Source: letsfootlethetimeaway.tumblr.com via Joelle on Pinterest

I don't know that much about champagne, to be honest. It's really Kathy's "thing", but I do love a glass when offered and occasionally will buy a bottle on a whim. I know that Champagne is a region in France and that technically any "champagnes" that come from anywhere else are sparkling wines, not true champagne. Or so I've heard.

I know Dom Perignon is good, but I think Cristal is better? I've had the former and lo, it was good, but I've never had an occasion to "make it rain", so I've never tried that Cristal the rappers love so much.  I know Prosecco is a sparkling wine, but isn't champagne, but I see the terms use interchangeably.

Since I clearly don't know my arse from my Korbel, I thought I'd do some research and put together some links that might help. 

• Champagne 101 by AllRecipes.com
• Champagne 101 by Wilson Creek Winery (incidentally, vintners of my favorite Almond Champagne -- also, I totallly said vintner like I know what I'm talking about.)
• Champagne 101 by Martha Stewart
• Buying Champagne 101 by Wine.com
• Champagne 101 by the Swish Life

I'm certainly glad I didn't name this post Champagne 101... There are roughly 29 million results for that title... so I shall assume these cover enough of the basics.

It wouldn't be Champagne Thursday if we didn't include a recipe, so I bring you this simple, delectable morsel plucked from Pinterest, courtesy of watermelon.org:

Source: watermelon.org via Joelle on Pinterest

Watermelon Mimosa

Ingredients

• 3 cups watermelon juice (puree, strained)
• 1 1/2 cups light champagne (not Brut, but Asti or similar)

Instructions

Divide watermelon juice among 2 to 3 champagne flutes. Fill with champagne and enjoy!

I tripled this recipe because, let's not kid ourselves, 2-3 flutes is not going to be enough, especially if you have guests.  Besides, if you're going to go through all the trouble of buying a watermelon and pureeing it, you might as well do it up!  These would probably be fabulous for a spring or summer brunch and pair well with some eggs benedict or some lighter fruit crepes... mmm....

Categories: Champagne Thursday, Cocktails

So, we like email: it leaves a paper trail, allows us to reference your comments verbatim and like most creative or development professionals, it allows us to focus on work and prioritize communications for specific times during the day. Does this mean we'll never talk to you on the phone? Of course not. If a client wants to talk over the phone, we're more than happy to do so, but email is our preferrred method of communication.

That said, some folks aren't Email People™ because, well, they're simply bad at email. Their emails can be lacking in nuance, tone and common courtesy.  We do our best here at Moxie to open emails with a kind greeting, to thank the emailer for their inquiry (should it be their first), to use full sentences and proper punctuation and to show respect for your clients with professional grammar and a writing style that conveys our warm and jovial personalities. We're not dry and we don't expect our clients to be.

But some emails we receive are quite terse, without any pleasantries. It's understood that email is meant to be a "speedy" method of communication, but you don't have to be a jerk about it.  We don't need you to sugarcoat it, but it is possible to get your point across in a professional and cordial manner while still maintaining brevity.

We appreciate respectful communication.  No need to be overly prim, just please remember that we are business owners and skilled professionals, just like you're a professional at whatever you do.  We are not your kid, your neighbor, or, despite some misconceptions, your employee. We are experts in what we do or you wouldn't have hired us.  We will never accept verbal abuse, unrealistic demands or blatant rudeness.

But we also don't love overly familiar interactions, either. If you're emailing us for the first time, please don't call us "honey" or  "sweetums".  That actually happened. SWEETUMS.  We're not on the pole here, sir.

Of course, none of our clients are like that -- our clients are awesome.  Why? Because we will usually ignore emails that are condescending, grossly undervalue our skillset or use netspeak, grammar and punctuation appalling enough to shock a teenager.

What we love in our emails:

• Greetings -- At least for the first one. Say hello,for pete's sake!  We're nice!
• Thank yous -- If you ask us to do something and we do it, especially if we do it tout de suite, please respond.  We don't need you to pen us a sonnet via skywriter, just a simple "Thanks!" will suffice. It can even be on Twitter.  
• Acknowledgement -- To that same end, if we take the time to reply to your inquiry, please hit us back with a "yay" or "nay".  We put aside client work and time with our families to read your request, to do preliminary research on your website and to formulate a thoughtful reply. We understand that we aren't going to be the designers for everyone and that perhaps our timeline/budget/moons don't align, but at the very least acknowledge our reply.  Don't leave us proverbially hangin'. 
• Spellcheck -- We realized typos happen, we make them, too. But when your email is laden with abbreviations, netspeak or misspelled words, we are  less inclined to reply or even try to figure out what you're talking about.
• Hours -- We want things to be convenient for our clients, so we don't really mind if you email us on the weekends or on national holidays. But please know that we're likely not going to reply until the next available business day. We work on the internet, we aren't open 24 hours -- so please don't send email after email after email on a Saturday night expecting a reply.  We have families and lives and need downtime to regenerate our mojo.  You wouldn't like it if someone called your house 6-8 times over the weekend , would you? For us, it's the same kind of thing.

