Recipe: Seafood Gumbo with a Secret

I love to make Seafood Gumbo as my big wow meal for guests. I have relatives that call and say; we are coming in a month you better make a pot of Seafood Gumbo. I get extra giddy when these relatives that grew up eating Seafood Gumbo tell this little cowgirl from Wyoming/Idaho that I make the best gumbo they have ever had. What might be the truth is that I am the only one they can flatter enough to make a pot for them when they come to town. Whatever the truth is, in the end they get a pot of Seafood Gumbo when they come to town.

I always put some type of fish, clams, crab and shrimp in my Seafood Gumbo. What is fresh at the market determines the exact nature of the seafood that ends up in the pot. The day I made this batch they had live crayfish and some blue crabs. I prefer our West Coast Dungeness to eat but the flavor of the blue crab is hard to beat in gumbo. I have to confess that I am not a huge Crayfish fan but how can you not put fresh Crayfish in a Louisiana Seafood Gumbo if it is available? They ended up being so sweet and delicious that I will make sure I make a pot of Gumbo anytime I see live crayfish at the market. But the crayfish that is not my new secret ingredient. My new secret to great gumbo is dried scallops. I had some in the cupboard so I threw a few in the pot. It added a Smokey earthiness that could not be beat. So no matter what is fresh at the market I will also drop in a couple of dried scallops next time I make gumbo. Just about any Cantonese cook would tell you that a pot of soup is always better when you add dried scallops, why would Gumbo be any different?

Bon Appetite!

Roux
¼ C butter
¾ C flour (more or less) really depends on how much the butter absorbs
I melt the butter and then add the flour. Stir constantly until dark brown and the roux smells nutty. This is at least 20 mins.
Add to the roux
3 C of the holy trinity chopped (celery, onion & green pepper)
If you want more flavor -add shallots, a leek, couple of green onions, jalapenos and some garlic
Add 6 C of low sodium chicken stock (you can always add back in salt it is really hard to take out)
Cook over slow heat for at least 4 to 6 hrs
3 Med dried scallops (soak in warm water for about 10 mins before adding)
Add red pepper to taste
Hint-I make the gumbo up the day before and then I store it in the fridge and heat it up for a couple of hours before I add the seafood
4 to 5 lbs of seafood-use a variety that your family likes, I recommend fish, shrimp, clams and crab at the minimum but make it for your family’s taste
Serve with White rice and File Gumbo

Homefacts.com My favorite new website

Homefacts.com is a great site because it has aggregated several sites that make sense for home buyers and home sellers to check out.

I know Homefacts.com is geared towards buyers but sellers will want to make sure they know what potential buyers will find when they type in their address.
For Example, I just found out there are 10 registered sex offenders in my neighborhood within a mile of my home, and only 1 sex offender in the neighborhood of the last house I owned. That is information I would have liked to have had when I sold my place in Palo Alto and bought my place in Mountain View.

Interesting Facts I just learned about Mountain View, CA

15% of the houses built in Mountain View were built after 1990; I would have guessed that number was 5%!

34% of the housing available in Mountain View is Single Family Homes; I would have guessed that number was higher.

11% of households speak Spanish at home and 60% speak English only. Again, I would have guessed that the number of English only speakers to be much lower.

Mountain View's unemployment rate is lower than the national average. Thank you Google!

Mountain View's median household income is just over $92,000.00 and the median family income is just over $117,000
61% of the population has a bachelor’s degree and 49% of the population over 15 is married.

But my favorite factoid is….

Of the percentage of regular church goers in Mountain View, the 3rd most popular religion is LDS. Now that is not something I would have guessed either.

Use Homefacts.com and tell me what you learned about your neighborhood and city!

Recipe: Chicken Salad

Once again I found myself craving something old school like chicken salad however, I wanted a more modern twist on the traditional recipe.
Lucky for me I had a couple of wonderful Trader Joe items in my possession that made a great addition to chicken salad; Cornichon pickles and Marcona Almonds. Almonds are something many people put in their chicken salad but usually it is the tasteless slivered almonds. Marcona almonds have a very strong flavor and these also have rosemary on them, which really complemented the chicken. The French cornichon pickles have a different flavor than American pickles that I really like as well. It tasted familiar but with a twist. Give it a try next time you have some leftover chicken you want to turn into chicken salad.

1 C of chopped roasted chicken
6 Cornichon pickles finely chopped
¼ C of Marcona Almonds with Rosemary
1 Tbl Mayonnaise, (the real thing!)
Fresh Ground pepper to taste
Mix everything together and serve on your favorite greens.

