Friday, September 27, 2013

Caramelizing a whole lot of onions

Since I work from home, I have the luxury of doing some cooking that doesn't require much attention during the day. I took advantage of that to caramelize 5 onions.

The real trick to getting good results is just time and waiting, but I also used 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder to get it browner, and at the end I deglazed with water to get the fond at the bottom of the pan. Want to see the results?

2 min in:



Photo: Onions before caramelization

30 min:
Photo: 30 min later, starting to get somewhere

1 hr:
Photo: More than 1 hr in, almost there

1.5 hr:
Photo: 1.5 hours, should I do another half hour?

2 hr:


Photo: 2 hrs. Finally done!


I am glad I could just do emails and calls and occasionally stir the onions. The results are so much better than the ingredients going in.

Here is what I ended up with, 5 onions became just 1 cup of caramelized mush:
IMAG0020

Looks pretty good though, right?

I am planning on using it in this mujadarah recipe, which I am going to add some kale to just to make it superduperspecial healthy.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Small Diamond Hoop Earrings (take 2)

Remember when I said (2 years ago) that I wanted little diamond hoop earrings to wear everyday to replace a cheapo pair that the rhinestones starting falling out of?
Well I never actually got them and I still want them.

Here are some more recent options from Overstock that I like:

Miadora 14k White Gold 1/4ct TDW Diamond Hoop Earrings (H-I, I1-I2)  Miadora 14k White Gold 1/4ct TDW Diamond Hoop Earrings (H-I, I1-I2)

$284 Miadora 14k White Gold 1/4ct TDW Diamond Hoop Earrings (H-I, I1-I2)
Earring dimensions: 2.3 mm wide x 13.9 mm long x 14.3 mm deep
These have a straight post and white diamonds in front and in the inside.




Miadora 14k White Gold 1/2ct TDW Black and White Diamond Hoop Earrings (H-I, I1-I2)$459 Miadora 14k White Gold 1/2ct TDW Black and White Diamond Hoop Earrings (H-I, I1-I2)
Earring dimensions: 2.25 mm wide x 17.5 mm in diameter
These have white diamonds in front and black diamonds inside the back. 




Kabella 14k White Gold 1/6ct TDW Diamond Hoop Earrings (G-H, I1-I2)

$166 Kabella 14k White Gold 1/6ct TDW Diamond Hoop Earrings (G-H, I1-I2)
Earring dimensions: 1.5 mm wide x 12 mm long x 11 mm deep
These got a bad review for being tiny, but tiny is what I am going for! They have diamonds on the front but not the inside.




$154 Auriya 10k White Gold 1/4ct TDW 12MM Diamond Hoop Earrings (J-K, I2-I3)
Earring dimensions: 2 mm wide x 12 mm long
I like the milgrain sides of the channels, they match my engagement ring.



10k White Gold 1/4ct TDW Diamond Hoop Earrings (G-H, I1-I2)
$170 10k White Gold 1/4ct TDW Diamond Hoop Earrings (G-H, I1-I2)
Earring dimensions: 10 mm wide x 10 mm long
These look very small, but I don't like the plain channel setting.



Kabella 14k White Gold 1/5ct TDW Diamond Hoop Earrings (H-I, I3)

$247 Kabella 14k White Gold 1/5ct TDW Diamond Hoop Earrings (H-I, I3)
Hoops measure 12.1 mm long x 1.5 mm wide x 12.1 mm deep
These are pretty good for a basic version of what I am looking for.




14k White Gold 1/4ct TDW Princess Diamond Cuff Hoop Earrings (H-I, I1-I2)
$346 14k White Gold 1/4ct TDW Princess Diamond Cuff Hoop Earrings (H-I, I1-I2)
Earring dimensions: 2.55 mm wide x 10.30 mm long
Small and a little chunkier.



Two from Etsy:
Round Diamond Hoop Earrings, 14k White Gold Ladies Earrings, Ladies Fine Jewelry
$350 Round Diamond Hoop Earrings, 14k White Gold Ladies Earrings, Ladies Fine Jewelry G - H / SI
LENGTH: 11.0mm  WIDTH: 1.9mm
These look nice and shiny.



Handmae 14k white gold Diamond hoop earrings 1/2 carat engraved
$1,075 Handmade 14k white gold Diamond hoop earrings 1/2 carat engraved
7/16" long by 3/16" wide (at the widest point)
These have a different look and a different backing, but I think they are pretty too.

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