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May is a Great Month for Philadelphia Food Festivals!

April 25, 2017 by Jennifer LeBow Leave a Comment

relocating to philadelphia — Do you like to be outside in nice weather? Do you like to try new foods? May is the month for you!

While there are restaurant weeks scattered throughout the year and a few food festivals to be found during the rest of the year, May seems to be “the” month for food festivals in the Philadelphia area. It’s warm enough to walk around but not so hot that it’s uncomfortable and you don’t want to be eating anything hot. So if you find you have a weekend in May with some time on your hands and you like to try new foods, you are in luck.

There are general spring festivals that showcase food, art and entertainment, like the South Street Spring Festival, which features food offerings from over 100 local chefs, the Rittenhouse Row Spring Festival which features local restaurants serving samples and the Phoenixville Food Festival which includes artisan vendors and food trucks. There are also festivals focusing on a specific palate pleaser, like the Philadelphia Wine Festival, the Philadelphia Taco Festival, the Strawberry Festival at Peddler’s Village and even the MANNA “Guac-off“. One of my favorites is the 9th Street Italian Market Festival which celebrates all things Italian-American, from food to culture. Read more.

Budgeting for Home Maintenance

April 24, 2017 by Jennifer LeBow Leave a Comment

philadelphia relocation home buying — How much should you budget for home maintenance?

When people decide they are ready to consider purchasing a home, one of the first things we real estate agents recommend to them is to get a pre-approval so they know what they can afford. I’ve made it a practice to tell my buyers that their pre-approval does NOT take into account a complete picture of the cost of home ownership. While most pre-approvals include taxes and home owner’s insurance and some even address home owner association fees, no pre-approval takes into account the cost of home maintenance. I try to warn (especially first-time) buyers that it costs money to keep a home in good repair. The seller’s disclosure brings some of the major expenses to a buyer’s attention, like the age of the roof, HVAC system and whether there is water in the basement. These items are definitely important to budget for, but there are lots of others that don’t necessarily occur to people, like the cost of redoing a driveway (or having it plowed), the cost of landscaping and gutter cleaning and tree work (which can be very costly)? How about interior and exterior paint? Refinishing hardwood floors? A contract with a pest control company? Then there are the things that just break and need repair like leaky pipes or backed up drains, chimney liners that require replacing, electrical problems, stone patios that start to crumble…budgeting for home repair is so important, but so frequently overlooked when buyers are figuring out what they can afford. My advice is to set aside a certain amount of money every month to be earmarked for maintenance (recommendations range from 1%-4% of the purchase price of the home). Otherwise, you will either find yourself housepoor and not able to do some of the regular activities you’re used to doing (like dining out, traveling, etc.) as you have to divert that disposable income to caring for the property or worse, if you don’t have much discretionary income, your home may fall into disrepair which affects not only its value as an asset/investment, but your enjoyment of it while you’re living there.

New Development in Bala Cynwyd

April 20, 2017 by Jennifer LeBow Leave a Comment

There’s a lot of building happening near the old Bala movie theater. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Have you ever noticed that large, empty lot right by the Union Avenue bridge (yeah, the one that’s not really quite wide enough for two cars that you can’t see over til you’re on it) near the Bala Cynwyd post office? It’s been vacant for years and is sandwiched between a condo building and a community gym. Looks like it won’t lay fallow much longer as a developer has recently bought it, in addition to the property across the street that has several buildings which will be razed and the old BMW lot that is no longer in use. The plan? To create Bala Village, three separate multi-family communities (read “apartments”), all with retail and restaurants on the ground floor. While this corridor could use some revitalization, especially since the movie theater’s closing, there are concerns about the sharp increase in the population density in the area. Traffic has to increase and this large addition (combined with other new buildings like the Royal Athena near the Riverside Club) can’t help but change the feeling of the neighborhood which already supported several apartments and condominium buildings. Personally, as a Bala Cynwyd resident, I don’t think it will benefit property values and I am not relishing a huge spike in residents and traffic either. I suppose only time will tell–stay tuned.

Jen LeBow’s Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe

April 18, 2017 by Jennifer LeBow Leave a Comment

Jennifer LeBow’s Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe

Preheat to 400 degrees.

Bake either homemade or store bought (Pillsbury) crust about 8 minutes, til just starting to brown. Remove from oven and set aside.

On low/med heat in 2 qt. pot, mix:

1 ½ cups sugar

6 T corn starch

Add:

1 ½ cups water

Stir constantly, increasing to medium heat until mixture boils. Boil 1 minute while stirring.

Slowly pour half of hot mixture into:

3 beaten egg yolks (save the whites for the meringue)

Pour all of the egg mixture back into the pot. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Add:

½ cup lemon juice

4 T cut up butter

Combine thoroughly and pour into pre-baked pie shell.

