Cookie & Elsie a duex, caramelized onions before & after

Sunday morning we hopped up with a lot to do.  I made a tortellini pasta salad and rolls, while Michael picked up the house a bit.  Angie & Dave and Mary & Stan came for lunch, then Michael left for the performance and we all piled into cars along with 11 other people and went to watch him in Arsenic & Old Lace!  The play was TERRIFIC…lots of laughs and a very happy ending.  Although I have seen it before, I didn’t remember much of it, which was great.  I was home by 6, but Michael had to stay for a mini-rehearsal and he got home at 7.  We opened a bottle of champagne with our white cheddar mac & cheese for dinner and watched TV and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Monday morning Michael left for golf and I put together BG’s Spanish coffee cake for the ladies that came to knit.  We spent a very pleasant morning together and 2 more people are interested in the Knit Swirl knit-a-long, which we hope to start in January.  I spent a large part of the afternoon getting statistics on the number of houses in SCCL, and dividing them up so that the 6 of us participating in the Art Crawl in 2 weeks can pass out the flyers.  When I came upstairs I got pictures that I think are a definite first:

I was here first!

MOM! leave us alone, we haven't figured it out yet!!

 

 

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen them together in that chair before.  Michael came home at 3:30 and we were both BEAT!  He spent time on the computer, and I just lazed on the sofa until it was time to go over to Jan and Walt’s.  They invited us for a special pizza, and it was FABULOUS!  A new place opened down here a couple of months ago called Papa Murphy’s pizza.  Since we are happy with the other pizza joints that are closer to our house, we have never tried it.  They only sell unbaked backed pizzas, with specific cooking instructions.  J&W got a stuffed chicken and bacon pizza and Michael and I both loved it.  We got home around 8 and watched TV and knit the rest of the evening.

I always laugh when I read a recipe that says ‘place onions in skillet and stir until caramelized, about 10 minutes’.  I have no idea in what alternate universe onions will caramelize in 10 minutes….but it’s not here on earth!  Anyway, I read about caramelizing onions in the crockpot and decided to give it a whirl.  I sliced up 5 medium onions and tossed them with butter, olive oil and thyme and put them in my 4 quart crockpot:

 and cooked them.  Here’s the result:

 

Even Michael (who’s not that big a fan of onions) said they smelled heavenly as I brought them in (I cooked them on the back deck since I didn’t want our entire house to reek of onions J).  I’m going to use some of them in my meatloaf on Tuesday, and freeze the rest in 1/2 cup portions.  Here’s the full recipe: http://cookinginstilettos.com/slow-cooker-caramelized-onions/.