I'm summing the rest of this week up in one big post because I have an issue to discuss:

-Sunday night was fish, snapper to be specific, cooked with crispy garlic from last week's Minimalist column. As last week's Minimalist column almost always is, it was quick and simple and excellent.

-Monday I did the shrimp with lime cilantro butter from the new Houston Jr. League book. It was delicious, too. You can't go wrong with shrimp and butter.

-Last night was zucchini-lemon soup and artichokes with herb mayonnaise from The Cook and The Gardener. I need to really stop cooking things that don't leap out at me. The soup looked good, but wasn't begging to be made, and it was fine, but not great. The mayonnaise was ridiculously rich and delicious. The best I've made yet. Amanda Hesser knows mayonnaise.

So here's my problem.

Onions. The chopping of.

Problem A is that I know the Way to Chop onions- the not quite to the root vertical slices, the horizontal slices, and then the mince. Have I ever actually successfully done this without it falling apart? No. So that's the problem of the first part.

Problem B is the crying issue. Chopping even one onion makes me weep. Profusely. Jeff wants to get me a food processor for Christmas to fix this, but I read somewhere (I think Cook's Illustrated) that you shouldn't chop onions in a food processor and besides it seems wasteful to do for just one onion. But the alternative, refrigerating the onions before chopping, is probably just as bad for them.

So which is the better onion investment- a food processor, or a better knife and a knife skills class?