Marks & Spencers Onion Rings

I was in M&S, Notting Hill branch this lunchtime, and purchased two different kinds on M&S Onion Rings.

Firstly we have the Count On Us... Onion Rings which are less than 3% fat and only 70 calories per pack, but the pack is small, only 20g. They are very light yellow in colouring. They taste very different to your standard onion ring flavour... a smokey-burnt-like taste. There is a strong dried onion taste, similar to what you get in the taste of Paxo-type stuff. I'm not too keen on the smokey-onion flavour, so I give them a 4/10 rating.

Then we have the regular full-fat M&S Onion Rings fried onion flavour potato snack. They come in a huge 45g bag. These are a slightly darker yellow colour, but still not the orangey colour that we see often in other brands. I really like them. They have a nice flavour that isn't too strong and over powering. These get a 7/10 rating.

Neither variety leave you with smelly orange fingers when you've reached the end of the packet. Notice the difference in colouring.

I know that M&S do another variey of their Count On Us... Onion Rings, which are again, low fat but are Pickled Onion flavour. They are lovely, really nice.
Unfortunately my local Notting Hill Branch are not stocking them at the moment.

Onion toxicity in dogs and cats

Artical from vetinfo4dogs.com

Kim asks:
"I read somewhere onions rings are poisonous for dogs yet onions are often ingredients in dog treats. Is it just raw onions that are so dangerous? What about meat that has been cooked with onions is this dangerous? What are some things that are toxic for dogs besides chocolate and onions? Also I own several cats are there foods toxic to them as well?"

Doctor Mike Richards, DVM replies:

"Dogs develop hemolytic anemia if they eat enough onions rings. I don't think that it matters too much whether the onions are cooked or not. The quantity of onions required is high enough that dogs can generally tolerate small doses of onions without any problem and moderate amounts of onion without clinically apparent disease, even though there may be measurable changes on lab test results.

Cats are probably a little more sensitive to onion ring toxicity than dogs are. I can't find an exact quantity of onions required to cause toxicity problems in dogs, but there are several case reports of onion ring toxicity and they involve whole onions or sizable portions of chopped onions (like a cup or more). I think that feeding dogs meat that has been cooked with onions is pretty safe but you might want to avoid giving them the broth from around something like pot-roast if there were a lot of onions used in the cooking, just to be safe.

Large amounts of garlic will produce similar toxicity problems in both dogs and cats. I think that the amount required is not likely to be eaten by a cat but there are probably a few dogs who would lap up a container of spilled garlic.

Among common foods, the only other significant toxicity that I can think of are recent reports of toxicity from eating grapes and raisins that have been reported in dogs."

spar bunions!

my fondest OR memory is of the 36p spar onion rings in bebington merseyside, next to the oval sports centre (where chariots of fire was filmed!) - they where my post swim treat - during the 1990-1 onion ring season

never bettered :-)

Red Mill onion rings in a pub in Angel

This is Bob and John enjoying some Red Mill onion rings in a pub in Angel on a wet August Saturday.

Bob thought the Red Mill brand were rather salty, and has definately tasted better from other brands. 5/10 rating.

John thought they made excellent earrings, (he used to wear an earring when he was a student at Leeds university, but now he's a dad, and doesn't any more).

Onion Ring Snacks are ace!

Yes indeed... Onion Rings Snacks are ace!

Fortuantely, every supermarket chain in the UK realises this fact and do their own versions for us all to enjoy. This came up in a discussion about Onion Rings with a few friends recently, and we have since realised that Onion Rings are a very popular crisp snack. I have since asked around and I reckon about 90% said they love them, the the rest weren't bothered either way.
No one yet in my little survey has said they don't like them... which is a good thing.

So, I want to get people talking about Onion Rings by getting this Blog going.

So lets go...