Happy Onion Day!

I'm a little late (Blogger problems whenever I tried to do this), so Happy Belated Onion Day!

In Berne (Switzerland) the annual Zibelemärit (onion market) is be held on the fourth Monday in November. This year it will take place on Monday, 27th November. More than 50 tons of onions - in artistically woven plaits - are offered on this day on more then 300 market stalls.

No, I haven't suddenly taken up researching onions or events around onions. Last week, Ivonne over at Cream Puffs in Venice posted a bunch of fascinating little items, included among them information about a blog event celebrating the humble onion, hosted by Zorra of Kochtopf. Sounded like fun to me.

I'm sorry to say I was uninspiring in my selection. I didn't go searching among my books for something new and fancy to make but fell back on simple and warm. Warm has been a very important part in meal making lately, with the weather usually involving rain and strong winds (instead of snow.) With the prerequists of onions, simple, and warm in mind, what else would I make but French Onion soup?

Again, no recipe involved. Instead I slowly sauted up a bunch of sweet onions with some olive oil and butter, seasoned with salt and pepper. When they reached the color I wanted, I added some stock, deglazing as I mixed the liquid and onions together. Crostini's, toasted in the oven, were floated in the bowls of soup (I don't own proper onion soup bowls, but do own some larger sized Corningware remekins that are perfect for this,) topped with freshly grated Gryere cheese and placed under the broiler. I love cheese, so my bowl had two crostini and extra cheese. :-)

A "plain" but comforting tribute to the onion, usually an unassuming background guest to most meals, highlighted in a bowl of warmth.

Cheers oh mighty Onion!