Only Fern

I tried not one, but three new recipes this weekend! I tried the Steak Bites recipe I posted awhile back. DELICIOUS! I was right...beef in butter cooked in an iron skillet...AMAZING! Mom mentioned a recent "invention", some kind of salad. It sounded good. I tried it. It's good! Cucumber, tomato, purple onion, red bell pepper, with balsamic vinaigrette. I let all of that soak, I guess the correct term would be marinade. When it was time to serve, I added feta. I am a genius...YUMM-O! That was last night. This morning I got the wild hair to make pancakes and bacon. May not sound difficult to some, but I've never made pancakes before in all of my years. It was a mix, don't let me fool you. But, I did use cream (fat free creamer) instead of milk and added a little vanilla. After I poured each pancake in my skillet, I added blueberries. Such a good idea! If you add them after mixing, the berries stay whole and the batter doesn't get all purpley. M...

Pisces February 19 - March 20 Seek out the beautiful and marvelous today, dear Pisces! It is one of those times when the cheap and shoddy just won't do. You need the Rolls Royce to take you to the ball tonight, not the beat-up lemon that barely chugs along. Travel in style and dress as if you are flying first-class all the way. There is a boisterous social element to the day that should make your waking hours pleasurable and possibly very romantic. I have my horoscope on MyMSN page, which is my internet homepage. This is today's. Will someone please tell me what this means?!?! Seek out the beautiful and marvelous ...well, I shouldn't look in the mirror then! It's a glasses, t-shirt, and tennies day. Yes, mom, I did put on make up (very minimal, but it's there!). The Acura is amazing, and she is not a lemon! Travel in style and dress as if you are flying first-class all the way. We've already covered this...not happening. possibly very romantic ...who write...

1/2 Cup Shortening 3/4 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter 1 1/4 Cup Packed Brown Sugar 3 TBSP Milk 1 TBSP Vanilla 1 egg 1 1/2 Cup Flour 3/4 tsp Baking Soda 3/4 tsp Salt 1 1/3 cups (8 oz pkg) Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits, divided Heat oven to 375 F. Beat shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Add egg; beat just until blended. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture. Stir in 1 cup toffee bits; reserve remainder for topping. Drop by heaping teaspoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet; top each with reserved toffee bits. Bake 7-8 minutes. DO NOT OVER BAKE. Cool 2 minutes. Remove to wire rack. Cool completely. About 3 dozen cookies. I use butter instead of shortening and cream instead of milk the Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits are hard to find, but I have had success with the Toffee Bits (1 Cup) and Milk Chocolate Chips (1 Cup) DO NOT OVER BAKE! These seem to over bake really easily T...

Howdy! I haven't forgotten. Thursday through Sunday last week I took a little "vacation". I was at the barn on campus...preparing for a lamb sale. Yes, it's true. It was great! It's one of my favorite weekends of the entire year, and it's definitely on my top ten things I will miss when/if I ever leave here list! There was four days of good food, good friends, good laughs, and oh yeah, there were sheep. Most everyone worked hard, but we also focused on the food and the fun too. My computer was in the shop, so I really didn't feel overly guilty for playing for 4 days! I slung hash, went on beverage runs, watered sheep, made sheep pens, ran to the mall for sale day wardrobe advice, ran random errands (4 consecutive trips to Tractor Supply)...I was your all-around gal. I even offered to wash sheep. Friday was amazing...we relaxed, we ate, we ate, we ate some more...and of course we had to wash down all of that delicious barbecue (Hops farmers ever...

Unfortunately, I have a case of the Mondays... After a short chat with my major professor, I am bummed. This damn research project may be the death of me... After what seems like years, but is only months, it's not going to be as earth shattering as I'd hoped...no wonder no one wants to hire me... It's true folks, I peaked somewhere around the age of 11. My computer has a hic-up today...I hope that it is only the crappy network, as I don't want to pay the $35 diagnostic fee + whatever they have to do to it + $50 rush fee because I don't want to/can't really wait 3 to 5 days! I've ran virus scan and will start a de-frag shortly, so wish me luck!! I'd be better off losing a kidney instead of this computer at present. My weekend started off with a bang and ended with a thud! I spent Friday lunch with Stanley and Johnny D at Wings-n-More...ate too many fried pickle chips, hot wings, chicken fingers, and curly fries...but man was it delicious. The company...

Its a GREAT day!!! Wings n More lunch with 2 old friends!!! Fern's heart is smiling!! Wishing everyone a FABULOUS weekend!

