Kitchen utensil Breazeale advocated simplicity over dishwashing machines "that would have done credit to a moderate sized hotel", and noted that the most useful kitchen utensils were "the simple little inexpensive conveniences that work themselves into every day use", giving examples, of utensils that were simple and cheap but indispensable once obtained and used, of a stiff brush for cleaning saucepans, a sink strainer to prevent drains from clogging, and an ordinary wooden spoon. The "labour-saving" devices didn't necessarily save labour, either. While the advent of mass-produced standardized measuring instruments permitted even householders with little to no cooking skills to follow recipes
From the Ladle to the Grave of traditional folk and world-music songs, though the band often arranged the songs in nontraditional, harder-rocking ways. "Ladle" contained Boiled in Lead's first original compositions, "The Microorganism" and "Pig Dog Daddy." Both were written by lead singer Todd Menton, who cited the influence of Billy Bragg and Richard Thompson as songwriters who had successfully fused folk and rock/pop. Menton began writing "The Microorganism," a mournful ballad about the devastation of AIDS, six years before its appearance on "Ladle". The song "My Son John" is a variant of the traditional Irish antiwar ballad "Mrs. McGrath." In an article on the history