What does the Debt Ceiling have to do with buying a home?

I asked Marla Sarkozy, a Direct Lender with Blue Oak Mortgage, (A Stearns Lending Company) to help make sense of the Debt Ceiling impact on home buying. This is what she had to say:

After months of political grumbling back and forth, the Debt Ceiling was finally raised and the country took a step - albeit a small one - towards lowering our enormous budget deficit.

With the political stalemate behind us, it's time to focus on how the Debt Ceiling deal will impact Bonds and home loan rates.

First, shortly after the deal was announced, Fitch Ratings and Moody's both reaffirmed the United States' AAA rating, citing that the Debt Ceiling agreement virtually removes any threat of default. That was Bond friendly news and helped Bonds and home loan rates improve. But the ratings agencies did leave the door open for a future downgrade depending on how the debt and budget negotiations continue in the future. So the Debt Ceiling may be raised, but the issue of debt and credit ratings is far from over.

Beyond that, the deficit reduction program agreed to in the deal should help strengthen the value of US debt, because there will be less spending. At the same time, less government spending will also weigh on Gross Domestic Product (GDP). And just last month, we saw how weak the GDP already is when the 2nd Quarter GDP came in well below expectations and at the slowest growth rate in 2 years. Additionally, the 1st Quarter GDP was revised sharply lower than it was previously reported. Remember, a weak GDP would make Stocks LESS attractive and Bonds MORE attractive - as Bonds generally perform better during sluggish economic times.

Bottom line… be careful what you wish for. When rates moved sharply higher this past winter, it was due largely to the Fed's second round of Quantitative Easing (QE2). When that ended, the prevailing wisdom was that the only way rates could come back down to levels anywhere near where they were on the eve of QE2 was if the economy "endured more pain." That sure is what we are seeing of late as growing economic uncertainty, persistently high unemployment and rising consumer pessimism is helping Bonds move higher and trade within an earshot of the best levels - ever!

Though Bonds and home loan rates look very attractive right now, we can't be complacent and think rates will stay low or go even lower still. As fast as prices have moved higher, things can change in a heartbeat if the economy starts to see some good news.

And, although there isn't much, there is some good news out there. For example, the most recent reports for Housing Starts and Building Permits were both reported better than expected. While this is only one number and one number doesn't make a trend, this is a good figure, and I will be watching closely for follow through in future readings.

Marla can be reached at:

Marla Sarkozy
Direct Lender, Blue Oak Mortgage (A Stearns Lending Company)
NMLS #256557
408 718 8842 cell
408 521-0157 efax
marla@gr8r8ts.com
www.gr8r8ts.com

Santa Clara County Real Estate Activity in July 2011 vs. July 2010

Santa Clara County Real Estate Activity in July 2011 vs. July 2010*

It seems that every time I read an article on real estate activity this year it contradicts the article I read the day before.

So I wanted to see what the numbers say about Santa Clara County real estate activity in July. It felt like there was less inventory this July compared to July last year. It also feels like there were less short sales and bank owned properties on the market.

What is interesting is that the numbers do reflect that there was less inventory for both Single Family Homes and townhouse/condos. However the inventory of bank owned townhouses/condos has increased in July 2011 by 5%.

What did you noticing in the market this July? How does it compare to last July?
===============================================
1434 Single family homes were listed in July 2011 in Santa Clara County, of those 1434 homes,

• 121 homes (8%) were bank owned
• 271 homes (19%) were short sales

497 townhouse/condos were listed in July 2011 in Santa Clara County of those 497 townhouses/condos,

• 98 townhouse/condos (20%) were bank owned
• 138 (28%) townhouse/condos were short sales

How does that compare to July 2010?

1726 Single family homes were listed in July 2010 in Santa Clara County, of those 1726 homes,

• 160 homes (9%) were bank owned
• 375 homes (22%) were short sales

609 townhouse/condos were listed in July 2010 in Santa Clara County, of the 609 townhouse/condos listed,

• 94 townhouse/condos (15%) were bank owned
• 183 townhouse/condos (30%) were short sales

If I can answer any of your real estate questions please do not hesitate to ask.

Carla Dimond
Realtor-Lifestyle Neighborhood Specialist
Keller Williams Realty-Cupertino
Cell/Direct: (650) 388-8820
carla.dimond@gmail.com
www.findahomeinsiliconvalley.com
DRE # 01871201


*-Information from MLSListings, Inc, deemed reliable but not guaranteed

Recipe: Grown Up Pasta and Cheese

What grown up wants to have pasta and cheese for dinner?

