maybe if i had seen this in march... evergreen azalea season is pretty much over down here. i do have some late ones just now starting but not really a "display" as they are scattered about as single-late specimens in groups with other shade perennials. if you like these plants, places like bellingrath gardens, calloway gardens and other deep south public gardens are spectacular during azalea season.

Sounds wonderful! We're planning to go camping in Florida next month anyway..we'll see how schedules fit

DM, I would suggest that you completely remove the fond and rendered oil that has formed in your pan from searing your hamburgers or steaks. You are still building up your patina seasoning in your new pan and that gunk interferes with the process. Put a cup of water in your pan when you finish cooking and boil it for a few minutes to completely remove those bits. If real thick do not be afraid to use some soapy hot water (dawn liquid detergent is fine) with a stiff NYLON scrub brush to completely remove the debris.....do not soak your pan in the soapy water. After cleaning with soapy water and rinsing several times, put your pan back on the stove burner and add another cup of water and boil for a few more minutes.......this will remove any soapy residue traces. After this, remove the hot water from your pan then again heat your empty pan on the stove burner to remove all traces of water.......remember towel dry is not good enough (especially with a Lodge product)......DO NOT SKIP THIS IMPORTANT STEP. Then while your pan is still HOT put a bit of Crisco solid shortening (not liquid Crisco vegetable oil)in the pan......distribute it evenly on both the inside and outside of your pan using a wad of paper towels. Afterwards, with another clean wad of paper towels wipe all excess oil from your pan......its very important to only have a thin trace layer of oil on your pan.....and it's very very important that you do not use vegetable (canola) oil if you plan to store you pan for more than a couple of days. You are still developing seasoning on your new pan and its surface is still very reactive to the unsataurates in vegetable oil.........means your oily coating will easily become sticky and if put on too thick can turn rancid. After your pan becomes "cured" following many "seasonings" this becomes less of an issue and concern. A cured pan will not need to be coated with oil for storage. For now stick with applying a light coating of Crisco shortening and you won't have a problem. I will respond to your question regarding seasoning via a Cajun roux when I get a chance. I realize that there are several types of cajun roux......the one I was referring to is made using 1 part oil to 1 part all purpose flour. When you make this type cajun roux the temperature of the oil/flour mixture will automatically regulate itself to near the smoke point of the oil........if the temperature is too low, the flour won't brown properly......if the temperature is too hot, the flour will burn. Dan

In my location (West Coast) we have a no-transfat cornbread product under the Marie Calender brand. The bag is the weight equivalent of two Jiffy boxes, so you just divide it in half by weight for your recipe. I do something similar, it's a delicious dish. My version takes a bit longer to cook. If you take your recipe and add a small drained can of diced chiles (or even diced fresh mild chiles), it gives it a bit of a punch. If you want to avoid the bit of added sugar of the creamed corn, I'd try maybe two cans of regular corn plus a tablespoon or two of corn starch and a bit of water. I really don't understand why companies persist in including transfat ingredients in their products, in the presence of conclusive proof of how dangerous they are to ingest. And why do people buy them? You can eat pounds and pounds of butter without doing the same damage to your health that one serving of a transfat will do. Frozen products, solid shortening, Pillsbury rolls and dough, dry cake mixes, some crackers and the like still have transfats. Not for long, a complete ban is forthcoming.