When I think about the movie “Julie & Julia” – which I love! – the image that first come to mind is Meryl Streep standing beside a mountain of diced onions. Fifty pounds of them piled on her counter. Julia Child had successfully learned to use her French knife to dice an onion.  I can do that. And when I do it the onions are lovely small even pieces…with more than a few scattered on the floor and flung to the far reaches of my counter.  Alas.

So I have a way that works better for me.

(David says he thinks Grandpa Frank does it this way too, and he is the one who pointed out that this method keeps the tears away because the onion fumes are confined.)

You can use your french knife, or a paring knife or whatever blade you are most comfortable with. Peel the onion and cut it in half. Place the cut side down on the counter, and hold it firmly in place. Now cut it into thin slices.

Turn the onion, still holding it firmly against the counter, and cut across the slices you have just made.

Voilá!  You have a little pile of perfectly diced onions and nothing to cry about. And your floor is clean.

Now about those smelly hands…

I bought a magic stainless steel “soap bar” in a kitchen store a few years ago and it really works.  Just rub your hands with this stainless steel oval under running water and the onion smell is gone – really like magic!Or, as I have recently found out, you don’t even need the magic stainless steel soap. You can rub a stainless steel spoon on your hands under running water and it does the same thing.