Old School Onion Soup

For about three months in the Fall of 1987 I was
on a starvation diet. Actually, it was more of a stupidity
diet. I was at Iowa State and my student loans were
late. Every time I went in to check to see if they were in,
I was told next week. So instead of getting a job, I figured
I'd wait just one more week, then another, then another.
Finally, a couple months had gone by. I was living off popcorn
for a while. For less than a buck, you can eat pretty good for
few days. At one point, I was down to a bag of onions. I
figured if I ate one onion a day, I could make it another week.
I would boil the onion lightlly in a bit of salty water. I would
then eat the onion and drink the onion flavored water. Of course,
this sounds pretty nasty. Truth be told, it was pretty nasty. But
when you are hungry enough by 6 p.m. every night, that onion
sounds pretty good.

One night, I got home all eager to eat my last onion, when I
discovered, much to my horror, that my roommate, Dan, had
taken my last onion and sliced it up for his ham sandwiches. I was
pissed. At least, I was pissed until I decided it was fair dinkum for me
to dig into his ham. You start eating ham after you haven't had any
meat for a month or two and nothing... NOTHING tastes quite so good.

By the time my student loan had come in, I was having visions. It was
truly religious. Things began to occur to me, enlightenment felt as though
it were in my reach. That evaporated about the time I took the first bite
of the first pizza I ordered. Hot cheese and sausage will do that.

I don't hate onions though. You'd think I might, but they are one of my
favorite ingredients when it comes to adding flavor to omelettes, grits,
pizza, tacos, soups, sauces. I buy them by the bag and use them all. Maybe
it's the French in me.