From the Guide to Women's Cycling book by Susan Weaver... she says cadence is basically saying "one potato two potato three potato..." where one potato = one circle. That's been working for me.

And on hills, I've been doing the thing where I count ten pedal strokes and then go into an easier gear.

I have hills all over my neighborhood and can't get away from them, so I am getting plenty of practice. I often don't have to switch at ten - I can sometimes wait til 15 or 20. I have not yet run out of gear.