3mo ago

Just the essentials

134 comments

I've got 2 of everything just in case. Dirty dishes can't pile up if they don't exist.
- You underestimate some of us
  
  You underestimate yourself. You'll get this.
- I have a giant stack of plates. So they can go into the dish washer after I use them. Same thing with boxer shorts and the laundry.
- Also to support any surprise guests!
- I was given so much stuff when I bought my house. My one aunt had a shopping addiction and just gave me all of the kitchen shit. I live alon and my house is too small and laid out too weird for me to comfortably have guests. Idk what to do with everything, so it just stays in a cabinet. I don't want to throw it out because it's nice, but I have no use for it
  
  If you can't sell it you might be able to donate it to a thrift store.

Excuse me, it goes: Fork->Knife->Spoon->tea spoon.
I don't know what this is but it's certainly not in keeping with the lord's way.
- Right chopstick -> left chopstick -> porcelain soup spoon -> packets of unused plastic foldable forks that came with the instant noodles
  
  Do chopsticks have an orientation?
  
  God, I love Asian soup apoons!
- Finnish mnemonic: Haaveilu. Haarukka=fork, veitsi=knife, lusikka=spoon.
  Haaveilu=daydreaming, reverie
- Personally, I prefer dessert spoon, fork, knife, then tea spoon.
- I think you've swapped knife and fork…
- What the actual fuck!? The knives always go on the outside, far left or far right.

We're a family of three with a 19 year old, so our cutlery drawer looks just like this unless we ask him to bring all the dishes from his room.
- HAHA TEENAGERS AMIRITE
  
  F'realz
- That struggle is real and universal! We found utensils buried in our back yard, at a friend’s house… it’s nuts!
- He's 19 years old, and you have to ask him to bring his dirty dishes out from his room because he is leaving them all in there?
  
  Dude I'm 38 soon and I have to bring dishes in from the WFH office once in a while. Watching some YouTube during lunch or whatever. Then back to working. Then family comes home and it's up out of the chair to start dinner and whatnot, sometimes the dishes get forgotten and left behind.

Knife should be on the left and the spoons on the right. Fite me.
- You think I'm worried about fighting someone that has to reach over the gentry silverware to grab the knife?
  
  This is a valid argument and I'd hoped nobody would mention it. 😡
  
  What if they are a lefty?
  
  My fork is pointier than the butter knives! I'll stab you!
- Fork, knife, spoon, teaspoon
  
  Well in fancy restaurants, which should be the example we all follow because of how much better than us they are, the knife is always pointed in towards the plate and closest to the plate. This reduces odds of getting cut accidentally. Otherwise the silverware should be arranged from the outside to the inside in order that they're meant to be used for each course because trying to truck your guests is a signal that you want to embarrass them with knowledge they aren't generally expected to actually have. Spoons and forks should be grouped.
  
  Fite! Fite!
- I've always done it (big) spoon, fork, knife, then teaspoons in a smaller tray underneath the main 3. But I moved forks to the left and spoons to the right and now I'm always getting confused and it doesn't feel right, even 3 months later
  
  If I ever put my phone in my left pocket, I will lose my mind looking for it.
- I don't know how it applies to cutlery drawers, but my parents taught me that when setting the table, the silverware should be in alphabetical order.
  
  Alphabetical order based on what language? Assuming English, since your comment is in English, but I'm curious if the rule would "translate" to other languages.
  
  Ewwww arbitrary!

I was so bad at keeping on top of washing my dishes in Uni that I absolutely decided to have exactly 1 plate, cup, mug,and each cutlery. Can't have more dirty dishes than you have dishes.
- This is the way. Friends think I really like this one bowl. Truth is I like an empty sink, so I force myself to wash it by only owning one bowl.
  
  I just recently got rid of 90% of my silverware and over half my plates and bowls for this very reason
  
  Just don't leave them in the sink and you can do the same with multiple of each, saving you the wash up. Just out them straight into the dishwasher. Saves energy, water and time.
- Been travelling in an RV for a while now. Family of 3. Have 3 forks, 2 knives (because adults cut the kid's food) and 4 plates since you need somewhere to put food off the BBQ that isn't someone's plate. It's glorious. So easy to clean up.

