Jen's blog

So... I come home from work today to find this weird white junk on my laptop... And after some confusion I realize that it is CEILING. My ceiling fell onto my freaking laptop... What is goin on up in there?!

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Courtesy of Web 2.D'oh! Really... I wanted to make sure I didn't forget this cool little Google tip.  And I suck at bookmarking things.

News to me: Google Tip

When searching Google, you can add a tilde ~ [it's probably just to the left of your 1/! key] to instruct Google to search both the word and its synonym. It will also search alternate endings. From Google Guide:

• [ ~inexpensive ] matches “inexpensive,” “cheap,” “affordable,” and “low cost”
• [ ~run ] matches “run,” “runner’s,” “running,” as well as “marathon”

And decided to make the most ghetto homemade office AC unit... Doesn't actually work much at all but its quite entertaining!

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Gah!  Another horoscope destined for a Barry White voiceover!  I would like to point out that yesterday's was WAY off... there was no sweet, sweet pleasure!  Let's see if today's is right.

Your key planet Jupiter receives an exciting kiss from sexy Venus today, flooding your system with adrenaline and turning on your love light. You could be romantically attracted to someone special, but it may also be a piece of artwork or an elegant theory that now catches your total attention. Don't suppress your desires, for joyful beauty can be yours for the asking.

Baum-chicka-BAUM-baum..... I get the feeling it'll just be some "elegant theory".  Pshaw.

Maybe I'm just in a weird mood today but... my horoscope today sounds like it should be read aloud by Barry White. 

Paying the price for sweet pleasure may actually be a tougher bargain than you think, yet you probably won't realize it until you've already said "yes." Being caught up in the present moment is easier now, especially if there's a romantic attraction involved. Think about the consequences of your actions before you do something that will need fixing later.

Yeah... this just can't be good...

Narrowly beating out tulips for my favorite kind of flowers! Even better when a nice guy gives them to me!

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I admit it... I didn't watch the SuperBowl this year.  I didn't even watch recaps of it or the commercials online later.  I spent most of that day working instead.  So I'm probably the last person in the world to see this ad, but I just did and I thought it rocked.

So I've been on a bit of a cooking spree lately... just having fun randomly trying to cook things I've never eaten or tried my hand at making before.  Most of the time I eat out or have food delivered or just snack on foods that don't require a lot of preparation, so this is all new and fun for me.

Tonight's new experiment was with asparagus.  I've always made pretty straightforward steamed asparagus topped with butter and salt but I found a new recipe online and decided to give it a shot tonight.

Preparing it this way was faster, easier and ended up tasting better than my fumbling attempts at steaming ever did.  I think I always WAY overcooked it before.  The hint of lemon flavor is a really interesting addition and overall it tasted light and refreshing.  Heck, I'd never even used a lemon zester before so this was definitely an adventure for me!

Tomorrow I'm going to try a recipe for "Pollock in Mustard Sauce" that I found in a little cookbook from Ikea.  I've never even eaten pollock before so this will be an adventure.  We didn't eat a lot of fish in my house growing up and while I've embraced sushi and salmon in recent years, I haven't had a chance to try too many other seafood dishes.  Unless you count Long John Silver's or fish sticks... eww.  I think it's a pretty safe bet that I'll like this much better than fish sticks as long as I don't mess it up.

This recipe has way more ingredients than the simple asparagus one I tried tonight, but I feel confident!  Wish me luck!

Perfect for people who never have much of anything in their cupboards but find themselves suddenly craving a sweet little snack to eat... like me!

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg

Mix all ingredients together. Roll each teaspoonful into a ball and place on cookie sheet.  Use a fork to make criss-cross designs.  Bake at 350 degrees 10-14 minutes.

That's it!  I couldn't believe I could really make cookies without flour or other regular baking supplies but it works!  Even I can't mess this one up.

Edit:  By request, I took a photo of the cookies I am currently enjoying from this recipe.  :)

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Every time I see this sign I think for one brief moment... As in, Jabba the...? That about sums up my political involvement I guess.

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