Boil some new potatoes, and while still warm pour over some French dressing and sprinkle on some dill seeds. Serve warm or cold. Add some seeds to breads (use like sesame or poppyseeds in the mixture, or on top); in teas, butters, cakes, breads, scones (try a dill and cheese scone!), soups, with fish, in pickles, in salads. Try sprinkling some dill seeds in you next batch of cooked cabbage instead of caraway seeds. Don't be too generous - the flavour can be strong! Broccoli with Dill 500g broccoli, cooked in boiling water until tender 2 teaspoons dill seed salt and pepper to taste 1 cup sour cream 1 cup breadcrumbs dill leaves for garnish Place broccoli in an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with dill seed, season. Pour sour cream over, top with breadcrumbs. Bake at 180C until are browned. Serve garnished with dill leaves. Cauliflower may be substituted for the broccoli. Baked Cucumbers 4 cucumbers, peeled and quartered, lengthwise 2 tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon crushed dill seed 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper 1 teaspoon salt Place a layer of cucumbers in the bottom of an 20x20x5cm baking dish. Dot with half the butter. Mix together the dill, pepper and salt. Sprinkle half over the cucumbers. Add a second layer of cucumbers, dot with butter, and sprinkle with remaining seasonings. Bake uncovered at 200°C for 1 hour or until done. Stir cucumbers lightly once, pushing the top layers to the bottom and lifting the bottom cucumbers to the top. Serve hot. Mixed herbs may be used instead of dill seed. Dill Bread 1 packet yeast 1/4 cup warm water 1 cup creamed cottage cheese 2 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon minced onion 1 tablespoon butter 2 teaspoons dill seed 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 1 egg, well-beaten 2 1/4-2 1/2 cups flour Soften yeast in warm water. Combine warm water, cottage cheese, sugar, onion, butter, dill seed, salt, bicarbonate of soda and egg; mix well. Fold flour into other ingredients to form a stiff dough; cover and let rise till about double in bulk. Stir down dough and turn it into a bread pan. Allow to rise till double in bulk again. Bake at 180°C for 30-40 minutes or until done. Or add some dill seeds to your favourite Beer Bread recipe. Sicilian Turkey Sausages 5 kg minced turkey meat 3½ teaspoons of whole dill seeds 3½ teaspoons of powdered fennel seed 1½ teaspoons of chilli powder 3½ teaspoons of salt 3½ teaspoons of black pepper 3½ teaspoons of diced and crushed garlic Mix all ingredients and refrigerate for 24 hours. Stuff into pig sausage skins and twist as desired. Baked Onions with Dill: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Baked-Onions-with-Dill Use dill seeds to season vegetables like carrots and pumpkin while cooking. Or stir them with butter into the veges after cooking. You may prefer to grind your seeds to a powder before adding them to baked goods. It makes a good salt substitute. In fact, you can substitute dill seeds in just about any recipe calling for caraway or fennel seeds. To make Dill Tea (otherwise known as Gripe Water, often given to babies for colic - one teaspoonful per dose) Often used by nursing mothers to stimulate milk supply (and babies get the benefit of it by not getting colicky!): Pour a cup of boiling water onto 1-2 teaspoonfuls of the gently crushed seeds and infuse for 10-15 minutes. Strain out the seeds. For the treatment of flatulence, take a cup before meals. If you don't like any of those ideas, these might appeal. Hang seed-heads in the home, over doorways, and above cradles provide protection. Add dill to your bath to make you irresistible to your lover.

Ken - I have one fairly decent dill plant - (I was drooling over your picture of them), but will settle for what I can get. As my pickles are almost gone - I just fermented the last half-gallon a few days ago - so think I will gather some fresh seeds from that one dill plant and do a little "wild" sowing. (Imagine that - sowing wild oats - er - dill - at my age too). Ken were you able to get any plants in at all after that nasty rainy weather? My summer stuff is about fried - after a couple of hot afternoons - except for some sorry looking cherry toms and about 8 - 10 assorted peppers - 2 of which went through a winter dormant period - hot types I think. So - I'm taking a breather until September, when the fruit will be coming ripe in the local mountain fruit stands. Then hope to "do" a lot of juice - apples, peach, pears in jars. Squeezed another 2 pints of kraut in - now fermenting in the pantry, along with some zucchini pickles. Just my 2 c's. Bejay

Green Grandma, I don't have the original version so I can't compare. This latest version has two chapters that deal with fermentation; one called Fermented Pickles and the other is Sauerkraut, Kimchi, and Other Cabbage Pickles. This second one contains both brined and vinegared recipes. If it's any help, here is one of her recipes. Mustardy Dill Pickles Makes about 3 quarts 1 handful grape or sour cherry leaves About 4 pounds 3 to 5 inch pickling cucumbers, blossom ends removed Leafy tops of 4 celery stalks 1 large onion sliced 1/2 cup chopped fresh horseradish 1/4 cup whole yellow mustard seeds 4 to 6 dill heads 6 Tablespoons pickling salt 2 quarts water Lay half the leaves in the bottom of a gallon jar. Layer the cucumbers in the jar with the celery tops, onion, horseradish, mustard seed and dill. Dissolve the salt in water and pour over the cucumbers to cover them. Spread the remaining leaves on top. At this point, of course, you know what to do with the Harsch. She says fermentation bubbling should start within three days and the pickles should be ready in two to three weeks. (check them after two). She then suggests refrigerating them or processing. And by the way, I stand corrected: She says half-sours aren't prematurely taken from the brine. They are cured quickly in a low-salt brine, which hastens the fermentation so the pickles never get very sour and shouldn't be processed. (they're ready in a week) I envy you the sauerkraut. I'll be attempting it for the first time this fall if I can keep the cabbage worms off my plants. I've heard it's hard to make since the kraut must be cut very uniformly to give it the right texture. I sure hope that kraut board I bought at the antique shop works. Finally, if you aren't too busy, could you share your fermented beets recipe with me? I'd really like to try that. Thanks.

Another recipe question--this one is from assorted Extension websites (Missouri, Colorado) so it would normally be considered tested/safe. But it has less than a 50/50 ratio of vinegar to water. What makes that OK in this case? Is it the brining? I'd love to understand the chemistry a bit better! * 8 pounds of 3-inch to 5-inch pickling cucumbers * 2 gallons water * 1-1/4 cups canning or pickling salt * 1-1/2 quarts vinegar (5 percent) * 1/4 cup sugar * 2 quarts water * 2 tablespoons whole mixed pickling spice * 3 tablespoons whole mustard seed (1 teaspoon per pint jar) * 14 heads fresh dill (2 heads per pint jar) or 4-1/2 tablespoons dill seed (1-1/2 teaspoons per pint jar) Yield: 9 pints or 4 quarts Procedure: Cut 1/16-inch slice off blossom ends and discard, but leave 1/4 inch of cucumber stem ends attached. Dissolve 3/4 cup salt in two gallons of water. Pour brine water over cucumbers and let stand 12 hours. Drain. Combine vinegar, 1/2 cup salt, sugar and two quarts water. Add mixed pickling spices tied in a spice bag or cheesecloth bag. Heat to boiling. Fill jars with pickles. Add 1 teaspoon mustard seed and 1-1/2 heads fresh dill (or 1-1/2 teaspoons of dill seed) per pint. Cover with boiling liquid; leave 1/2-inch headspace. Adjust lids, and process jars as described in Table 1. Or, use the low-temperature pasteurization treatment.