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Onions are absolutely one of the most delicious and flexible commoditiesyou use in the kitchen. From savory steaming soups to satisfyinghomemade salsa, onions play an important part in our daily cooking.

Flavorful appetizers from onion dips to salad dressing, main coursecasseroles, even the onion focaccia bread accompaniment for dinner.

Buying onions is a simple task. Look for dry, papery skins with no softspots. You should also notice the absence of any strong odor. A good dryonion will have very little to no smell to it at all. If it has a strongonion odor the onion has already began to turn bad.

Varieties of onion include, Vidalia, Texas 1015, Red, Green, the WallaWalla from Washington and Maui from Hawaii. Sweet onions such as Vidaliaand Walla Walla are mellow enough to eat raw, but they are excellent"baked" on the grill and served with grilled steaks or burgers. Try themin the oven too.

Caramelizing onions during cooking will give a rich sweetness to recipes, enhancing kitchen aromas and have everyone asking, 'What's fordinner?' Followed shortly by 'fabulous, superb and perfection.'

Capt'n Salsa has an almost comical way of storing onions, but it reallyworks.

Grab an old pair of your wife's panty hose, cut off the legs. Now yousimply drop an onion down into the leg of the hose and tie a knotdirectly above the onion. Repeat this process until each onion issecured and hang the hose in a cool dry, well ventilated space, out ofdirect sun light.

To remove the onion, simply cut the hose with a pair of scissors rightbelow the knot and the onion easily falls out. You should be able tokeep your onions for about three months.

Kosher salt is one of the best things to use to remove the smell of theonion from your hands. Wash your hands using a little dish washing soap,water and about a teaspoon full of salt. Any salt will do, I just likethe course texture of the kosher salt. Rinse your hands and repeat ifnecessary.

Tears when you chop those onions?

How do you get rid of the tears? Here are a few simple suggestions to'ease your pain.'

You can place the onion in the refrigerator for about thirty minutesprior to chopping or if you are in a hurry toss them in the freezer forabout four to five minutes. The cold will tone down the sulfur compoundin the juice of the onion. In addition be sure to use the sharpest knifepossible to expedite your chopping chores.