Doin what comes naturally!

It is not my fault, I come by it honestly. Many of you wonder, and I am sure worry a bit about my unconventional stress level when faced with disorder, untidiness, and dare I say... dirt. But really, I come from a long line of freaks when it come to the cleaning thing. Never did such a reality slap me in the face as when I was at my parents on Memorial Day while my mom's parents were visiting.

We had a great meal with some type of bread, I don't remember what though, and afterward dish duty came. You never have to worry if the dishes are going to be done when my family is around. To leave them for an hour is pure craziness, and overnight, well, that is not even an option. So there was the packed kitchen with people trying to help out, "many hands make light work", my grandma says. Well, the HORROR of the pan the bread was cooked on became obvious at this point. You know how cookie sheets get after a while, no matter how hard you try, and believe me we do, to keep the "crud" from forming on the pan. The only way to avoid it I have found, is to buy a new pan almost every month, or just use the jelly roll pans instead, which is what I do.

So, the awful pan could not go through one more cycle while the Mead clan was in the house - that is my mom's side of the family. Out came the "bible" of cleaning books, and a remedy was found.

1. Place your dirty pan on your stove top, centered over two burners.
2. Pour in warm water till the pan is about half full.
3. Sprinkle a generous scoop of POWDER dish detergent (this I don't have, but I am learning it is a necessary thing according to the cleaning bible).
4. Stir the soapy mixture with a wooden spoon (don't use metal, this will scratch your pan and then you will have a rust mess on your hands) while you try to get the water to boil using the two burners it is laying on.
5. As you get a good boil, and a good soap/water mix going, the awful marks on your pan will start to float off the pan as you stir/scrape with the spoon.
6. You will eventually have a clean, almost new pan again.
WARNING - it may be MUCH faster to just go down the street to Kohls and buy a new pan, but where is the fun in that?

I know what you are thinking, "They are nuts", and even I, although born into the cleaning cult thought it was a little over the top, until I was awarded my turn with the wooden spoon. It is sick but true, it really was a rewarding experience... We are all crazy, I know, but hey, my pans are cleaner than yours I would bet, but you may have more free time... so it is a trade off.