This post was inspired by a great article I read this morning called Professional Communication 101 by Mike at BoyInk!  He breaks it down much more specifically.

In conclusion, we love email. And we probably will love working with you, too.

So be nice, would ya? 

Categories: How-Tuesday

I'm not a huge Sangria fan, as a rule. I like red wine and I like fruit, but I'm not into red wine and fruit. I know it's not very Euro of me, but I'm just, well... not that Euro, I guess. But, I do enjoy a white wine sangria from time to time. I just feel it pairs better with fruit.  I'm definitely giving this one a try -- and soon!

Sangria Blanca from Refinery29

This recipe makes 2 large pitchers.

• 2 white peaches
• 2 white nectarines
• 4 oranges
• 1 pint strawberries
• 2 bottles torrontes (or any non-oaked white wine)
• 1/2 cup rose infused simple syrup

Slice the peaches and nectarines into eigths or tenths, depending on how big the fruit is. The original recipe recommends cutting the oranges into "surpremes". The original author explains it thusly, "For the uninitiated, supremes are when you slice off the skin, and slice between the white membranes segmenting the fruit."  See? Then you can eat them easily when your drink is empty.

Halve the strawberries -- easy enough!  Now, simple syrup is easy to make, but I never feel like making it, to be honest.  But this seems simple enough, hence the name, so I'll probably give it a go, if I can find a rose.

To make the syrup, combine 1/3 cup of sugar and 1/3 cup of water. Add the petals of one small very fragrant rose or a 1/4 teaspoon rosewater (if you happen to have that?). Bring to a boil, and let it sit for 10 minutes to steep. Add the syrup and wine to the fruit, and let the mixture sit in the fridge for a few hours to combine.

DRINK. Refill and repeat. And once more with feeling.  Now you're enjoying your warm weekend!

Categories: Champagne Thursday, Cocktails

Happy Friday!

Categories: Hashbrown Friday

I never really knew what I wanted to do "when I grew up".  Well, I take that back. I wanted to be a vet, a singer, a ballerina, an artist, a choir director, and back to a singer again. But I never really picked one. Then one fateful day in the late 90's, I started a hokey website on Angelfire.com and lo, the internet bug bit me.  HARD. A few years later, I started a blog, met Kathy with whom I became instant friends and ta da! Blog Moxie was born.

Lucky for me, Kathy knows unabashed raw talent when she sees it.  And, of course, modesty. ;-)

I am so grateful to be doing this job. I'm grateful for Kathy. And I'm grateful for the design and development communities, especially the Expression Engine community, for supporting us and being so awesome over the years. I love my job and our clients. I love how each day brings something new and the ever-evolving technology keeps me on my toes.

We're going a little retro today and re-posting our signature cocktail we developed one night in Palm Beach in 2005.  After several cocktails, I mean attempts, this is what we came up with, photographed here next to Buddha. Because that's totally normal.

The Moxie-tini

• 1 part Raspberry vodka (We used Three Olives)
• 2 parts Vodka (We used Grey Goose)
• 1/2 tsp of Raspberry liqueur (we like Chambord)
• 1/2 tsp of White Creme de Cacao

Fill a big martini glass with ice and water, set aside.  Fill a martini shaker with ice and all your liquors. Shake well, vigorously, but not so much that the ice becomes a crushed mess.  Empty the ice water out of your martini glass and strain your cocktail into the glass. You could rim the glass with pretty pink sugar or cocoa, or drop a fresh raspberry in the bottom of the glass, if you desire.  Drink. Repeat if you've got a snack and a designated driver.

Enjoy!

Who knows what the next nine years will bring... but there's no doubt, we'll be doing it with moxie!

Categories: Announcements, Cocktails

So... apprently, this is a thing. A friend of mine sent me a link this morning for BreadedCats.com -- yet another in a long line of animal-related memes.  My first instinct was to go, "Poor kitties!  They can't possibly like that!" 

But then I saw this one and couldn't help but laugh.  I still can't imagine they enjoy that -- I wouldn't like someone wrapping bread around my head on a whim, but it's soft and, as long as it's done gently, it's not hurting anyone.

But Tortilla Cat is unamused.

Categories: Hashbrown Friday

Source: cravingchronicles.com
via Katherine on Pinterest

I have mentioned before I am somewhat of a whore for Champagne.  I do love a good perfectly made martini too, of course.  I'm an equal opportunity drinker.  But Champagne is just so... wonderful.  *sigh*  

Anyway, whenever I hear the word, my attention is diverted immediately.  So when our good friend from Craving Chronicles posted a gorgeous photo and recipe for Champagne Cream Puffs I squealed so loud my kids thought I stepped on the dog. On top of being a pretty awesome dessert maker, Theresa is an aaaamaaaaazing photographer.  So if the recipe alone didn't make you happy, just looking at those little chocolate ganached puffs of champagne cream perfection is enough to make you just faint a little.  I mean, just look at those! They're beautiful.

