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Homemade Lemon Curd Recipe

Help! My lemon curd won't thicken. With this handy recipe, you'll never have that problem again. You're going to think I'm nuts. For breakfast every morning, I have 5 pieces of toast. FIVE! The bread I buy is Nature's Own 100% whole grain, low sugar, blah-blah, so I like to pretend that the "everything in moderation" rule doesn't apply. It's also from the dollar store and is the best deal ever - important when you're eating several loaves per week! On each piece of toast, I have a different topping. My assortment this morning was Vegemite, peanut butter, raw honey, "super jam" (yes, you read that right. It's a surprisingly good concoction of every jam and jelly I had in the fridge, blended to oblivion in the Vitamix), and simple, homemade lemon curd. I guess you could call this blog post a toast to lemon curd. (Hee, hee.) Don't fret if you've never made your own lemon curd. It's fairly foolproof. Real

Overbudget? LOL

When considering our custom home builder, John Lowe of Panorama Homes, the only negative thing we heard was that he underestimates allowances, resulting in his projects finishing over budget.  He might say to expect $4,000 for bathroom vanities and sinks, but spend $6,000. $2,500 for lighting instead of $5,000. Well-meaning friends and family didn't want us getting in over our heads. We were warned. Apparently, these folks don't know me at all. I scour the internet all day, every day for deals. It's a blast! Here are a few of the "premium" purchases I've made for our house so far: VITA Eos XL pendant - made of approximately 6,000 goose feathers! $942 retail - paid $100 DVI Chimera chandelier $783 retail - paid $125  Quatrefoil wall sconce $124 retail - paid $20 Madison Park Eva bar stool $300 retail - paid $50 (For our theater room. This is going to be the best house ever!)  Bellflower pendant Retail $313 - paid $100

Actually, I Love the Beach. Who Knew?

Call me crazy, but I've never been a big fan of going to the beach. I don't surf, I hate being sandy, and it's always blazingly hot or infuriatingly windy. There are jellyfish to sting you and crabs that want nothing more than to pinch your toes. I've also had a few too many near-death experiences involving water, including a scary childhood incident involving a riptide trying to pull me out to sea. Oh, and birds will poop on you! But in California last week , driving all the way from LAX to Livermore and back, I dare say the highlight of our trip was stopping at different beaches along the way. Also, I greatly underestimated how big California is. That drive took forever! A perfectly reasonable expression when you don't trust your husband to say if a wave is coming too close.  Taken in Santa Cruz, steps from a neighborhood of lovely homes. I need to make more money and get myself a beach house in California. A fixer upper will be fine.

Construction Update: Drywall

I've been told I need to post more photos of the construction of our new dream home. Happy to oblige! Currently, most of our windows are covered with plastic film to protect them when the house is stuccoed, so everything has a hazy, greenish hue. Note that I said "most". Apparently, it's fine for some of the windows to end up splattered in stucco.  Kitchen Other side of the kitchen  Ack! I hate that cutout along the ceiling SO MUCH. Seriously, what is wrong with our construction crew? Does that look anything like the photo to you?  Groin ceiling inside the dining nook Curved floor of the hallway bathroom...because why not?  Hallway beams and my infamous crapper window .  Looking the other direction down the hallway Barrel vault ceiling  Guest bedroom  Double tray ceiling inside the master bedroom  Even in a green-certified home, there's nothing green about the construction process.  Here are our i