

1 pound London Broil, flank or round steak

1 bag Caesar salad mix, dressing packet included

1 package of peppercorn marinade or marinade of your choice (e.g. Italian or Greek bottled dressings)

Poke holes in both sides of the steak with a fork. Pour the marinade in a bag and then put the steak in. Seal the bag up, making sure to get out as much air as possible. Keep the steak out at room temperature for about 30 minutes, making certain to flip it several times.

Bake the steak at about 425 degrees to desired doneness. The thicker the cut, the longer baking time required.

When the steak is done, take it out and let it rest about 10 minutes. Cut it into strips against the grain and put over top of the Caesar salad to serve. While the steak is resting it’s the perfect time to stick in your …

QUICK TWICE-BAKED

POTATOES

4 large potatoes, whatever kind you prefer

4 tablespoons butter

1 handful of shredded Mozzarella cheese

1 handful of shredded Cheddar cheese (I also like Muenster)

3 spoonfuls of sour cream

3 garden onions, use both onion part and a small portion of the green, finely chopped

Milk to taste

Salt and pepper

Poke potatoes with a fork and microwave until done and soft. Cut the taters in half, and, using a spoon, scoop out the flesh, leaving a little in to cushion the skin.

To the softened potato flesh, add all remaining ingredients and mash. They should resemble mashed potatoes. Refill the skins and bake them for 10-15 minutes in a 425-degree oven.

If you are a stickler for crispy shells, you can bake the potatoes in the oven instead of microwaving them for the initial baking. The catch is that it takes about an hour to bake them in the oven.

Jennifer Harr is a staff writer at the Herald-Standard.