See, if I had that guys place you would find these 4 utensils in the sink because I'm a monster

He dishwashes daily? How inefficient.
- Unless they have enough plates and utensils and are willing to risk a mold problem to save up plates with gunks of food over the course of a week to run the dishwasher at good efficiency, it's far simpler, cheaper, and more hygienic to just wash them by hand.
  
  it's far simpler, cheaper, and more hygienic to just wash them by hand.
  In that amount, yes. But usually, dishwasher is more efficient and hygienic

I did this for a few years and it was amazing.
- as a single dad living with one teenager kid, the two plate strategy was a total game changer.

OP is a fancy one with their actual silverware. When i was a bachelor, it was box of plastic forks, box of plastic spoons, and box of plastic knives.
- Saving up for singular silverware would probably save you money in the long run
  
  I usually get them from take out places or the cafeteria. Never bought any single use items during my bachelor years.
  
  And less microplastics
  
  it's not even silver, more like stainless steel around here.

you can honestly get by with just a spoon. need a butter knife? use the spoon handle. need to jab something? just scoop it instead. need to cut something? just cook it a little more so it gets soft

lol two spoons and a fork, what a waste. i only use one spoon for everything.
edit: ooh i get it now, they have a significant other who sometimes visits. (big spoon, small spoon)
- Sometimes I use a small spoon for ice cream. Big spoon for cereal though I'm not fuckin around.

Did they borrow these from a restaurant. I just find it more menacing to just buy 1 of each, searched online and I can’t find a single reasonably priced utensil set that only sells 1 of each in the set.
- 2 words: Thrift. Shop.
- Walmart sometimes sells utensils individually in store, they're loose in bins with a little plastic price barcode attached
- Dollar stores sell singles
- In some Europe countries the all Chinese shops offer that option

I have 4 of each just in case I don't feel like doing the dishes today
- The pictured method forces disipline. Honestly a tub of alcohol wipes in the kitchen and a quick wipe down with one of those works pretty well for cutlery
- Don't most sets come with 4?

Replace the fork and spoon with a spork.
Fewer utensils to clean!
- I doubt that people use both at the same time so each time you only clean one of them anyway

You cannot convince me this man is not a serial killer.

No pie server - what kind of barbarian is this?
- They live alone, why have a pie server if you are just gonna eat it yourself?
  
  I made a cake last night to get rid of a few eggs. Realized I am slipping back into batchelor life when I just put the whole thing on a plate, put one utensil on it, And put the whole thing back in the fridge. Healthy.. probably not .. any of it. But not having to look for a clean utensil every time is nice. The sad part is it was a spoon I grabbed, not because I thought it would double for ice cream if I wanted some... But because it was closer
  
  For when that special someone comes over. Of course if you have a special someone you'd have 2 sets of silverware. Okay I see the point.

This is me. It's perfectly fine until something, somehow, goes missing.

Dude clearly not a big fan of steak.
- Maybe it's in their knife block.
  
  I’m picturing a knife block that only has one slot for a single knife.

That's more than enough. I've survived for long with just a knife and a fork. A good knife works as a second fork.

It's all he needs

premature optimisation
- It happens sometimes.

I did this once, it was bliss.

He never has dishes

Is your friend Bill Dauterive?

Been there done that

I actually love this. It’s clean organized and simplified!

He is not your friend, he is just keeping you around for a time when he can't find some else and feels the urge to kill again.

Seems inefficient having to wash everything every time? Not sure. But it would irritate me to have to do that rather than doing more, once, at the end of the day.
- I just rinse them and use a bit of hand soap, so it takes like ten seconds. Personally, I usually prefer that over spending an extended period of time washing the dishes, because my neck starts to hurt, since I'm too tall for the kitchen sink.
  
  To each their own.
  My other half has to do every dish even if we don’t need to, I do everything when there’s enough for a full load in the washer. She’s happy to have nothing needing to do, I’m happy to have the satisfaction of the efficiency of doing the most work in the shortest time.
  We’re all different.

One too many spoons but perfect otherwise.
- Nooo, one is a teaspoon and the other a tablespoon! It's for measuring!
- The large one is for scooping ice cream into the bowl. The little one is for eating it.
- yeah, the legt space should be replaced with a sharp knife for vegetables
  
  They probably have a knife block with a single knife as well
- What, you never have yogurt or tea with your morning oatmeal? Or are you a heathen that uses the same spoon for both?
  
  I would probably get rid of everything but the fork and try to disprove that old you can’t eat soup with a fork joke.
- Spoon cardinality.