I can definitely relate to both. In the meantime, try doing a gardenweb search for onion relish. You'll get several great recipes, as well as a method for carmelizing onions in the slowcooker. I freeze very small quantities of carmelized onions in baggies because they enhance so many things. In addition to putting them on burgers, I add a tablespoon or so to microwaved veggies (zuchini,grean beans, etc.) Delicious!

I share your puzzlement, Remy; trolls hardly ever show up here. Judging by the tone of the rant & spelling (and the time of the post), I'd chalk it up to a case of Saturday night inebriation. Or maybe its the volcanic ash - you feeling OK, Jimster? ;-) Kind of glad to see this thread resurrected, though... it reminds me to contact the original poster. We had an exceptional seed swap several years ago, including quite a few interesting beans. I'll be growing out the last 2 varieties this year. One of them has the same name as a white-seeded common bean I grew last year ("Tetovac"), but this one appears to be a white-seeded runner bean. I'll know for sure when it germinates.

We eat only New England diver scallops. They are better scallops (less gritty, not water logged, and perfect size for both sweetness & presentation). The really big reason for using only diver scallops though is because the majority of the scallops on the market are harvested by boats that drag heavy chain sweeps across the ocean floor. Diver scallops are a much more ecologically friendly way of harvesting scallops & helps maintain the ocean's harvest balance. Man will destroy the ocean's abundance, if allowed, IMO. Look for diver scallops, they really are better. Also watch for Chinese scallops. IMO, I would insist on North Atlantic sea scallops (Gulf of Maine & Canadian Maritimes). Scallops that are without any additives are called "dry packed" while scallops that are treated with sodium tripolyphosphate (STP) are called "wet packed". STP causes the scallops to absorb moisture prior to the freezing process, thereby getting a better price per unit of weight. The freezing process takes about two days. You can see the difference immediately at your fish monger's. Dry scallops are just as it sounds...dry. The others are gloppy looking & quite disgusting. /tricia

What can I say, this has been the weirdest growing season ever, Brita's Foot Long has really produced lots of beans, lots of seed and is finished pole pulled. Barksdale planted the same day is just flowering now and starting to produce pods, mind you the vines have gone wild, gone up the pole, down the pole, up again and reaching out for anything it could grab hold of like my clothesline. Several other varieties are behaving the same way like they're on steroids. Grandma Nellie's and Frank Barnett are also finished, got a bumper crop of seed from 8 plants planted of both of these. Had a bit of a boo boo with Rattlesnake and Louisiana Snap, the seed looks identical and before I realized what I'd done I threw the first dried seed from L.S. in with the Rattlesnake seed I'd already collected, dumb, dumb, dumb. Oh well lots more pods to pick of Rattlesnake so threw that lot of seed in a jar in the kitchen to be used in some recipe or other. Had a couple of failures but the sample of seed given me could have been old Chevrier Vert didn't germinate and Flaro French Flageolet I ended up with one plant. Surprisingly enough I have a tub of Fagiolina del Traimento producing beans, Yancheng Bush looks healthy enough but hasn't begin to flower yet. The runner I'm growing this year Aeron Purple Star has produced fantastically for me, we've had a few meals and now the rest have been left for seed. I have a few pods that didn't turn Purple and as the vines are so intertwined I couldn't find which plant to pull :). Next year I'll only plant half as many plants with a vulgaris variety in between so I can rouge out anything that only produces green pods, mind you that will probably be too late due to the bees. I'll only plant seed from purple pods and keep my fingers crossed. The first Big Mama I planted turned out to be a purple bush bean not a pole variety, have no idea what they are so will scrap them. I managed to find another source for this Big Mama, although planted late it's almost at the top of it's pole and is flowering so there's hope for this one even if I have to put an umbrella over it in the fall. It seems this is another heirloom that is endangered so will grow it again next year. Bosnian Pole is producing lots of beans, not quite at the full bean stage, my trial of the 3 different Tennessee Cutshorts is just about ready for picking and comparing and the samples of quite a few of the other beans I'm growing, seed already picked. I'll come back later with final results, lots of beans at different stages of development yet to report on. This has been one H*ll of a summer I have to admit the heat has been knocking the stuffing out of me, yeah I know the 90's are just warm to some of you but when you are used to most of the summer being in the low 70's it makes a difference. On the the other hand when we were in Arizona one December temps were in the mid 70's during the day and we were all hitting the pool at the motel we were staying at :) the residents all thought we were crazy. They were all sitting around bundled up and some even wore socks to bed at night to keep their feet warm, or so we were told. it's all what you're used too. Annette