When Chopping Onion, Just Chop Onions

I've been reading Michael Pollan's newest book, Cooked.  I really love it, like I thought I would.  It's not as addicting as the novels I've been reading, but I'm really enjoying it.  I love his writing style.  Just like in Omnivore's Dilemma, he goes into details that most books just gloss over.  I like that.  It give his writing more authenticity than other "green" writers.  I just finished the section on "Water" in which he explores cooking in pots.  Of the 4 topics he covers (Fire, Water, Air and Earth) I think most people identify the water portion with "cooking".   This part covers stews, braises, soups, anything that cooks in a pot.  It was interesting to learn that almost all cuisines use onions in their cooking.  (Think about it...can you think of one that doesn't use onions? I can't!)  I learned that onions make you cry because of a chemical reaction (which he describes in detail--thank you Mr Pollan) designed to protect the onion from pests that want to eat it.  The onion also protects us.  Well, not me, but you, meat-eaters.  There's an antimicrobial compound in onions that actually makes the meat safer to eat!  These compounds survive cooking and protect us from the growth of bacteria on the meat.  Interesting, right?  An evolutionary predisposition to like meat and onions?  Maybe.  Not as addicting but WAY more enlightening than a novel.  Take THAT Nicholas Sparks!



I'm not going to summarize the entire book here.  Olivia is teething and has been crying continually as I'm writing this.  Vince threw a hat and hit an open box of Nerds (that I picked up a few minutes ago when Olivia found it and was gnawing it open) that scattered all over the floor.  I still have to fold a load of towels and check the laundry on the line and throw in another load of towels.  I have lots to to.  But I do want to talk about one more thing from the book.  When chopping onions, just chop onions.  It's a Buddhist school of thought and what he means is, when you're doing one task, give yourself over and do that task.  We, as Americans, don't do this.  I, as a mother of 4, don't do this.  Ever.  It drives me nuts not to multi-task.  I'm not just sitting here focusing on blogging, I've also got a load of laundry in, I'm up and down to help a kid.  Even when I'm outside pushing Vince or Olivia on the swing, it drives me nuts not to have something else to be doing--making a list of some sort, flipping through a magazine  looking for dinner recipes.  So this summer, I'm going to try to Just Chop Onions.  But instead of Chop Onions, I'm going to Spend Time With My Kids.  Going to the Pool.  Going to The Lake.  The Zoo, The Museum, The Monument, The Park, Hiking those 100 miles I want to work on, The Library.  I want to focus on THEM this summer.  So, I've decided that I'm going to blog part-time.  I've been trying to blog every week day for the last two years.  I'm going to blog a little less this summer.  Because who doesn't want to spend more time with THIS?!