Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Dried dill. Not because I hate it- quite to the contrary, I absolutely love dill - but a trick I learned from my grandmother is that dill is much better frozen than dried. So at the end of every summer I get big bunches of dill from the market, wash it, dry thoroughly, chop, dump in a container and freeze.

I read somewhere that dill in tiny amounts in a dish can act as a natural flavour enhancer similar to MSG. Not a clue if its true or not, but an interesting idea.

Still can't bring myself to throw out the jar of dried dill I acquired somewhere.

Hot mulled apple cider

My boyfriend and I never used to plan our meals, but we found that the busier we got, the less healthy we ate. So we now sit down on Sundays and plan out dinners for Monday-Thursday. The weekends we tend to just go with the flow.

We save alot of time knowing what we are going to have for supper- whomever gets home first can start cooking right away. Plus I fine we are better at using up what ingredients we have- less stuff seems to go in the garbage.

I wish we had more time to be spontaneous cooks during the week- but at least we have the weekends!

ketchup sandwiches. Wonderbread spread with ketchup. The thought makes me gag now :(

Seafood and cooked fish (but I love sushi- go figure).

The sound of freshly made tea being poured into a cup. I begin to relax after a tough day at that sound.

Yuppers. For the first time in 5 years I'm actually home during the summer and have a place to grow things.

On our tiny balcony we are going to do tomatoes (plum and cherry), a hot pepper plant, lettuce (leafy and butterhead), basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, maybe tarragon, green onions and if there is room- peas or beans.

I can't wait until it warms up enough to start potting.