Odoriferous

In my browsing travels yesterday, I checked out one of my favorite food blogs, Simply Recipes, and found Elise's recipe for making caramelized onions. Hmmm, sez I, those look yummy -- sounds like something I might want to try making in quantity and then freezing in smaller portions.

With a little more research, I discovered that some folks have successfully used the crock pot to caramelize their onions instead of the time-consuming, vigilant method on the stovetop. Fix it and forget it -- my kind of cooking! Still feeling somewhat skeptical and thinking I'd probably end up with a mass of stewed onions, I decided to experiment anyway. What the hey -- nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

So, since Lew was going out to pick up a pizza for our dinner anyway, I had him pick up a bag of onions too. Some time after dinner we went into team-work mode and got the onions ready. He peeled and I sliced (next time I'm peeling!) Three and a half pounds and major watery eyes later, they were nicely nestled in the crock pot atop a stick of butter and turned to low. Most recipes I had found called for anywhere from 12+ to 24(!) hours of cooking so they were then left to slowly do their caramelizing thing overnight.

As I type, some 15 hours later, they've turned a lovely shade of brown and have almost reached the desired deep mahogany color. I'm pleasantly surprised, but these things better taste extraordinarily good... my house smells like a 1950s White Castle or Little Tavern burger joint, complete with as many years of stale fried onion stink!

It being just a wee bit chilly to be opening windows for airing, I wonder who I can go visit 'til Spring??