spring onions

my grandpa is 82 years old- give or take a few years. he has spend a large portion of his life traveling. he started his gypsy life as a riding performer on his motorcycle. have you ever seen those fellas who ride their motorcycles speedily in circles in a metal, circular cage? that was my gramps. he was a whippersnapper to say the least. he then traveled about the world while working for the navy. from my understanding, he has been to several european countries, but probably not under the best of circumstances. he came back to the states after ww2. somewhere in those travels, my grandmother entered the scene, and gave the gift of gardening and really good food.

my daughter and i took a little road trip this weekend to rural wisconsin, where we met up with my gramps. he was in wisconsin for a little visit after a long drive from mission texas. i grew up in rural wisconsin, along with my parents, siblings, lots of cool aunts and uncles, and my grandparents. my gramps really doesn't get along with the winter months anymore, so for decades he has escaped to his second home in texas. while my grandparents were in wisconsin, my grandmother had established an extraordinary garden. fresh produce from gram's garden was a summer staple. as a child i spent a great deal of time weeding the garden at my grandmother's side, grazing my way across the garden. my grandpa would always try to convince my brother's and i to eat the spring onions, which were always too sassy for our young pallets to endure. my grams took the gardening with her when she was in texas for the winter months and grew various chilies and citrus fruits. no matter where my grandmother was, she was sure to have something growing.

this weekend, my gramps came with armloads of citrus fruits from his texas crop. he also had a small handful of those spring green onions from my grandmother's garden in wisconsin. i happily ate the spring onions with him this year. of coarse i then wandered into that part of my brain that thinks about food 100% of the time, and i started putting together options for those sassy spring onions. instantly, spring onion oil came to mind. macerate those onions with some great olive oil, season lightly with sea salt, dried chilis, and maybe a shot of lemon juice or zest. drizzle on everything. it would make a great flavor booster for soups, risottos, pastas, and a fried egg sandwich with grilled bacon and roasted tomatoes. belly up!