BUT ANYWAY.
So we've been buying onions. But of course I can't just buy the little bag of onions at the grocery store, like a normal person. OH NO. I need MORE onions. CHEAPER onions. SPECIAL onions. Mennonite onions.
There are a couple of Mennonite-run stores in the area that sell bulk everything. That's where we've been getting our onions, in 25-pound sacks (for seven whole dollars--wheeee!). That's a lot of onions. At first, I was afraid it was too many and they would rot before I could get through them. But we did manage to get through them all, and so I needed more. Except this time the MiL was charged with stopping at the Mennonite store.
I should explain that the MiL has this personality trait that causes her to always buy the largest available package of anything. Why get one tube of glue when you can have twelve! Forget that sissy normal-sized jar of mayonnaise--let's get the picnic-sized monster tub!
Thank God we don't have a Costco membership.
So of course, when the MiL asked for a 25-pound bag of onions at the Mennonite store and was informed they had 50-pound bags, she went with the more-is-better philosophy.
Dios mio
Anyone care to place a bet on who will win this race--me and my cooking, or the onions and the rot? Stay tuned!
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD.
ReplyDeleteCan I tell you? That last night I went to the store and agonized over buying TWO onions because I thought that might be too many?
Clearly we would all starve if I was in charge of buying groceries at your house.
Put them in a cool dry room and they will keep until almost spring. Occasionally one will rot, but only because it was bruised in shipping. If you let a rotten one sit in the bag it will cause the rest of the bag to rot also. Sort them once in a while just in case one starts to sprout or rot.
ReplyDeleteI buy 50 to 100 pounds every fall (when they are the cheapest), use them until at least March and rarely have any go bad. They also freeze well chopped up. Works great for recipes where they are going to be cooked anyway. If you get to late spring and they are going soft then try freezing up the last of them.
Sheila
You could make up some caramelized onions and freeze them.
ReplyDeleteNext time I make dinner, I'm going to produce a beef carbonnade that uses an amazing amount of onions--three pounds, I think, cooked down into nothing. That will be six percent of the onions in one go. In any case, nothing is worse than trying to cook without enough onions. We're safe for at least two months. Now about that black treacle that I bought--
ReplyDeleteYou mean that CASE of black treacle? Yes, about that . . .
ReplyDeleteWhat the heck is black treacle?
ReplyDeleteLOL...now that is a big bag of onions. I have been known to buy large amounts but only when we go to Walla Walla during onion season and get the real authentic sweet onions they grow over there. Mmmm now those are good, crappy keepers though.
ReplyDeleteHave fun finding new and original ways to use that many onions! Kim
Dehydrator.
ReplyDeleteThat's just my two cents.
RLS--If I may use the very words you used to describe the Bristol Cream . . . black treacle is veddy, veddy British, my dear chap. The MiL bought it to make some kind of special cake, and of course, she had to buy it online, so she bought a whole case, because why pay for shipping just one can? I think we've used maybe 2 cans so far.
ReplyDeleteOh, but I should have explained that it's a syrup. Kind of like molasses, except . . . not.
ReplyDeleteIf you come here for my detailed explanations and culinary wisdom, I fear you are in the wrong place.
this is like bubba from forrest gump...
ReplyDeleteonion frittata
onion rings
onoin gratin
french fried onions
onion rings
stuffed onions
I have no help for you other than to make soup. But you already know that every soup base calls for onions, so I'm not telling you anything new.
ReplyDeleteBut I do love that this 50 lb sack of onions says, "The Onion" on the front.
Fun.
Um? Rot. I only say this because it is what happens to me every time I shop at a Costco or BJs. different, but same: never ends pretty.
ReplyDeleteOh my...I love onions as much, or more, as the next girl, but that's a major buttload of onions. I'd definitely make some onion soup. And I love them wrapped in foil, drizzled with olive oil and baked. Yum! Not that you asked WHAT to do with them.
ReplyDeleteWow. At least she is consistent, I guess. Otherwise you would have to wonder if she was trying to give someone bad breath and create a marital wedge. (No, wait, that's my mil, not yours.)
ReplyDeleteYep--as previously said, cut & freeze raw.
ReplyDelete