Because housing has become so expensive, making your first home purchase an investment home may be a good idea. Continue reading for an overview of the pros and cons to help you make your decision. Pro: Leverage to buy the home you want Many people who are looking to buy their first home usually can’t afford the one they truly want. Rather than put down a lot of money … [Read more...] about Legal New You Can Use: Should an Investment Home be Your First Home in CT?
Columnists
A la Carte: Ricotta Cheese Pie Makes a Luscious Dessert for any Easter … or Passover!
Editor's Note: This is a column that our dear friend Lee White wrote for us in April 2016, that somehow we failed to publish (our apologies) -- but the recipe is as good today as it was then! This will be an odd Easter weekend for me. On Good Friday, I will pick up my Newbury, Mass., daughter-in-law. Nancy and second-youngest granddaughter, then drive up to Kennebunkport … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Ricotta Cheese Pie Makes a Luscious Dessert for any Easter … or Passover!
A la Carte: Spring is Here … Celebrate with Spring Minestrone
I have spent the past few weeks with friends, first with the Oscars (yes, we all saw the slap and, with all the brilliant actors and crew from the amazing movie, CODA, they knew what Will Smith was saying. I myself don’t read lips, but I knew what he was saying.) The following Friday, we watched UConn ladies in the Final Four. On Sunday, I watched them alone. … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Spring is Here … Celebrate with Spring Minestrone
A la Carte: Thinking Lent (or Passover or Easter)? Then Think Fish
Oh my, it may be April 1, as you are reading this. But this column is not about April Fool’s Day but rather two important holidays, which follow in just a couple of weeks—Easter and Passover. Because the two holidays follow different calendars, rarely do Easter weekend (including Good Friday, Easter Sunday or, that new holiday, Easter Monday) and Passover coincide. As … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Thinking Lent (or Passover or Easter)? Then Think Fish
Gardening Tips from ‘The English Lady’ for March, a Month of ‘Wait and See’
Those March winds shall blow and we shall have snow and what will the Robin do then poor thing? He’ll hide in the barn and keep himself warm and hide his head under his wing. March is a month of ‘wait and see’ as we anticipate walking around our gardens. This morning I walked outside, into a westerly breeze and a pleasantly warm sun. I took a deep breath and as I … [Read more...] about Gardening Tips from ‘The English Lady’ for March, a Month of ‘Wait and See’
A la Carte: Thinking of Those Southern Warmer Climes? Creole Daube Will Take You There
Finally, inflation has really got to me at the supermarket. I so wanted to make a pot roast and saw a lovely fat chuck roast. Before I put it into my cart, I saw the price: $31. I looked again. Yup, $31 for a piece of meat that requires 3 to 4 hours of cooking before it has the perfect chew. I left that market with chicken. The next day I tried another market. That … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Thinking of Those Southern Warmer Climes? Creole Daube Will Take You There
A la Carte: It’s St. Patrick’s Day, So It Must Be Time For Corned Beef & Cabbage!
I had such a fun weekend watching the UConn women play basketball at Mohegan Sun. And as I write this column, the final game (UConn vs Villanova) is tonight. We had only one loss in the Big East, and that was to Villanova. I have my fingers crossed. Friends Sue and Karen had extra tickets for me to see all the games. Frosting on the cake was the ability to see most of our … [Read more...] about A la Carte: It’s St. Patrick’s Day, So It Must Be Time For Corned Beef & Cabbage!
A la Carte: Twice the Usual Feast Today:- First Maple Gooey Butter Cake, Then Whole Coconut Curry Chicken
Column #1 All winter, friends have been wailing about winter. When will it be over? Will summer ever come? Others complain about the cold. Some have slipped on ice. For me, winter on the Connecticut shoreline isn’t bad. I grew up in Troy, N.Y. Went to college in Ithaca and Rochester, and lived and worked in Worcester, Mass. Even the isolation during the pandemic … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Twice the Usual Feast Today:- First Maple Gooey Butter Cake, Then Whole Coconut Curry Chicken
A la Carte: This Five-Way Chili is All The Way From Cincinnati!
I get excited when I see old recipes in my computer and haven’t made in decades. Friends asked if I could make dessert for 12. I wanted it to be yummy and attractive and decided on a flan, or custard. I’d made it often as a dish but not in years. When you take it out of the oven and turn it onto a slightly oval plate, the caramel waves over and stays that way for … [Read more...] about A la Carte: This Five-Way Chili is All The Way From Cincinnati!
A la Carte: Caramelized Coconut Budino Makes a Luscious Dessert
I am going to a dinner party next Saturday evening in Madison. There may be 12 people. I may have met half of them. Most are flying in to see their daughter and son-in-law in their new house into which they moved just three weeks ago. The last time I moved, it took me months to unpack boxes, never mind ready to host a dinner party in less than a month. And many of the … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Caramelized Coconut Budino Makes a Luscious Dessert
A View from My Porch — The Shady History of Connecticut Tobacco, Part 1: The Age of Discovery to the Jamestown, Virginia Colony
It’s been a while since my last View, which was A Primer on The American Rescue Plan. Since then, I have spent some time thinking about tobacco; and frankly, that’s a subject on which I have rarely, if ever, reflected. Then again, it’s not COVID, or its aftermath; and has nothing to do with the events of Jan. 6, 2021, or their aftermath. To explain, Christina and I saw … [Read more...] about A View from My Porch — The Shady History of Connecticut Tobacco, Part 1: The Age of Discovery to the Jamestown, Virginia Colony
A la Carte: A Soup for Snow? Try This Intriguing Sweet Potato-Coconut Soup
What do you do on a Sunday when there is nearly three feet of snow on your front door? Obviously, the meteorologists were right this time ... Is there enough food in my house to keep me a day or two from starvation? Sure, there is. But what would I be in the mood for? Yes, my friends, I had stocked up on produce with what I wanted to cook: three different soups. … [Read more...] about A la Carte: A Soup for Snow? Try This Intriguing Sweet Potato-Coconut Soup
A la Carte: Lemony Shrimp and Risotto Makes a Luscious Entrée
I used to wonder about people who won’t go out if the weather is crappy, especially if it is snowing. I grew up where there is snow most days from mid-November until the end of March. I don’t remember having any snow days, but maybe we did. In any case, I never saw a school bus and, to this day, I have never been on one. From kindergarten until junior high school (now … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Lemony Shrimp and Risotto Makes a Luscious Entrée
Gardening Tips for February from ‘The English Lady,’ Lift Your Spirits by Thinking Spring … and Beyond
Hello everyone, with all the pain and suffering we are all experiencing right now with the pandemic still upon us, I wanted to lift your spirits and cause you to begin planning for this season in your garden. Mother Nature’s gifts of renewal, growth and nourishment tell us that in this wonderful pastime called ‘gardening,’ we can escape from the trials and tribulations of … [Read more...] about Gardening Tips for February from ‘The English Lady,’ Lift Your Spirits by Thinking Spring … and Beyond
A la Carte: Winter Vegetable Soup for a Wintry Day
Over the years, I learned a lot about buying cookbooks. Never mind the first one I ever had: it was a cookbook that was part of the first (and only) encyclopedia we order for our daughter. I bet no one under fifty years old has ever bought one. My second was Craig Claiborne’s New York Times Cookbook. It was one hell of a cookbook and still is. I learned to cook from that … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Winter Vegetable Soup for a Wintry Day