How to Saute an Onion

I am no chef, but my understanding of the word "saute" is to put some butter in a pan with onions or mushrooms... or garlic... or etc. You get my point. It's basically like frying it (not deep-frying, you don't want to cover the onion or mushrooms... or garlic... or etc). You can tell an onion is done when it is tender or transparent. 

Let me break it down, step by step (day by day, a fresh start over, a different hand to play...)

• Chop an onion (this is the saddest part)
• Preheat a pan, sauce pan, skillet... something with walls so the butter doesn't leak all over your stove. 
• Put a pat of butter in your pan. (how much is a pat of butter, you ask? It's about a teaspoon, but I say it's a little more than that, like a half a tablespoon)
• Put the onion in the pan
• Stir it up occasionally. I always use my trusty metal spatula. I will be so sad when that things dies. Here it is after a dangerous struggle with a baked sweet potato:

• When the onion is transparent (I'll post pictures the next time I saute an onion, shouldn't be too long), it's done. 

That's all there is to it, folks! Mushrooms are similar, they don't turn transparent. My favorite way to tell if they're done