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Thursday, September 12, 2019

Loan Refinance and when it's a bad idea

Earlier in the summer I started getting calls from our mortgage regarding loan refinance.  We hadn't even had our loan for a year yet!  I grew suspicious when they tried to increase the pressure, and they kept calling at weird hours, or when I was on a business call, so after 7 or 8 missed calls they finally stopped pestering me.  Curious though, I contacted the mortgage broker who set up our original loan, which differs from our actual loan company.  I trust this guy as he's always been straight forward with us.  We started by saying we want to sell in 2-3 years.  He immediately said have a nice day!  He said it was useless to continue because we'd spend more by adding 4K to the back end of our loan and the $100 or $150 savings per month on loan rate reduction would not pan out. 

I've learned this in business - ask questions, especially when you don't understand something and if someone won't answer the questions find someone who will.  The lady from my loan company wanted to make it sound like we needed this, when in the end, we didn't.  I'm glad I never returned her calls! 


Wednesday, September 04, 2019

This last trip just about killed us

I have a terrible tendency to "bite off far more than I can chew", as the saying goes, and that'as all fine, until I bring others into the mix. 

In the first week of July, our church has a Convention, where many related churches of similar beliefs come together for a week of services.  It's an exciting time, and easy to get caught up in the energy of attending other churches revivals.  We met some folks from the Mississippi church and casually mentioned we were thinking of visiting them for their Labor Day weekend revival.  They got super excited and introduced us to someone who had camper hook ups on his property so by the time last weekend rolled around we were committed.  Even though we'd barely finished school shopping, left all of it on a table to be divided up the first morning of school, and got back at 11:30pm to put the kids in bed at midnight! 

It was an ambitious trip, with very little pre-planning and lots of wrong turns that had us driving late into the night for half the trip!  Regardless, the services were outstanding,

Chocolate Chip Scones

Or I should say Chocolate Bit Scones, because I put the chips in a food process and blend them to tiny bits!

Recipe:
  • 3 cups self-rising flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup non-salted butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 t vanilla
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or just buy mini-chocolate chips)

Use a food processor to chop the chocolate chips until they are tiny (or buy mini chocolate chips). Next, put one cup of flour into the same food processor with butter and pulse until combined.  I then move the mixture into a Kitchen Aid mixer and add remaining dry ingredients.  

Mix egg, vanilla, and buttermilk in a 1 cup container and add to the dry ingredients.

Add all ingredients together and mix on high until well blended.  It will be very thick, you may need to dig the mixture off the whip and then continue mixing to get everything blended.

On a floured surface, roll the dough 3/4" - 1" thick.  I used a 1.5" circle cutter for each scone.  I continue rolling until all dough is used up; there is no such thing as wasted dough in this house.  The last scone is usually hand balled and flattened into a scone patty, much like you would make a hamburger.

Place the cut scones onto a cookie sheet and bake for 14 minutes at 325.    Recipe makes around 18 scones.

Enjoy!