Alfalfa Sprouts, Dill, and Celery

What do these things have in common?
alfalfa sprouts, dill, celery

They are all best when fresh.
They are rarely (if ever) found in Balikpapan.
I brought all three, in marvelous and fresh condition, in my luggage from Jakarta back to Balikpapan!


Alfalfa sprouts: Had them on salad last night ... will again tonight!

Dill:
We're having tuna steaks with dill sauce for dinner tonight. How can you live on an island in the Pacific and not have access to dill to go with all of that fish!? It's dreadful! I'm going to try to dry the rest of the huge clump I bought. And I've been trying to grow it ... the first batch was ruined by our driver, Soagi, in his quest to be helpful. I now have new seeds and will try again! (The first seeds were from a friend who brought the seeds from Russia!)

Celery:
Ate some just plain (for yesterday's breakfast, even!) Am saving some for sticks with cream cheese for tomorrow. (The cream cheese was frozen at the shop so it'll be crumbly but that's better than nothing!) The rest of the humongous stalk has been chopped up and frozen to go into soups.
Bought seeds ... it's too hot outside and too cold inside to grow celery. Might try moving them in and out on rotation. Will wait until after I return from vacations in Dec. and Jan. so that Lusy doesn't have to stress out if the plants die after germinating!!!

Expats in Jakarta definitely have more access to the "normal" things we all enjoy ... and the great restaurants, and the amazing shopping, ... but ... all in all, we're glad to be back in little 'ole Balikpapan. The air is clear (Jakarta's air is disgustingly dirty and makes my eyes sting within just a few minutes of arrival) ... the traffic is reasonable (it can take 2 hours to travel 5 kms in Jakarta -- on a normal day!) ... and there are not so many tempting places to spend money (you would think that all Indonesians are wealthy if you only looked at the upscale malls in Jakarta -- Coach, Burberry, Kate Spade, ... amazing selections with high prices, too!)

If we can just stock up on some of the tough-to-find items whenever we're in Jakarta, then ... we have nothing to complain about! And Jim's got his hazelnut syrup, now, for his coffee ... so all's well with the world! :-)

'feelin' blessed!