Got Some Extra Onions...?

With cold and flu season rapidly approaching, I thought it would be a good time to go over some old time recipes for helping to prevent them.

Certainly these are no guarantee that you won't get sick, even with these tips, but who knows? It may just help! These tips come to you straight from the pages of my favorite...the Old Farmer's Almanac!

In 1852, the Almanac advised, “To avoid fall fevers, eat moderately, drink sparingly, lie not down on the damp earth, nor overheat yourself; but keep your temper, and change your clothes as the weather changes.”

Historically, the layers of the onion were believed to draw contagious diseases from the patient; onions were often hung in sickrooms.

Today, we know that onions have antibacterial qualities.

Onion Pie

Quiche-like, with added tang and color from the tomatoes. Lovely for lunch or Sunday night supper.

Yield: Serves 6.

3 tablespoons chicken fat or butter
4 onions, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon thyme
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 dashes hot pepper sauce
1/2 teaspoon crushed caraway seed
1/2 teaspoon salt
9-inch pie shell, unbaked and chilled
1 egg white, slightly beaten
1 large beefsteak tomato, cut in thin slices
3/4 cup mild Swiss cheese, shredded


Melt chicken fat or butter and cook onions with thyme over very low heat until transparent (about 20 minutes). Beat eggs, and add milk and seasonings. Brush pie crust with egg white. Fill crust with onions, tomato, and cheese, and spread the egg mixture over the top. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes; lower heat and bake an additional 20 minutes at 350 degrees F. Serve warm.

This would certainly be a way of using some of those extra onions from the garden, and I'll bet that if you don't tell the kids it's made from onions...they'll never know!

I don't know if this recipe will be of any help, but now days, we can use all the help we can get...right?

Good luck with this. Just trying to do my part to keep you all healthy and out of the sick room! My joints tell me that this Winter may just be a bad one so let's just be prepared!

Now, let's get some fresh coffee and sit outside for a bit! Oh, and how about a breath mint...just in case!