#1 Get free ingredients where you can.

There will be a post later on improving your cooking skills, but it's hard to cook when there's nothing to cook WITH.  I tend to make a lot of muffins in the summer, thanks to my aunt getting me a stoneware muffin pan for a wedding present, and I prefer muffins with berries.


Today, blackberries at Titlow Park.  Thursday, blueberries from Blueberry Park.

Titlow park is a great place.  There's miles of berry bushes, and it's a good afternoon to hang out with a friend.  I went by myself today, and some summer camp kids walked by and were just fascinated with someone picking berries in a park.  I started to wonder if I was some kind of cheap jerk, but on my way out, I ran into two more berry pickers, so at least it's not just me.




Even if you don't pay for public park berries, you pay for them.  Ouch.