To wipe out all the imported American Halloween drivel from our consciousness, today we devoted ourselves to pickling a supply of onions for the year ahead.
I can’t remember how many years we’ve been doing this, but it all started with exasperation at the standard of most pickled onions on sale and lingering memories of those my grandmother used to make.
So a couple of hours hard graft, including several minutes of onion tears (which pass quite fast), produced 11lb of home-made pickled onions according to Ruth Mott’s recipe, which includes black treacle and Demerara sugar.
Last year’s onions have lasted well and there are two left, which coincidentally I shall consume tonight, along with some chips which I’ll be cooking as a treat.
Halloween? One of these pickled onions will certainly put the wind up you!
Hey there Robert – I very much enjoy your musings, but must take exception to Halloween being blamed on us in America! We loathe it too – just another commercial grab. Except for the children who enjoy a treat that day, most of us ignore it or, more importantly, celebrate All Hallows’/All Saints Day. The whole thing got started in Celtic (800 AD) times in Europe, didn’t it? What about Mexicans – they actually put on costumes and have parties in the cemeteries!!
Hi Emilia. Apologies, I’m not really blaming you. It’s up to people to choose whether or not to swallow all this commercialism. I’m all for having a bit of fun, but it’s really going over the top here.