French Onion Soup....My new found love!

So.... this is one of life's little treasures that I hadn't ever known about until I met Brian. You know "those" foods that you "just know" that you don't like. You've never tried it, have never even looked at the recipe, or ingredients but for some reason it just never sounded appealing to you? Well this was it for me. In fact, I remember a day when Brian said "just try it" and I was like "ahhhhh, nah thanks" (yep, snobbing sounding JUST like that), because I just "knew" I wasn't going to like it. 
 Fast forward a few months and I was at a local eatery with a few of my friends and wouldn't you know the forbidden French Onion Soup came with my meal. I'm a very frugal person by nature so I was NOT going to waste the soup. In fact it even smelled a little good when the waitress brought it to me. So I decided to give it a try.... WOWZA, WOW-WEE! I WAS IN LOVE! I couldn't stop raving about it and couldn't wait until I got home to tell Brian how much I loved it! Oh yeah and to swallow my pride a little in telling him that I was wrong and should have listened to him and tried it MONTHS before that! From that moment on my search was on for a good recipe. Brian told me how many times it was hit and miss with this soup and recipes and that it might be downright difficult to find one that tastes as good as most restaurants serve, BUT tell a woman that it can't be done or might be not be possible and it WILL become her life goal to find one that defies the odds! This soup recipe might just be IT! Brian agrees and we have made it twice since finding it, it is THAT good! It comes from an original recipe located on the allrecipes.com page and can be found here. The best news of all is that aside from the prep work it's a slow cooker recipe so you can go about your business (like online shopping - oops did I say that out loud?) while it cooks! I modify it slightly and will share the recipe with you all below! Enjoy!   

Slow Cooker French Onion Soup (my version modified from allrecipes.com)
6 TBSP of unsalted butter  4 Large Yellow Onions (I used 6 medium yellow onions) cut into slices and rings separated 1 TBSP of white sugar 2 cloves of minced garlic (I used 2 TBSP of minced garlic in the jar, because you see I'm lazy like that..) 1/2 Cup of cooking sherry 7 Cups of beef broth (the original recipe calls for reduced sodium but I just bought the generic and then omitted the salt) 1/4 tsp of dried thyme  (Original recipe calls for a bay leaf which I didn't have and we honestly didn't miss it) 8 slices of French bread Provolone, Swiss, mozzarella and freshly grated Parmesan to taste (and to garnish on top).

Directions
Heat butter in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat; cook and stir onions until they become translucent, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle onions with sugar; reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring constantly, until onions are soft and browned, at least 30 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Stir sherry into onion mixture and scrape bottom of pot to dissolve small bits of browned food from the pot. Transfer onions into a slow cooker and pour in beef broth. Stir in thyme (as well as bay leaf and salt if desired). Cover cooker, set on High, and cook 4 to 6 hours. If desired, set on Low and cook 8 to 10 hours.
About 10 minutes before serving, set oven rack about 8 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet.
Bake bread slices until toasted, 1 to 2 minutes per side.
Combine Swiss, Provolone, Parmesan, and Mozzarella cheeses in a bowl, tossing lightly. Fill oven-safe soup crocks or bowl  3/4 full of onion soup and float a bread slice in each bowl (I chose to chop up my bread slices into cubes but whatever tickles your fancy will work!). Top with about 2 tablespoons of cheese mixture per serving (or more if desired... and I do!). 
Place filled bowls onto a baking sheet and broil until cheese topping is lightly browned and bubbling, about 2 minutes.

~Stacy