What would some Champagne Cream Puffs be without some Champagne to go with it?  I am not an expert on pairing food with wines but a little research turned up that a sparkling rose tends to go well with profiteroles (which is basically what these are, just filled with more awesome).  One of my basic go-to Champagnes are the Korbels.  They are reasonably priced and come in several types that fit any occasion.  They're also rather good.  You can of course go the fancy route and do a Veuve Cliquot (which I won't argue with... I do love Veuve).  

Korbel has a Brut Rose that pairs well with chocolate or fruit and has a really pretty pink hue in the glass.   My favorite, which is also somewhat versatille is their Blanc de Noirs. It's light, beautiful, and pairs perfectly with desserts, especially ones featuring chocolate. You may gift this to me at any time if you like. 

Check out the talents of Theresa Sullivan at The Craving Chronicles to see the recipe for these Champagne Cream Puffs and all her oher delicious creations! 

Categories: Champagne Thursday

We recently ran some upgrades and a teeny, weensy bug was causing the "Featured Work" page to display nothing but a blank white page. I'm guessing it's been like that for a few days, so our apologies if you happen to land there and get bupkis. The quirk has been abolished and the page is serving up... well, not our portfolio yet, but a lovely splash page, which is better than blank in my book.

The moral of this story is to always check all the major pages of your site after an upgrade, kids. 

Categories: Please Stand By

For this week's Champagne Thursday, we'd like to honor Dr. V and Pawcurious with a pet-themed beverage: The Italian Greyhound.  (I couldn't find a Labrador cocktail, sorry, Koa and Brody!)

You can find the original recipe for this beautiful Italian Greyhound with Rosemary Sugar, along with other delicious looking recipes on FamilyStyleFood.com.

Congrats again, Pawcurious. We hope you win! 

Categories: Champagne Thursday, Cocktails

Source: greygoose.com via Joelle on Pinterest

Kathy re-kicked off our Champagne Thursdays last week with her favorite adult beverage and the namesake of this (hopefully, weekly) feature, but now it's time for me to bring you an example of my kind of drink -- one with booze, like nature intended.

I do like champagne, but I don't drink it that often. It gives me a wicked headache.  When I choose to libate, 95% of the time, I choose an old school classic -- a vodka martini, preferably made with Grey Goose, but I'm open to most top shelf vodkas.  I've never been one for sweet drinks and always preferred the retro cool factor that a classic martini offers. It's a slow sipper (at least the first one) and isn't full of sugary fruit juices or creamy milky whatnot.

Plus, olives. Mmm... I prefer mine stuffed with blue cheese, if the establishment has them lying about. Ultimately, the olives should be plump (but not huge) and firm, not tiny, hard, speckled or pruned up or that weird shade of green-yellow that happens to olives that sit in a garnish tray too long.  If you're going to indulge in what is basically straight, expensive vodka, please -- for the love of all that is decent and holy -- don't use crapola olives. Do it for the children!

I like my martinis very light on the vermouth. Like, light -- a mere suggestion, a hint, a whisper. So I prefer to use a martini mister for the addition of the vermouth to the shaker. Others prefer to add the vermouth, swirl to coat the shaker and then dump it out (which is my second-most preferred method).  And yet others feel vermouth should be heavy, as once upon a time a classic martini was almost half vermouth.  To that I say, bleh. Also, yuck.  

I also am not one of those girls who seductively asks the bartender to "make it dirty".  I like a little "dirty" (meaning, a bit of olive juice) in my martini, but very, very little and find most bartenders tend to be heavy-handed here, so I end up with a murky drink that looks and tastes like seamonkeys. So I just skip it and let my olive garnish add the "dirty" for me.

Anyway, I picked up this recipe from the website of my favorite vodka, Grey Goose. They include orange bitters, which I've never tried, but am intrigued about, so I may ask for that next time!

The Classic Vodka Martini

Ingredients

• 2 parts Grey Goose vodka (or the vodka of your choice)
• 1/2 part Dry Vermouth
• 1 Dash orange bitters

Instructions

• Fill a shaker with ice.
• Add vermouth. Stir to coat ice and strain out.
• Add  Vodka and bitters, if desired, and stir well. (I shake, not stir. I know some people say that "bruises the vodka", to which I say ,"whatever!".)
• Strain into a chilled martini glass.
• Present with an olive or lemon twist. (Olives! Three for me, please.)

Feel free to experiment with garnishes. Mix olives and lemon twists or use a fresh bay leaf instead. These additions will give subtle yet unique changes to the cocktail.

You can view a video on the Grey Goose website of their mixologists whipping one up if that blows your dress up. 

Finally, please, please drink responsibly -- this is straight-up booze, my friends. Have a snack with it or something so you don't make an ass of yourself. Not that I've ever done that. *cough*

Categories: Champagne Thursday, Cocktails