“If you hear an onion ring, answer it.” (-anonymous)

It occurred to me the other day as I was gathering ingredients for cooking dinner, that for almost any meal I whip up in the kitchen, I begin by slicing and sautéing onions of some sort. What would I do without that simple vegetable? Just the pungent smell of onions slowly turning to that wonderful caramelized translucence makes my mouth water. They’re the start of casseroles, quiches, pies, sauces, meats, chicken and fish simmering and they certainly figure in many soups I love. (Now, Joe, with his penchant for anything fried, would say that French-fried onion rings are the only real onions, but I would disagree. )

Omelettes slowly coming together and oozing with cheese and red peppers owe much of their flavor to a good onion, and what would French onion soup be without delicious onions, gooey Gruyere cheeses melded together with baguette slices and a broth flavored with Cognac?

As a child, I would take my fork and pick out all the onion bits and line them up on the side of my plate, never to let them pass my lips. Now, I love the richness they impart to the layers of flavors in any dish.

I’m not much for raw onions, unless maybe they’re green scallions, with their mild flavor chopped into salads, or maybe red onions sliced in the thinnest slivers on a sandwich. Even on a burger, if I choose to use onions, I'd prefer sauteed onions that have caramelized flavor.

Saturday, as we wandered through the Farmer’s Market looking for things we had to have, because I wasn't going to make them myself this week, (like an orange glazed pound cake and a lemon yogurt pound cake, to be exact) I looked at the vegetables and thought for a moment about just how grateful I am for all the plenty that was there. We are fortunate.

“Life is like an onion.
You peel it off one layer at a time;
And sometimes you weep.” (-Carl Sandburg)