In Praise of Skirts

First, a moment of silence for my electric teakettle, which has shuffled off this mortal (electric) coil. It apparently sprang a leak, as I found large puddles of water under and around it on the countertop. I don't have a lot of expectations for an electric teakettle, but holding water would be high on the list. Plus, there are safety concerns with boiling water escaping its container (on the upside, my counter is now thoroughly clean and probably sanitized), and the water seemed to be leaki...