December 2009

Deciding how much house you can afford

Submitted by Donna on Wed, 12/30/2009 - 1:04pm

Donna's Blog

Your lender decides what you can borrow but you decide what you can afford.

Lenders are careful, but they make qualification decisions based on averages and formulas. They won’t understand the nuances of your lifestyle and spending patterns quite as well as you do. So, leave a little room for the unexpected – for all the new opportunities your home will give you to spend money, from furnishings, to landscaping, to repairs.

Your lender decides what you can borrow but you decide what you can afford.

Your Favorite Recipe Placed on this Page

Recipe Exchange

Please email your favorite recipe and I will add it to this page to share with others. Check back often to see new recipes.

Katherine Cheng's Banana Bread

Recipe Exchange

Banana Bread

(from: Katherine Cheng)

Ingredients:
6 ripe bananas
4 eggs
1 ½ cup sugar
2 ¼ cup flour
1 cup Crisco
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Smash bananas and Crisco. Add eggs, sugar, vanilla.Sift in dry ingredients, mix well.Place in greased and floured Bundt pan and bake at 325 for 50 minutes (test with toothpick)

Smoke Detector Mishap by a Somerfield Resident

Submitted by Donna on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 8:57pm

Donna's Blog

Smoke Detector Mishap by a Somerfield Resident (permission granted to cross-post)

I had problems with the smoke detectors inexplicably going off. I assumed the reason was bad batteries. I changed the batteries and put new Duracell's in all the smoke detectors. A few days later, individual smoke detectors started beeping like the batteries were bad. Pulled the battery out and it was very warm, almost hot. I pulled the smoke detector down and called the 800 number on the back.