Walla Walla onions and cherries

We usually stop at one of the Wenatchee produce stands on the drive home from eastern Washington. You can usually buy the same produce in Seattle grocery stores cheaper (go figure) but after driving through miles of orchards there's something about buying fruit on the spot. Apples in the fall-- peaches, cherries and onions in the summer.

As for the cherries, that expensive bag barely made it out of the parking lot last weekend:
But what to do with the 10 pounds of onions? Walla Wallas are "sweet" but of course you don't just eat them up like apples. They're so juicy they only last a few days on the kitchen counter.

On Friday night John was delighted with my bright idea to make home-made onion rings. For the first and probably last time.
Of course fried food is a simple thing to make in restaurant kitchens (any teenager can be taught at McDonalds) but harder at home in just an old frying pan. The onion ring prep is easy but messy-- mix up a bowl of batter, dip the raw rings and fry:
If you've deep-fried on the stove top, you know the challenge is keeping the oil at the right temperature without setting the kitchen on fire.
These were really tasty. Crispy, light, sweet and tender. Nothing like those coated, thick things in fast food restaurants with the slimy bits of processed onion.

Still. I can't say homemade is worth all the work and cleanup. What to do with that skillet full of hot oniony oil?

But John said yes, yes-- they are definitely worth it. (Easy for him to say, as he sat at the table eating them almost as fast as I made them :-)
As for the rest of the bag. I peeled, chopped and braised them in olive oil. A big pot of onions cooked down to this in about 3 fragrant hours:
What is it? Caramelized, condensed, sweet essence of Walla Walla onion. I froze most in little bags and on Saturday night topped our grilled steaks with a dollop.
And that took care of 10 pounds of onions.