Joelle said in the early morning on July 5, 2007
To be honest, I’m not hungover in the slightest. I only had half a beer, but I bet all the people on my block that I saw cruising the streets at fireworks time last night with red plastic tumblers sure are. I was going to post one of my pitiful attempts at fireworks photos, but really, I can’t hold a roman candle to these by ktpupp. Absolutely stunning. I wish I had read more about exposure… I’ve got this ISO thing down, but while that seems great in some cases, it sucks in true dark because it makes everything grainy. I’ll figure it all out eventually… by the time I have to buy the camera. Heh.
Last night, I grilled turkey burgers at The Bar (read: my front yard) and watched the fireworks up on the terrace at GFI’s (my upstairs neighbor and friend, for those playing along at home). I have to tell you, these were, by far, the best turkey burgers I’ve ever made. You know how turkey burgers can get really dry? These were so delicious, I’m excited that I have one left in the fridge today. Here’s a quick run-down of the ingredients:
- Roughly 1 pound of extra lean ground turkey (to feed 4 people)
- Palm-full of grill seasoning
- 1 big tablespoon of light sour cream
- 3 strips of crisp cooked bacon (chopped)
- 4 scallions (diced)
- 1 tablespoon of spicy brown mustard
- Several good shakes of Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of fresh minced garlic
- Salt and fresh cracked pepper (I just went for a couple good turns on the salt and pepper mills)
Moosh it all together with your clean hands and stick it in the fridge for an hour or more. I covered it in plastic wrap right against the meat, then put that in a tupperware, so it kept the moisture it and allowed the flavors to really get into the turkey.
When you pull it out, score it into 4 servings with your hand (a trick I learned from Rachel Ray), make your patties, then stick your thumb in the middle of each one to keep the burgers from bulging in the middle. This way, your burger stays flat and doesn’t get round, like burgers tend to do. (Another tip I learned from Rachel Ray.)
I dragged my electric Cuisinart Griddler out to the porch and after it got super hot, I threw the burgers on to a very satisfying sizzle and smoke result. About 8 to 10 minutes later, I had some hot, hot, perfectly moist, not overdone turkey burgers. They were topped with a thin slice of swiss cheese, lettuce and tomato and devoured by all in under 15 minutes.
GFI made an incredible salsa, too. I was in cilantro and onion heaven. In swear, I felt like I woke up smelling like an onion — I took a shower first thing! Ooo… I think it’s time for salsa and eggs…
I hope everyone had a safe and happy July 4th. Now get your hungover bums back to work! 
Joelle said around mid-afternoon on July 2, 2007
Anyone who has read my blog for a long time (and that reminds me, I should really get my archives back up) can tell you that I run into the weirdest people. Not just the weirdest people, but the strangest situations, too. Back in the day, I had a few sourpusses try to say I made it all up and while I am quite descriptive with my writing, anyone who’s ever met me can tell you: this stuff really happens.
Just now, after running to the bank and stopping for some mandarin chicken, I decided to wind down through the backstreets of Mission Hills toward my apartment instead of taking the busier, but more direct route. The homes up here are fairly upscale, albeit older, and the view is nothing short of spectacular. I like that the homes here are unique, not cookie-cutter tract houses and the streets are wide and quiet, like residential neighorhood streets should be. And the gardens some of these people have would blow your mind. I like that I can wave to the neighbors or smile and they’ll smile back. It’s all very neighborly.
Especially today. Today, as I drove down one of my favorite stretches of street, I saw a flatbed parked in front of a house on the left loaded up with giant deer. I mean loaded. up. I slowed down because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Giant fiberglass deer — like lawn jockeys with ‘roid rage. Giant. Deer. I swear, their asses were as big as my windshield.
So anyway, I raise an eyebrow at that and keep driving. As I near the end of the block where I turn to get to my apartment, I see a young, quasi-muscular guy from the back, carrying a giant buffalo under one arm. Not as big as the deer, but definitely bigger than your average lawn ornament. I can’t help but slow down, turn and look as I went around the corner and I swear to you… I swear to you by all that’s decent and holy, that he dropped the buffalo, threw a leg over it and made the ever-popular two-fingered crotch-lick gesture, followed by a kiss-kiss face.
And here, at almost 34, I thought I was losing my touch.
Joelle said in the late morning on July 2, 2007
I miss being able to design blogs for personal bloggers more often. We tend to get caught up in long-term projects and are unavailable. Once our schedules open up, we fill up so quickly, I know that some bloggers feel gypped. Well, no more! I’ve just put up some really snazzy pre-designed (or Pre-Fab, as we call them) templates for your purchase. There’s a variety to choose from at reasonable prices, especially for those who don’t wish to wait for us to have an opening. These were all designed by yours truly.
These templates include the HTML template, CSS (including styles for comments), customized title/tagline and up to 5 customized sidebar title graphics (or the default of about, categories, links, archives and blogroll). The credit must remain active in the template, but other than that, the design is yours to keep. It will never been resold and once it’s been purchased — that’s it! It’s gone forever. (If more than one purchase for the same template is processed, I will accept only the first payment and refund the rest immediately, then mark it as sold and remove the Buy Now button.)
So, get while the gettin’ good. 
Thus endeth my Moxie Girls PSA for the week.
Ladies and gentleman… we just wrote a book. It’s finished! The book is finished. DING DONG the book is done!
Kathy and I just put the last period on the epilogue and the glossary and away it goes across the Internets to our editors. The knot in my stomach can now commence unraveling.
Honestly, writing this book has been an amazing experience. We’ve had a great time and compared to some horror stories I’ve heard from other first time authors, I have to say this has been a fairly painless process. Our editors Katie and Kim really let us share our voice and seem to really dig what we’ve written. It’s getting rave reviews in-house, so hopefully the public thinks the same.
Who wants a glass of champagne?
Moxie Design Studios™