The holidays are right around the corner and soon we’ll start attending parties and family events. If you are looking for something different to bake this year, you might want to try making dominos.

This is a recipe has been in my family forever. In New Brunswick, where my mother is from, we call it “Domino” and it can be found is just about every bakery in the southeastern part of the province (my mother is from Shédiac). In Quebec, where I grew up, we call it “Nanaimo” (nah-nah-e-moe) and it is considered a traditional Canadian dessert.

When I married and started to attend events in my adopted Cajun family here in Louisiana, I brought dominos with me and they immediately were a big hit.

1 – Melt together:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cacao
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

2 – Add

• 1 egg
• 2 cups graham crumbs
• 1 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup nuts (walnuts or pecans work very well)

3 – Put everything in a 9X9 cake pan and press it down a bit.

4 – The Cream: beat together

• 1/4 cup butter (soft or melted)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla pudding mix (just the powder)
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar

5 – Spread your cream on first layer and place in fridge while you work on the top. Having the creamy layer chilled will help when it’s time to spread the chocolate on top.

6 – Melt together

• 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoon butter
• Spread over the other layers. If the chocolate is a little thick, add a little milk while you are melting it down.

Put it back in the fridge, at least long enough for the top layer to solidify and then just cut in squares and serve.

Voilà!

Just for fun, I sometimes use pistachio or strawberry pudding mix instead of vanilla. It adds color and a different flavor to the squares. I even added some creme de menthe (green) one year with pistachio pudding. It was really good but I wouldn’t recommended it if you are making it for children.

If you try it, let me know how it turns out!

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

Every now and then, I look at the foreclosure inventory in Acadiana and Lafayette. For the past couple of years, the percentage of homes on the market that are bank owned has been pretty stable in our area.

The percentage of bank owned properties on the market in Lafayette parish has been 4% and 5% this year. In the past 6 months, foreclosures accounted for 8% of home sales in the parish. This means that 92% of home sales are regular sales between a buyer and a seller.

In Acadiana, foreclosure rates are not moving very much either. However, while the number of bank owned properties on the market is the same, the total inventory or homes for sale is slightly down since September and so our percentage of foreclosures is now 7% versus the 6% it had been earlier this year.

In Acadiana, foreclosures represent about 14% of all home sales right now.

If you would like to receive listings of bank owned properties in Acadiana and Lafayette as they hit the market, please visit this link and fill out the form. And please, DO put a name and an email address so that I can actually send you the listings. They will not magically appear on your screen right after you hit “submit.”

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

So tonight, we turn back the clock one hour or we “Fall Back” as the popular saying goes while in the spring, we “Spring Forward.” Nice play on words but is all of this back and forth really necessary?

I went on Wikipedia yesterday to read about “Daylight Saving Time” and learned that in France, they call it L’heure de l’été (Summer time). In Quebec where I grew up, we call it “Heure avancée de l’est” (Eastern Saving Time) and in Britain, it’s “British Summer Time.” Whatever you call it, that’s the time I like. You know, more daylight in the evening. I may be wrong, but I would guess that most people also hate turning back the clock in November to “regular time” or Standard time because it feels like the days are shorter all of a sudden.

We have been doing this back and forth twice a year since 1916 when it was implemented as a measure to conserve coal. Now, the benefits of having it are apparently no greater than the drawback from the twice-a-year disruption that no one hardly questions anymore. What the heck?

Did you know that in 2007, the powers that be decided that we deserved an extra month of Daylight Saving Time changing the date we spring forward from April to March and changing the time we fall back to November instead of October? I didn’t really notice at the time and we now are on Standard time for less than half the year. Why not go all the way?

And did you know that Arizona and Hawaii do not observe Daylight Saving Time. It is a Federal law that states can follow, or not.

As a Realtor, I like the longer daylight in the evening because it means that I can show home after my clients get off work. When it’s dark at 5pm, we lose that opportunity and we sometimes get stuck viewing homes with flashlights when the power is not on. I’m sure I could find plenty of other reasons, too. On the other hand, if we didn’t have Daylight Saving Time, we would all get used to the Standard time year round like the folks in Arizona did as they move from one time zone to the next twice a year.

Can we maybe have a general vote on this, pick one or the other, and just stick with it?

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

For the past couple of months, there have been emails circulating in Louisiana about a real estate transfer tax being on the ballot this November. This is old news, folks. This item was up for vote last year (2011) and the people voted to NOT have any new real estate transfer tax in Louisiana. Feel free to visit www.staytaxfree.com for more information. It is where I found the image below.

We had a strong campaign last fall regarding this vote and several Realtors got involved in getting the word out. This is a post I did at the time. We even put out signs on street corners that were telling people to vote yes so that there would be an amendment preventing our state government from enacting a real estate transfer tax in our state. We won. It’s done. Time to move on…

If you have a question about buying, selling, or investing in real estate or any other real estate question, talk to me. I’m here to help!

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

If you’ve been following my blog, you know I love this event! The Giant Omelette Celebration in Abbeville, LA is always lots of fun for the whole family and I try to make it with my daughter every year, at least the Sunday afternoon when they do the cooking.

 This is the skillet in the middle of the street in downtown Abbeville last year. The weather was just perfect! When the Giant Omelette Celebration began, they used 5000 eggs. Since then, they’ve added one egg every year and this year, there will be 5027 eggs in the omelette along with some 52 pounds of butter, among other things! Yum!

The procession of chefs is very nice with all the flags from the different areas where they are from. This is truly an international event. They also have this celebration is the following cities: Bessieres, France; Frejus, France; Dumbea, New Caledonia; and Granby, Quebec in Canada. Malmedy, Belgium and Pigue, Argentina later joined the fraternity, so there are now seven locations where people cook a giant omelette every year.

For more information and a full schedule of events, visit the official site of the Giant Omelette. It starts tonight with “Taste of Vermilion” in Magdalen Place in historic downtown Abbeville. There are activities all day tomorrow and Sunday as well. See you there!

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News