Happy Friday, darlings! Brown Butter Bits is my weekly roundup of things I’m loving this week, things happening this week, things I’m interested this week…well you get the point. Why “Brown Butter Bits”? They are the best parts of browning butter.
-The sunsets here in Arizona have been amazing lately! Take a look at the picture above.
-I’ve been researching gardening, fruit trees, and flowers for when we get into our house. My favorite flowers, ranunculus, supposedly do well in the Arizona weather. The yard I once thought was so small, now seems enormous when I think about all the plants, pavers, and garden boxes we will need…yikes.
-I’m reading a number of cookbooks, but also picked up Chip & Joanna Gaines book. Pretty good. All about how they met and started their now empire. I think when we see people who are on the upswing of success, we often think it was incredibly easy. In this book, the Gaines are very honest about their challenges, and it’s refreshing. Plus they are an adorable couple.
-Hulu has all season of Golden Girls, which I spent a couple weeks re-watching, and now I’m watching Wings. I know, insane. But I was not really at an age when these shows were on where I really watched them let alone comprehended them.
-Amazon Prime Day for the win! We got a great deal on a Ring doorbell. No more answering the door for us.
-I am loving cooking in my own kitchen again. It’s so nice to have all my cooking equipment back in one space. It’s just a little strange, as always, getting used to a new kitchen space. Check back here on Monday for a new recipe. :o)
Tree with a sail boat carving nailed to it at the first house.
Originally this post was stuffed full of wonderful photos I had taken of the new home we were in the process of purchasing. It was situated on 1.4 acres of land in Phoenix and we were so excited. A new home for Christmas and the bebe’s first Christmas to boot!
We sold our house in Gilbert, packed up all our belongings and hauled them to storage, moved into my parents living room with our Tuft & Needle mattress and a few boxes of our belongings for a couple weeks until we closed. And then the appraisal happened.
If you don’t know, the appraisal is the part of the home buying process where a 3rd party you hire comes and evaluates if the property is worth what you are paying for it. They save this inspection until last, and our sweet little house with the red door and the 1.4 acres of land appraised $30,000 less than what we were paying. The sellers didn’t want to drop the price, and asked us for a week to take all the bills for the money they had spent to remodel the house back to the appraiser to see if that would bring up the price. We saw this sinking ship before us and decided to jump back into the house hunting pool.
Quickly, we came upon another house. Back in the area we wanted to be in, and plenty large enough for us to grow into. There was no 1.4 acre lot, but we fell in love with the house and the neighborhood. And there was plenty of room for me to have some backyard chickens and citrus trees. And then the inspection happened.
A bunch of little things came up, but two big things, the pool they supposedly had replastered (unfortunately, it had not been and would have cost $6,000 to redo) and the roof, of which we needed a whole new one! We went back and asked for the $10,000 to re-roof a brand new house priced at the top of the market for the area. This afternoon they told us no way. We walked away.
To say we are crushed is an understatement. We had fallen in love with both houses. And now we have no home and no prospective home. To the greedy grinch house flippers of the world, I say bah-hum-bug! Do things the right way and make the house safe, then add some nice touches to it. Do a good job and people will pay you top dollar for the houses you rehab.
Citrus tree at the first house. I love how it just popped out of the cement near the pool.
I honestly don’t know what we are going to do now. Retreat. Lick our wounds. Figure out a game plan. Head back out into the fray. There just seems to be nothing we like anywhere in the area we would like to be in (and it’s a rather large area). It’s discouraging, but I do believe we will be in the right place for us. I just hope it’s sooner rather than later. Send us some good vibes and let me know in the comments below if you have a really insane house buying story. I could use some commiseration or a good laugh right about now.
And now for some food business…
Peach crostada with an oat crumble. Eagerly awaiting peach season.
I’m looking forward to getting back into teaching some cooking classes, probably in the middle of the new year. I’m currently working on the curriculum for the classes. Every class I teach I learn something more I want to expand on or add or edit out.
I am searching for a great location to teach the classes, so let me know if you know of a great space or see anything while out and about.
I have also started to freelance again. The goal was always to get back into writing more, and now writing seems to fit into my schedule a little better than baking full-time.
Lemon curd handpies. We teach handpies in our Pie Perfection class.
You may notice that everything on the Pistol Whipped Pastry website, with the exception of some apparel items, are listed as sold out. Since we just had a baby, and it’s her first Christmas, I am taking a break for the holidays. We will be updating the website with some old favorites, new products, and some new branding (woot woot!) come February.
Lets leave this kind of sad post on a happy note, and feel free to comment below with any of your holiday baking questions. I will be more than happy to take a little time in another post to try to answer and help you all out with your holiday baking projects.
Before we go, you should definitely go check out the interview I did recently with my friend Marlee for her blog, I Just Make Sandwiches, where I answer baking questions from her readers.
Lastly, send us some love and cross your fingers we find the right house soon, as I desperately need to have my own kitchen again. Bakers gotta bake. Am I right?
