The dish

What do you use for handwashing dishes? I’ve had the same favorite sponge for years, the SOS blue. But I’ve been changing my dish soap regime. For a while I used whatever big jug they had at Costco. Then I realized I was tired of hoisting the big jug a dozen times a day. I could have decanted it into something classy, but my name isn’t Martha. So when I finished the jug, I tried the alluring curves of Method dish soap, which was on sale at QFC.

Big mistake. The alluring curves slip out of your hand if your hand happens to be wet or soapy, and it smelled like being hit on the head with a cucumber. So I went on the hunt for an unscented dish soap. First I tried Seventh Generation, which I was too dilute. Now I have a bottle of Planet Ultra, and it seems perfect: plenty sudsy, no smell. It’s enough to make you wonder why they started scenting dish soap in the first place.

Further updates on this saga as events warrant.

Boozle

Iris convinced me to buy a box of Jelly Belly Bean Boozled, where you never know whether your jelly bean will be licorice or skunk, café latte or ear wax. (Some people, I realize, would have a hard time choosing between licorice and skunk.)

I consented to eat them until I got one of the vomit-flavored ones. Iris wouldn’t try any. While I was throwing away the rest, I looked at the box and laughed, realizing that the most granolified pure foods person would surely be delighted to know that this product is…

NATURALLY AND ARTIFICIALLY FLAVORED

Shredded

Last year, reader Maggi wrote in a comment:

> But please, if you were comped something, and you feed it to your dog/wouldn’t give it to your worst enemy then do tell us as well. We (as readers) really want to know the good, the bad and the ugly.

So I want to tell you about some free cheese I got.

I’m a big fan of Tillamook cheese. Sure, it’s made in industrial quantities, but it’s from the Oregon coast, and once when I was a kid I visited the factory and spent an hour with my nose pressed against the glass, watching them curdle milk and press the curds together. We keep a two-pound “baby loaf” of Tillamook sharp (or, when we’re feeling flush, white extra sharp) in the fridge at all times and go through it fast.

When Tillamook offered to send me some free cheese, then, I was all over it. Last week, a box arrived with bags of their pre-grated Classic Cheddar Blend and Italian cheeses.

I’ve tried both of them–on English muffin pizzas, grilled cheese, quesadillas, enchiladas, and probably other things I’ve forgotten–and I can’t recommend these cheese blends at all. The flavor is practically nonexistent, and because the shredded cheese is treated with an anticaking agent, the cheese doesn’t cohere and bits fall off a sandwich and onto the hot pan. None of this is worth saving the 60 seconds it takes to grate cheese.

So, to sum up: Tillamook factory tour, recommended. Tillamook Baby Loaf, recommended. Tillamook shredded cheese blends, not recommended.