Thursday, March 29, 2012

Crying over Onions

Every once in a long while, we like to make a big batch of some kind of favourite food to divide up and put into the freezer.  Geoff had a day off today (and I'm over my stomach flu) and so we combined efforts this morning to make a big-batch spaghetti sauce...a beloved recipe from my mom.  We chopped ten onions, three green peppers, a whole head of celery, and mixed it up with meat and various flavourings (worchestershire sauce, mustard, pepper, oregano, paprika, parsley, tomato juice, crushed tomatoes, etc).  It was funny seeing us all crying around the table as we chopped.

We have friends coming over for spaghetti on the weekend, which was the impetus for this morning's cooking session, but much of this will end up in meal-sized packages to enjoy in upcoming months.  All five of us love it.  We made well over ten litres of sauce, which we typically dilute a little with a commercial spaghetti sauce when serving it up (because the sauce is very thick and hearty when coming out of the oven).

The kids are always wanting to help in the cooking department and so we let them experience the 'sadness' of peeling onions.

(below)
Note the boys' glasses/goggles, as they attempted to prevent stinging eyes from the onions.  Matthew's goggles worked far better than Seth's sunglasses.  It's hard to tell from this picture that Lizzie is crying from the onions.



(below)
Ready for mixing and roasting in the oven for several hours.

8 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness this is funny! :) Do you know that holding an unlit wooden matchstick between your teeth while chopping an onion prevents the tears? I never quite believe it will, but every time I've tried, it has worked...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can't believe no one has asked for this obviously fabulous recipe yet ; )

    Lurker lured out of hiding...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Um, I feel kinda foolish re: my last comment - you *just* posted....

    Sheepish lurker....

    ReplyDelete
  4. I find that when I wear my glasses to chop onions, it's actually worse than if I have my contacts in because the "odor" (or whatever it is that makes you cry) gets trapped behind the glasses and holds it closer to your eyes.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Katie, that sounds totally absurd...but I'm willing to give it a try!

    Yes, I wear contacts as well, so I totally get what you mean, Anonymous!

    And yes, I will ask my mom if it's ok to share the exact recipe...it's awesome IMHO.

    Ruth

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love the goggle picture- priceless!
    That's one delicious looking pasta sauce.

    ReplyDelete
  7. A good tip - you can keep the peeled onions under water... then they don't "gas" while you chop!!

    Ah... the joys of Ethio cooking. My husband can always tell when he comes home. Onions = Ethiopian in our house!

    "Nicky"
    http://rowanfamilytree.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. A good tip - you can keep the peeled onions under water... then they don't "gas" while you chop!!

    Ah... the joys of Ethio cooking. My husband can always tell when he comes home. Onions = Ethiopian in our house!

    "Nicky"
    http://rowanfamilytree.com

    ReplyDelete