The recovery was pretty rough but for the most part we dried
out and put things back together, minus a few uprooted trees. We were actually
pretty lucky and didn’t fare as bad as many of our friends and fellow Tennesseans.
My biggest remnants of the day is really just a nuisance but
one that I am very embarrassed by.
Apparently sometime during the flood our city water supply
was overtaken by flood waters. In order to ensure consumption safety we had to
boil water until the waters receded.
When the recede was complete it was pretty clear that the
water supply’s integrity had been compromised. Officials were able to salvage
our resources by adding a treatment additive to the primary supply.
I wish that I could say that our pipes were once again free
flowing and that we lived happily ever after.
While our consumption safety was restored we were left with
filmy water…… it has never been the same. For the most part I don’t notice,
that is until I reach for a clean glass or dinner plate. Something in the additive
clearly did not agree with my system because our dishes are covered in streaks
and a white spotted film. It’s embarrassing when we have company over for
dinner or just over for coffee; my dishes look like they haven’t been cleaned
or that I just do a really bad job.
I love food. I love a variety of flavors, smells and color….I’m
a foodie and I use all my senses to enjoy it. Including how it looks and nasty
dishes just ruin the experience for me. So it’s no wonder we’ve gotten to the
point that we use paper plates and plastic utensils so that we don’t have to
worry about grimy dishes. I know. It’s not green and not good for the environment
but honestly it’s the only way that I’ve been able to enjoy what I love. Food.
I’m already weird enough about textures and food temperatures so I had to do
something. If I turned my nose up at one more meal MUF (Mr. UnFun) would have
probably thrown it at me…not really but he’d want to which is okay because I’d
want to throw it to.
I’ve tried everything…literally.
I run a cleaning agent through my dishwasher every few
weeks, soak my silverware in bleach, rinse my dishes with vinegar, and have
tried just about every brand of dishwasher detergent known to man. The Cascade
powder has been the only thing that helps but even then it’s just for a few
days and I have to run a cleaning agent through my dishwasher again.
It’s been embarrassing, expensive, and extremely frustrating.
Not that my machine is great and I probably could use a new one but why bother.
If I buy a new dishwasher but it will just be ruined once I started running
water through it.
Or will it?
When my review sample was delivered we had run out of paper
plates and I was scrubbing a plate for little girl’s lunch. I had gotten the
plate useable but then picked up this glass…it was gross. That isn't dried milk and it wasn't dirty. I had just pulled from the dishwasher that I had run about an hour before, it was still warm. Though I should say that it was also still wet and that the water at the bottom had kinda pooled up so the inside isn't as gross as it looks but gross enough.
 |
| I wish that I could say that this was just an empty glass that had been left out with milk to dry but it had just come out of the dishwasher and was actually as clean as they would get. |
I handed her a juice box instead and ripped open the bag of Cascade Platinum
It looked different so maybe it would work differently too.
I worried about it not having a chance since I hadn’t run a
cleaning agent through in a few weeks and probably needed to but figured it
would be a good opportunity to see just how tough it was and besides, I could
always run a cleaner through later.
I shoved the pans I had cooked lunch in and the nasty glass
that I had refused to use for little girls drink into the dishwasher, plopped
in a Cascade Platinum pac
in the soap dispenser and hoped for the best.
What makes Cascade Platinum different?
Cascade Platinum is a new premium
product designed to deliver Cascade’s most
powerful clean while helping to
maintain the sparkling look of dishwasher interiors. So basically you have a
dish cleaner, rinse aid and dishwasher cleaner in one convenient pac.
Cascade Platinum Pacs deliver a variety of dish care benefits:
Cascade Platinum Pacs deliver a variety of dish care benefits:
- Powers away tough, 24 hour stuck-on food
- Eliminates the need to pre-wash dishes
- Helps maintain the look of new machines and helps prevent additional hard-water build-up
- Delivers exceptional dishware shine
Okay,
so my mom ran a central sterile unit in a main artery hospital of the town I
grew up in and she ran her house the same way. She would have never let me even
think about not pre-washing. Old habits die hard and I could not bring myself
to put a caked on dish into the dishwasher so we’re just gonna have to trust
the whole “it eliminates the need to pre-wash” notion cause I might keel over
or something.
BUT I
will say that OMgoodness…my glasses are actually clear! I had forgotten that
they weren’t a frosted material. They are actually clear! I could not believe
how clean they were…I truly thought I was going to cry.
I knew
that my yucky dishes had bothered me but I guess I just didn’t realize to what
degree. I know it sounds like a mental health issue, we can blame my mom, she’s
the one who ran my childhood home like a central sterile unit but y’all just
don’t know how frustrating it’s been.
I
literally emptied all the cupboards and started running load after load. I kept
thinking that the next load would not be as sparkly as the first and that the Cascade Platinum had just gotten
lucky but to my delight, each and every time I was just a tickled as I was with
that first clean load.
Y’all,
I made dinner and used real dishes for the first time in months! Somehow
everything looked and tasted better than ever. I guess it’s true; we really do
eat with our eyes.
That’s
what Top Chef judge and editor of
Food+Wine magazine thinks too, Gail Simmons, has partnered with Cascade
to discuss why presentation is just as important as preparation.
From
prep to plating:
It’s more than just a
great-tasting recipe, but also perfect presentation. Sparkling dishes, shining
flat ware and spot-free glasses truly let you put your best food forward with
culinary creations that pop!
Gail
recommends impressing with a Platinum Presentation:
“The easiest recipes pop with unexpected,
gourmet presentations. Drizzle bright sauces on sparkling white plates or layer
desserts in crystal-clean glassware. Keep
your presentation sparkling with Cascade Platinum, which keeps dishes perfect
for anytime entertaining and impromptu guests.”
It’s
with this spirit that Cascade has launched the My Platinum contest.
It’s a
four-week Instagram contest where you upload photos showing off your sparkly pots,
pan and plates for a chance at winning a brand new Whirlpool dishwasher and one
lucky grand prize winner will receive a Platinum kitchen!
Enter
to win by registering and uploading a photo to Instagram using the
#MyPlatinum hash tag and tagging @MyCascade. Each week there will be a new
theme and two new weekly winners, along with one final grand prize winner at
the contests end.
Week
1: My Platinum
Plate (6/3-6/09)
Week 2: My Platinum Bite (6/10-6/16) Show them your best bite and most creative use of sparkling silverware!
Week 3: My Platinum Clink (6/17-6/23) Show them how you serve up creative concoctions in sparkling glasses!
Week 4: My Platinum Table (6/24 - 6-30) Show them your sparkling tablescape for your most special celebrations!
Week 2: My Platinum Bite (6/10-6/16) Show them your best bite and most creative use of sparkling silverware!
Week 3: My Platinum Clink (6/17-6/23) Show them how you serve up creative concoctions in sparkling glasses!
Week 4: My Platinum Table (6/24 - 6-30) Show them your sparkling tablescape for your most special celebrations!
Week
5: Grand Prize Winner! (6/3-6/30)
For
additional contest information and to enter click here, or
visit the Cascade Facebookpage to keep up-to-date with products and promotions.
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