So I made pancakes this weekend in my cast-iron skillet, and y'all, there is nothing like a cast-iron skillet for making pancakes. They come out crisp on the outside and smooth inside and it's great, but... my cast-iron skillet seems to heat irregularly. Half the pancake will brown dramatically more than the other half (as in, the other half will not brown at all). Is it my seasoning? My seasoning, on my hand-seasoned skillet, is much more irregular than on my Lodge Logic grill pan and my Lodge Logic dutch oven, both of which are slick and black. My hand-seasoned skillet is spotty. It's still nonstick, but I don't know. Do I just need to use it more? Reseason it? Or not worry about the aesthetics of my pancakes?

Saturday night I used the aforementioned dutch oven to make jambalaya. I used the Dorky Yankees method with slightly heretical touches like red bell pepper (recommended by them) and chicken andouille (all I could find). Nonetheless, I would defy you to find a better jambalaya in Southern California. It was that good. The rice alone was so incredibly tender and toothsome with just the right spice. And the chicken and shrimp and sausage-- oh, man. Now I wish I hadn't given all the leftovers to my husband to take to work. Anyway.

Sunday night we had salad- a green salad with a mustardy vinaigrette and baked goat cheese rounds- another recipe from the Dorky Yankees and one of our favorite salads. Y'all, if you don't want to subscribe to the magazine (and why not, I do not know) I highly recommend a web subscription. You can search for past articles, something I do quite frequently, as well as current ones, and it's well worth the money. (I subscribe to both, because I am a tool.)