Microwave Baked Onions in Tomato & Basil Sauce

This is an easy recipe that can be a side dish as half an onion, or the main meal with more halves and the addition of some extra grains/pasta/etc to soak up the sauce. No animal products or gluten required.

Serves 3-6 (half or a whole onion) and costs about AU$2 (as of November 2025).

Based on the “Baked Onions” recipe in an old Family Circle Kids Microwave Cooking book I had as a kid.

Microwave Baked Onions in Tomato & Basil Sauce

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didyouknowthatyoucanhaveonlysixty-threecharactersinadomainlabel.net is moving to didyouknowthatyoucanhaveonlysixty-threecharactersinadomainlabel.dylanleigh.net

To save US$20 per year on a domain name for a 20 year old joke, I’m moving the three sentence index page at http://didyouknowthatyoucanhaveonlysixty-threecharactersinadomainlabel.net/ to a subdomain of this site, http://didyouknowthatyoucanhaveonlysixty-threecharactersinadomainlabel.dylanleigh.net/ . There’s a redirect in place at the old site for now, but I’ll probably let the domain expire when it is due for renewal.

How to extract an Android APK off an old device and install it to a new one with ADB

The old OpenIntents shopping list app I have used on my Android phones since around 2011 is no longer available on either the Google Play Store or the F-Droid FOSS Android Repository. I’ve tried several alternatives since getting a new phone earlier this year but much prefer the old OI app so was quite annoyed that it’s gone.

After a few months of struggling with inferior alternatives, today I realised I could simply pull the app off an old phone with ADB and put it on the new one.

The Android Debug Bridge (ADB) is a commandline tool for debugging Android apps, but can also be used for backups, file transfer from PC to/from phone, a remote shell from PC to phone and other purposes.

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Little Note re Vegan Egg Substitutes

Most “egg substitutes” only work well for a specific use case of eggs, and not for others. E.g:

  • Aquafaba (chick pea water) whips up like egg whites and can be used to make sponge cakes, merengues or similar fluffy sweets.

  • Chia or flaxseed/linseed are a good replacement binder for muffins and denser cakes (and good for fibre and protein too).

  • Tapioca starch and baking powder can also work to give a bit of leavening for muffins (McKensie brand vegan baking egg subtitute is this).

  • Ground cashews and/or avocado can be used for some richer desserts like mousses.

  • Kala Namak, a dark sulphurous salt which adds the smell and flavour of egg yolk, but doesn’t add texture like the above stuff.

  • Tumeric is often used to add a bit of yellow colour to make vegan omelettes and scrambles look like eggs.

I haven’t yet seen any subsitutes that are a straight drop in for all purposes of eggs, usually you have to use several depending on the recipe.

Former MP Kathryn Hay given suspended prison term for abuse of former husband

From the ABC news article - excerpts from the victim impact statement:

The abuse has had long-lasting effects on my mental health,” he wrote.

I struggle to maintain existing relationships, let alone form new ones.”

Mr Richardson said he had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and described “overwhelming” panic attacks.

The trauma continues to affect my daily functioning,”

The court also heard Hay was previously convicted of assaulting Mr Richardson, after a member of the public reportedly witnessed Hay slap her then-husband in a carpark and called the police.