This spice is so nice

My favourite spice is cumin, which I hadn't really tasted until I became an adult. Now I use it in so many dishes that I routinely run out of it and have to make a special trip to the Bulk Barn (my favourite spice store) to stock up. During this most recent restocking trip, when I opened the little bin, the aroma made me smile and giggle a little bit, right there in the aisle of the Bulk Barn; what a weirdo, getting a thrill from a spice aroma. The nutty, peppery flavour of cumin fills in the profile of so many dishes, from chili to curries, from hummus to spiced cornbread; Mexican, Spanish, Indian, and Middle Eastern cuisines favour cumin.
For a treat, fry some potatoes in butter with onions, and then dust with cumin in the last couple minutes of cooking. Lentil soup will earn extra praise with cumin added early in the simmering, so its flavour permeates the broth.
Any time I cook with avocados (cumin punches up guacamole to a whole new level of divinity), such as this summer of my tostado, I always sprinkle in a little cumin. Cumin can improve almost any dish: add a little cumin plus some chili powder to regular macaroni and cheese, and Ole! It's Mexican-inspired Mac & Cheese.
My D. and I disagree about some spices, but he never complains when I add cumin to my favourite dishes, from casseroles to soups and stews to rice pilaf and corn muffins. I should get a mortar and pestle and try the seeds; I bet they're great toasted a bit before they're ground into the powder. Yum.