Try chopping this without crying

**Honey** · September 19th, 2009, 01:08 AM

This stunning giant onion had one green-fingered guest crying tears of laughter at a flower show.
The massive vegetable, bigger than most people's heads, caused a storm at the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show.
It was entered in the giant onion competition and looks likely to beat off all the other entrants to first place.
And this woman visitor (pictured below) was stunned when she was walking among the vegetables and spotted the huge onion.

Freak vegetable: A woman visitor at Harrogate Autumn Flower Show admires a finalist's onion in The Biggest Onion Championship.

She needed both hands to pick the weighty onion up from the table.
And she was so amazed by the size of the vegetable that she found it hard to put it down again.
The woman spent a few minutes staring at the onion in disbelief as other guests flocked to get a glimpse of the creation.
She lifted the onion above her shoulders and was amazed to see that it was so big that it covered the whole of her head.
One visitor said: 'She was really taken by the large onion and could not get over how big it was.
'It was without doubt the main attraction of the show.'

Know your onions: The woman clasps the huge onion in the air and realises it's bigger than her head

Gardening enthusiasts have been descending on Harrogate in their thousands over the three-day Autumn Flower Show, which began on Thursday.
The event, which runs until Sunday, is expected to attract about 35,000 people to the Great Yorkshire Showground to view the highest quality of blooms, fruit and vegetables on display.
Organised by the North of England Horticultural Society (NEHS), Harrogate Flower Show brings together some of the best of gardening talent and horticultural greats from across the country, with some remarkable displays as a result.
As well as the heaviest onion competition, this year's highlight is the bicentenary birthday celebrations of the Bramley apple.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1214511/Giant-onion-green-fingered-enthusiast-crying-tears-laughter.html#ixzz0RWuljwUU

**Belt Up** · September 19th, 2009, 01:57 AM

A metal spoon in the mouth stops the tears while chopping onions, sounds daft but it really does work.....maybe not with that beast of a thing though!

**Moongirl** · September 19th, 2009, 11:04 AM

^^I'll have to try that; my eyes usually burn and tear up to the point where I can't even see sometimes. I have to walk away from the onions and rinse my hands a few times while I'm chopping them...

**angelais** · September 19th, 2009, 01:17 PM

If the onions have been refrigerated it stops the tears as well.

**Moongirl** · September 19th, 2009, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by angelais

If the onions have been refrigerated it stops the tears as well.

My onions are always refrigerated, and it still doesn't help...

**msdeb** · September 19th, 2009, 03:16 PM

Originally Posted by Honey

It was entered in the giant onion competition and looks likely to beat off all the other entrants to first place.

yeah, i'm twelve.

**atrayubrandy** · September 19th, 2009, 06:33 PM

I have never heard the metal spoon in mouth technique. However, lighting a candle near your cutting board is supposed to burn off the fumes that make your eyes burn and tear up.

**C_is_for_Cookie** · September 19th, 2009, 08:01 PM

Just looking at that onion makes me cry.

One of my co-workers suggested to hold the onion under running water while cleaning off the outside leafs, it worked for me.

**MontanaMama** · September 19th, 2009, 09:10 PM

Usually just running cold water when I start to tear up stops it completely.

**heart_leigh** · September 19th, 2009, 11:31 PM

Don't laugh. I've worn goggles.

But, hey, it works!

**cmmdee** · September 23rd, 2009, 03:37 PM

Originally Posted by MontanaMama

Usually just running cold water when I start to tear up stops it completely.

Interesting. I always use warm/hot water but no matter, I am always crying!

Sidenote: I love the smell of onions sauteeing in an oiled up pan. Yum.

**JuicyLucy** · October 19th, 2009, 09:28 AM

How many harmful chemicals has that onion been exposed to?

**atrayubrandy** · October 19th, 2009, 10:37 AM

My husband and I got an onion chopper for a wedding present and oh my goodness it is the greatest thing ever!! It's basically like an apple slicer but it cuts the onion in to tiny perfectly chopped squares within seconds. It does take a little muscle to get the onion to go through the blades but it is so much easier than dicing.