For meringue:

With wire whisk attachment, beat until foamy in stand mixer:

3 egg whites

3/4 t cream of tartar

Add a little at a time, beating until glossy and somewhat stiff:

6 T sugar

¾ t vanilla

Spread meringue evenly atop lemon curd and use knife to make pattern if desired.

Bake in 400° oven 9 minutes.

What Features Do Homebuyers Most Want?

April 10, 2017 by Jennifer LeBow Leave a Comment

What specific features are home buyers hoping to find?

There are trends in everything from food to fashion to hobbies–even home design. For a while, an in-home office was all the rage. In-law suites and finished basements have had their share of the limelight as well. A recent article I read talked about the features the most home buyers are currently looking for and while some seemed obvious, a few surprised me. The number one “want”? A laundry room. Gotta admit, that one surprised me. Sure, anyone would appreciate one if it were there, but the number one “extra” that people hoped to find? Interesting. Another one that surprised me was exterior lighting. That was the single most desired outdoor feature. Patios were on the list, but that one seemed predictable. Same with hardwood floors. Energy efficient windows and appliances made the list, too. Read more.

Where Should You Retire?

March 27, 2017 by Jennifer LeBow Leave a Comment

philadelphia retirement relocation — Have you ever wondered where might be your optimal retirement spot? Let this quiz recommend a few?

When you are working and/or raising children, the criteria you use to determine where to live are very different than those you might consider upon retiring. School districts, availability of babysitters and dry cleaners may become less important. Other considerations, like a walkable town or a great library or access to an airport may become more important. Everyone’s situation is unique. While I don’t know that my husband and I (both self-employed) will ever retire, I do sometimes wonder where we might choose to live if we did. I came across this quiz, designed to take the answers you provide to the questions to suggest places that might be well-suited to you for retirement. I have to say that I thought the list it generated for me seemed spot on.

Frank Lloyd Wright–in Ardmore!

March 24, 2017 by Jennifer LeBow Leave a Comment

Locally, Frank Lloyd Wright didn’t only design a synagogue in Jenkintown,–he also planned these multi-family homes in Ardmore.

That’s right! Frank Lloyd Wright built a pod of homes, which was supposed to be an experimental type of lower income housing, intended to become a widespread design, right in our own back yard. In 1939, construction began on the Suntop Homes, quadruple houses, connected along a spine, but carefully laid out so none looked into another. However, like many of Wright’s projects, construction costs quickly exceeded the budget and, in combination with the effects of WWII and neighborhood protests against multi-family housing, only one of the four was ever completed. Two of the original four units were damaged by fire (though both went through varying levels of restoration in later years). These homes included carports, which most of the owners enclosed for more living space at some point in time. Sound and fireproof brick walls separate the individual units (2300 sq. ft. distributed over four floors) and care was taken that the living spaces used during the days and nights were located next to each other for maximum privacy and quiet. The balconies and terraces as well as the integration of sidewalk and driveway all allowed for as much private exterior space as could be managed with the four residences being attached. While the Suntop Homes received their share of criticism, ranging from too-small bedrooms to leaky flat roofs to fumes from the carport being hailed as the probably cause of the fires. Mostly, though, it was the inability to build them economically which prevented this housing plan to be built as an answer to the need for affordable suburban housing in areas without much land.

Jen LeBow’s Rugelach Recipe

March 23, 2017 by Jennifer LeBow Leave a Comment

Cream cheese is the secret ingredient that makes this dough so good.

Jen LeBow’s Rugelach Recipe

NOTE: This recipe takes extended time—at least 4 hours for the dough to chill and then 10 for it to thaw, 15 minutes in the freezer once the pieces are rolled and ready to go in the over and then about 20 minutes cooking time. It can be stretched out easily over two days.

In food processor, combine:

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 t vanilla

Add and mix about 20 seconds:

2 sticks (1 cup) cold butter, cut up into pea-sized pieces

Add and mix just til crumbly (don’t overprocess):

8 oz. cold cream cheese, cut up into about 8 pieces

1 T vanilla Greek yogurt

Dump out on counter divide into 4 balls of dough and flatten slightly. Wrap each disc individually in plastic.

Refrigerate at least 3 hours, up to 2 days.

Bring one disc at a time to room temperature (let it sit out 10 minutes).

Leaving the disc between 2 sheets of plastic wrap (or in a pie crust bag), roll out with a rolling pin til thin and about 10-12” in diameter. The plastic prevents it from sticking to the rolling pin.

Smear with raspberry jam, cinnamon and sugar and, if desired, crushed roasted almonds or other chopped nuts and/or mini chocolate chips. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, divide dough round into 16 triangular pieces, like cutting a pie. From the outside of the dough round, roll each triangle gently toward the center, putting a tiny bit of pressure on the point to secure it to the rest of the piece. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment.

Preheat oven to 390 degrees. FREEZE cookie sheet with prepared rugelach 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, brush each piece with cream. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown.

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