Alex is totally right about the bacon grease, that stuff is magic for flavor. The real key is getting your fat smoking hot so the batter sizzles when it hits the pan, that's what gives you the crispy crust. A well seasoned cast iron is great for that, but any oven safe pan that can take the heat will work. Your pan probably warped because it was too thin or the temperature changed too fast. For a recipe, just use the basic one on the cornmeal box but swap in some buttermilk if you have it.

My buddy runs a coffee cart downtown and had the same issue. He just had a chalkboard with the word "Coffee" and a price. I told him to write the specific drinks, like "Iced Vanilla Latte" and "Caramel Macchiato," on the board. He said people started ordering more fancy drinks right away instead of just plain black coffee. It's crazy how just spelling it out makes people realize what they actually want.

Disagree, word count goals totally kept me on track.

What kind of magic are those little plastic things doing? I swore they were junk until I had to fix a wobbly garden wall. Now I keep a box in the truck just in case.

Actually had a cat knock a laptop off my workbench last year, @veramartin. The repair was at my place, so it was totally my fault for not securing it. Client didn't pay a dime for the new screen.