Actually I am guessing it is probably a secret comfort food for many adults and I wanted to share my adult version. I used black truffle butter and truffle cheese to make this something worthy of serving as a side dish at your next dinner party.

With just a little tweaking of the classic dish you usually make for a 4 year old you can make something amazing. Serve this with a nice glass of red wine and be happy that you can make something so decadent in about 10 minutes



6 oz of dry pasta, cooked to instructions

1 tablespoon of truffle butter

3 Oz of grated Pecorino cheese with truffles

Fresh ground pepper

Drain pasta toss with butter and cheese season with pepper and serve!

Can you take money out of your 401K to buy a home?

Can you take money out of your 401K to buy a home?


I want to thank Jenny Barnes from JLB Tax Services for providing information on this subject. Jenny can be reached at jenny@jlbtaxonaut.com or visit her website http://www.jlbtaxonaut.com for additional information


Using Your IRA for a Home Down Payment


The IRS discourages you from withdrawing money from your retirement accounts early by charging a 10% penalty on withdrawals before you turn 59 1/2.


Roth IRA


Among the various kinds of retirement accounts, pulling money from a Roth IRA will cost you the least in taxes and penalties. This is because you can withdraw contributions at any time without penalty or tax. In addition, after you’ve held the account for five years, you can withdraw up to $10,000 in earnings without penalty or tax for the purchase, repair, or remodel of a first home. In other words, if you withdraw all of your contributions, you can still withdraw another $10,000 and not pay the 10% penalty or taxes on any of it.


There is one caveat however: you only have 120 days to spend withdrawn earnings or you may be liable for paying the penalty. Also, for your convenience, your financial services firm will automatically prioritize the withdrawal of all of your contributions from a Roth IRA before any earnings.


Traditional IRA


The next best choice is a traditional IRA. You’re still able to withdraw up to $10,000 for the purchase, repair, or remodel of a first home without paying a penalty, but you’ll have to pay regular income tax on the entire amount. SIMPLE and SEP IRAs follow the same rules.


With a traditional IRA, you must also use the money within 120 days for the purchase of a home or you’ll get hit with the 10% penalty. Alternatively, you can withdraw up to $10,000 penalty-free for the purchase of a home for your spouse, parents, children, or grandchildren.


Just like with a Roth IRA, your spouse can also withdraw $10,000 from his or her traditional IRA, so you can collectively obtain $20,000 penalty-free for a down payment if you’re married. The $10,000 limit is a lifetime limit for each individual.


Using Your 401k for a Down Payment


If you take money out of your 401K to buy your first home, you’ll be assessed a penalty of 10% on the amount withdrawn and you’ll have to pay income tax on it as well.


If possible, roll over the amount you want to withdraw to an IRA, so you can avoid paying the penalty. However, you can’t roll over a 401k that’s with an employer for whom you are still working. If you have an old 401k from a former employer, roll that. Since a rollover can take time to process, fill out the necessary paperwork as soon as possible.


Borrowing from Your 401k


Another option with a 401k is to take out a loan. Your loan can be up to $50,000 or half the value of the account, whichever is less. As long as you can handle the payments (yes, you have to pay back this loan), this is usually a less expensive option than a straight withdrawal. Though you will pay interest, you won’t pay taxes or penalties on the loan amount.


A few things to know about 401k loans:


Since you’re incurring debt and will need to make monthly payments on the loan, your ability to get a mortgage may be affected.
The interest rate on 401k loans is generally about two points above the prime rate. The interest you pay, however, isn’t paid to the company – it goes into your 401k account.
Many plans give you only five years to repay the loan. In other words, if you borrow a large amount, the payments could be substantial.
If you leave your company, you may be required to pay back the outstanding balance within 60 to 90 days or be forced to take it as a hardship withdrawal. This means you’ll be hit with taxes and penalties on the amount you still owe.
If payments are deducted from your paycheck, the principal payments will not be taxed but the interest payments will be taxed. Since you’ll be taxed again on withdrawals during retirement, the interest payments will end up being double-taxed.

Sometimes it makes sense to take a loan from your 401k to cover the down payment, like if you are getting an FHA loan and only need a small down payment. However, a large loan payment could have a big effect on your mortgage qualification.


Therefore, it is wise to run numbers and ask your mortgage broker how such a loan will affect your qualification before you take one out. Conversely, if the amount you need will have too adverse an effect on your qualification, it might make sense to withdraw the down payment amount and pay the taxes and penalties.







Carla Dimond

Lifesystle Neighborhood Specialist

Keller Willliams-Cupertino

650.388.8820

carla.dimond@gmail.com

www.findahomeinsiliconvalley.com