Imagine this was a new picture. Imagine these were Korean-ish. Imagine I'm not a failure.

My current fail category in life is pretty much full.  Sleep?  FAIL.  It's currently 2:40 in the morning and I am too hot to sleep.  What's that about air conditioning?  Oh we have it, and it's on.  I'm just still too hot to sleep.  So I guess that would put me at a fail for body temperature regulation as well.  Returning phone calls and texts?  SUPER FAIL.  I haven't called back my darling cousin who I adore and am massively proud of because she just graduated from med school.  I haven't texted or called back two lovely people I work with who just wanted to check in with me and have been supremely kind to me.  Preparing for the baby I am supposed to be having in less than 3 weeks?  PROCRASTINATOR FAIL.  Carseat? Not installed.  Crib or other similar sleeping device?  Not in place.  Diapers of any sort? Not purchased.  Any type of book on how to actual keep a baby alive once you get home from the hospital? Unread.  And of course, the one you all are familiar with, keeping up with my blogging?  EMBARRASSING FAIL.  And the worst of it is, it didn't need to be this bad.  I have things to say about food.  Last night Ryan and I went out to a fancy dinner, probably for the last time pre-baby.  I fully intended to write about it here (even if I didn't cook it, I thought you might be interested) but of course, another fail, this time in the category of taking pictures.  I made sure to pack my phone which takes much better pictures than Ryan's phone.  I told Ryan to remind me to take pictures.  And then I ate my appetizer without taking one.  So in between courses, again, I told Ryan to remind me.  I reminded myself.  And then I ate my dinner, without taking a picture.  I didn't even bother with that charade by dessert.  I just shoveled it down without a thought.

So, PHOTOGRAPHY FAIL.  That would be why, instead a of brand-spanking new photo up there, you're getting a recycled one.  But that seems only fair, because instead of a brand-spanking new recipe, you're getting a recycled one.  Or at least a twist on a recycled one.  Remember these deliciously tasty lettuce wraps? Well, while spending far too long in the doctor's waiting room reading magazines, I stumbled across a suggestion to make lettuce wraps with Korean flavors.  They had me at gochujang.  I e-mailed myself some sketchy notes on what ingredients to include and then came home and (I know, brace yourself here) actually made dinner.  Right?  I never would have expected it of me either.

Anyway, they were completely delicious, so my fail category must have been full, because cooking? When I actually get around to it?  Actually competent!!

KOREAN-ISH LETTUCE WRAPS
Inspired by some magazine.  Good Housekeeping?  Southern Living?  What do they normally have at the doctor's office...

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb ground turkey
1 T grated fresh ginger
2 cloves of garlic
1 T peanut or vegetable oil
2.5 T soy sauce
3 T rice wine vinegar
2 T brown sugar
1.5 T gochujang (I am a huge wimp about spicy right now. If you like spice, add at least 2 T)
1/4 C dry roasted, unsalted peanuts
lettuce - about 3 big leaves per person

DIRECTIONS:
In a large skillet, heat up the oil to medium.  Add the garlic and ginger and cook for about 3 minutes or until the garlic is slightly golden.  Increase your temperature to medium high and add the turkey and cook until mostly browned (look, once you add the other stuff, it's kind of hard to tell if the turkey's fully cooked, so go ahead and cook until until done if you don't trust yourself with that kind of thing).  Add the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar and gochujang.  It gets a bit soupy with all those things, so you'll need to stir it and cook it a bit longer to make sure they're all incorporated.   Then toss in the peanuts and stir again to coat them.  Serve on a lettuce leaf.  If you've made yours spicy, you will be relieved to have rice as a side.