Vidalia

Mountains of sweet onions just waiting to be eaten

Oh my.  If you've never experienced the wonder that is the Vidalia onion, you're probably curious as to how anyone could get excited about an onion.  Truth be told, I get excited about a good many ingredients, but these things are extra special yummy.  It seems the sandy, somewhat rocky soil in and around Vidalia is blessed with a naturally low sulfur content which keeps the onions from developing that stinging, almost hot quality that most onions possess.  It also means less gas for the consumer, which ain't a bad thing either.  Vidalia onions contain a higher natural sugar content than most apples and you truly can pick one up and eat it just like an apple.  Some of you may remember my face on the Food Network when I took a bite of what was SUPPOSED to be a Vidalia onion, but in fact was an onion cast from the bowels of Hades.  It was by far the hottest damned onion I've ever eaten.  I should've been wary of a Vidalia in January, but I'm not always none for my quick intellect.

We stayed with the Stanley family who are third generation farmers in Lyons, GA just outside of Vidalia.  Apart from being extremely nice people, they're also foodies and took us to an amazing restaurant in downtown Lyons called Elements.  You'd have to see this place to believe it and even then, you won't believe it's in the sleepy downtown of Lyons.  If you find yourself in South Georgia, you owe it to yourself to go there.  In addition to farming, the Stanleys also produce food products from their famed, certified sweet onions at their Vidalia Valley processing plant.  They make salsas (the Peach Salsa is incredibly delicious), BBQ sauces, relishes and such, plus you can order fresh onions from them.  I suggest you get some...now!

Neat Wheat!

One of the things that surprised me about Vidalia was just how much wheat was being grown there.  There's just something magical about standing in a field of wheat.  Beautiful stuff.  

One delicious onion after another...

I'll leave you with a picture of a field of onions, which to me is just downright impressive.  Delicious onions stretch out as far as the eye can see, and then some!  It's onion season people...let's eat!

More soon...gesundheit!

Hans