It's been awhile since my last post. I've been contemplating how to entertain my following with my bits of wit...okay, that's crap...I've been up to my elbows in data crunching in my cubicle. Oh no, I'm not done, just taking a break. Over the course of the past week my obsession with Crystal Light Lemonade has also morphed into an extreme like of Diet Lemonade from Chick-fil-A. It's SO good! It's graduation weekend here, and I am so glad. It's the end of another semester, and the majority of them all go away for the summer! Bliss! No traffic. No waiting in line at the grocery store, at restaurants, anywhere. I made the most amazing supper the other night, and none of it really went together. I grilled a piece of Tilapia. It was okay. I'm not very good at cooking fish (I've been told that I grill the best steak ever, but fish...no), nor am I very excited about cooking for one. To go with my fish I made steamed broccoli (the new Ziploc...

Pisces February 19 - March 20 Unfortunately you can't measure love the way you would the stock market, dear Pisces. And it's all right if that scares you a little, because you know that you have to work at something if you want to make it happen in your life. We all need to have the courage to try new things. So, yes you will find love in your life, but as to whom you will 'invest' with and how much you will 'invest,' you won't find out until the big day. Be patient, you won't be disappointed. So that was my horoscope this morning on myMSN...funny, as I made blog notes last night while I was watching Grey's Anatomy (and weeping). The episode focused on "the best day" and how one doesn't know what their "best day" is until it is here and gone, and those "best days" are those that are ordinary and filled with our favorite people and often just little things. I agree with this...and I'm anxious for more ...

The day started slow...okay, so I slept later than I wanted to which puts me in an odd kind of a mood. As I'm hurrying out of the house, what should run out from under my car--across my path but this damn black neighborhood cat. I spit (all over myself) right away (darn superstition...who ever told me to spit probably did to make me look like a moron!). Speaking of morons (oh wait, that's me)...I got a text message from the Putz today and it has totally perked up my morning! Maybe I should explain...one of my oldest and dearest friends and I had an odd obsession with the movie "Grumpy Old Men" while we were in high school. We would literally recite the lines with the actors, and eventually my mother banned us from watching it (okay, so she tried). Somehow through all of this I became the morn, and a naturally she became the putz. We had a rally of texts going this morning that had me belly laughing in my car, which was likely dangerous on several counts. We t...

I used to be an upbeat spunky soul...I don't know when or how it happened...okay I might...and I think that cubicle life is taking a small toll on my psyche...not to worry I'M LOOKING FOR SUNSHINE! The other day I was in Target. As I passed by the books, I noticed the new Michael J Fox book Always Looking Up . I bought it. I am in need of new reading material, and I think that I'll start there this evening. I'll let ya know how it goes.

Thank You my "sister" and her family for brightening my day!! I GOT FLOWERS TODAY!!! Trust me, this NEVER happens!! And, they just happen to be one of my "right now" colors...orange! What started out as a "off" day turned up when the flower man came. I didn't sleep well. No, it wasn't the new mattress or my Cinco de Mayo activities of yesterday. I think I just had a lot on my mind. Received yet more rejection in the mail yesterday...I am jobless, soon to be homeless... Also, my dad had a skin cancer spot removed from his neck this morning. They have been telling me that it is not much to worry about...I'm worrying damnit! Its times like this that make me question my Texas-ness. Don't get me wrong, I've loved my time here and the friends and "family" that I have made here, but it sucks being so far from home! I did get up and get myself together today...haven't done a lot of that lately. And...I have made very li...

I made a big girl purchase this weekend. I bought a new mattress on Friday. They delivered it on Saturday. I have slept amazingly ever since! It was a very adult purchase, but I was was careful in my research and I tried several stores in town. I did try no less than 5 mattress stores in town, and returned to the first because they 1-were the most reasonable in price and 2-had the friendliest and most helpful staff. I upgraded to a queen, and so far the only difference I've noticed is that there's less room in my room. As I upgraded, I had to upgrade some of my bedding. Through this process I have learned this DO NOT BUY CHEAP SHEETS! The cheap sheets will itch you! I have since replaced the itchy sheets with some that I found that are much softer...no, they are not 500 count Egyptian cotton, but they are cute (brown and cream giraffe print) and sateen finish! This bed purchase, like most things I do was rather dramatic. This should not be surprising to those of you who...

I was just shopping. I bought one of the new "green" reusable shopping bags...the clerk bagged up all of my things, including the new reusable shopping bag in plastic bags....hmmmm