"OnionSoup" news and stories

• A recipe for soupe à l'oignon gratinée, or French onion soup, done restaurant Comme Ça-style.
• David Mas Masumoto writes about his 80-acre organic peach, nectarine and raisin farm, and shares his lyrical thoughts on peach farming.
• Talk about local -- restaurants are starting their own gardens to help supply their diverse menus.
• The wine of the week, a 2007 Willi Schaefer Riseling Mosel Qualitätswein, is a prime summer bottle.
• Though their city may be warm year round, Los Angelenos also have farmers market fever. The Times checks out notable pre-prepared foods at the markets, provides tips for to creating a meal from a bounty of titillating ingredients, shares a list of current ripe-for-the-pickin' fruits and details the move to bring the markets to hospitals.

I can't remember ever having a French onion soup that I loved. Sure, it was a dish I'd eat without complaint. But never have I longed for a cheese-crusted bowl of sweet oniony butteriness. Until now.

I was idly flipping through Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, my favorite coffee table cookbook, when I came across this recipe. I had a huge bag of onions and I was intrigued: evidently, Jacques preferred white wine for "extra flavor" in his onion soup, while Julia Child preferred red. As I identify more with Julia than Jacques - and I had a bottle of red wine at the ready - I figured, why not? Off went my hubby to the market to get Gruyere, and some more wine, just for good measure.

Little did I know I was only an hour away from addiction.