I've been really craving Cajun food for the past several months, and I know of no local place that serves it. Finally, I decided to try to learn and cook it myself.

Yesterday, my mom and I started by trying a basic receipe for jambalya. The only major misstep was that in buying the small finger-sized sausages, I accidentally got some "breakfast sausages" that were made with maple syrup. (Not a traditional Cajun condiment!) The seasoning pretty much drowned that taste out, though; you couldn't really taste it unless you were really thinking about it. (And even then, it's all about perception: just call it "breakfast jambalya" and everyone will think you did it on purpose! Come on, it's no weirder than the "breakfast burritos" they sell at fast-food places.)

A curious thing happened, though. I had it in a casserole dish covered with aluminum foil. It was hot, but not too hot to eat (either temperature-wise or spicy-wise). I left it in my car (not in the sun) for a few hours while I was at the office, then went home. When I got home, I noticed some holes (not there previously) where the aluminum foil had melted! I had to carefully take out the jambalya that had melted aluminum on it and throw it away. What's the melting point of aluminum foil? It had been in the oven for an hour at 350 degrees; it wouldn't have gotten hotter than that in the car. And I didn't think the jambalya was too spicy - I don't even like salsa that's more than "medium hot." No way it was spicy enough to eat through aluminum.

I'm mystified.