With recent emphasis on the Saints' Superbowl victory, Mardi Gras - the national holiday of Louisiana - will be even livelier this year. Parades, which began last weekend will continue until Fat Tuesday, will keep the party going in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and of course, Ascension Parish, as revelers eat and drink their way through the next week.

One holiday favorite to be found at many festivities will be King Cake, a decorated filled ring of twisted bread. The delectable pastry originated in western Europe in honor of the Three Kings who made their way to Bethlehem to honor the Baby Jesus on January 6, the 12th day after Christmas. French and Spanish settlers brought the cake to the New Orleans, where it became a favorite.

Though the recipe varies for the cake, it always contains a trinket, most often a plastic baby. Whoever finds the trinket in their piece is supposed to gain good fortune- and the honor or buying the cake next time.

In Ascension Parish, one of the biggest suppliers of King Cake is Ralph's Market in Gonzales. Located at the intersection of Hwy 44 and Hwy 931, Ralph's makes over 1, 000 cakes per day during Mardi Gras season. The enterprise keeps seven or eight employees busy rolling and stuffing the dough with fillings and the precious baby, and then baking and icing the finished product. This year, the crew has worked night and day to meet the demand of local shoppers who line up at the door to buy them up for their own celebrations and to ship out of town. Of course, this year, the store has also been extra busy preparing Who Dat cakes and Valentine's Day cakes.

Ralph's isn't sharing their recipe for the king cake, but here is a tasty variation from Chef Emeril Lagasse

King Cake

2 envelopes active dry yeast

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1-1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, melted

1 cup warm milk (about 110°F)

5 large egg yolks, at room temperature

4 1/2 cups bleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature

4 cups confectioner's sugar

1 plastic king cake baby or a pecan half

5 tablespoons milk, at room temperature

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Purple-, green-, and gold-tinted sugar sprinkles

Combine the yeast and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the melted butter and warm milk. Beat at low speed for 1 minute. With the mixer running, add the egg yolks, then beat for 1 minute at medium-low speed. Add the flour, salt, nutmeg, and lemon zest and beat until everything is incorporated. Increase the speed to high and beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, forms a ball, and starts to climb up the dough hook. (If the dough is uncooperative in coming together, add a bit of warm water (110 degrees), a tablespoon at a time, until it does.)

Remove the dough from the bowl. Using your hands, form the dough into a smooth ball. Lightly oil a bowl with the vegetable oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn it to oil all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Meanwhile, make the filling. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese and 1 cup of the confectioner's sugar. Blend by hand or with an electric mixer on low speed. Set aside.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Using your fingers, pat it out into a rectangle about 30 inches long and 6 inches wide.

Spread the filling lengthwise over the bottom half of the dough, then flip the top half of the dough over the filling. Seal the edges, pinching the dough together. Shape the dough into a cylinder and place it on the prepared baking sheet seam side down. Shape the dough into a ring and pinch the ends together so there isn't a seam. Insert the king cake baby or pecan half into the ring from the bottom so that it is completely hidden by the dough.

Cover the ring with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and place in a warm, draft-free place. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Brush the top of the risen cake with 2 tablespoons of the milk. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Make the icing. Combine the remaining 3 tablespoons milk, the lemon juice, and the remaining 3 cups confectioner's sugar in medium-size mixing bowl. Stir to blend well. With a rubber spatula, spread the icing evenly over the top of the cake. Sprinkle with the traditional purple, green, and gold sugar crystals, alternating colors around the cake.

The cake is traditionally cut into 2-inch-thick slices with all the guests in attendance.

YIELD: 20 to 22 servings

Ralph's all sold out? Also try these local suppliers of King Cakes.

Need a house with a gourmet kitchen where you can make your next king cake? Sandy and her team can find you the perfect place to call home in the Greater Baton Rouge area, including Baton Rouge, Prairieville, Gonzales, Denham Springs, Watson, Walker, Central, Greenwell Springs, Zachary, Baker, Port Allen, Brusly, Geismar, and St Amant. We can also you answer any questions you might have about the home buyer's tax credit - $8,000 for first time buyers or $6,500 for repeat buyers.

Prairieville buyers have plenty of reasons to buy a great house in Ascension Parish or anywhere in the Greater Baton Rouge areas. After all, homes are plentiful and well priced, the interest rates are low, and of course, the home buyer's tax credit is in effect through April 30. Yesterday, the FHA made an announcement that impacts anyone who buys after the tax credit has expired. The best advice to potential home buyers is to buy now, if you can can to beat the FHA clock.

FHA has always been a good financing option if you less downpayment in hand and if your credit score was a bit lower than what some banks liked. Over the last few years, FHA has written almost 30% of the loans (up from 3% back in 2006) and has suffered from rising delinquencies. The agency now must build its reserves and keep FHA-insured financing alive and well for homeowners. HUD Secretary wants borrowers to "have more skin in the game" as a way to reduce future defaults.

Some of the new rules apply to lenders who must now increase their reserves and practice more responsible lending practices. These are effective immediately. So what are the new rules that affect buyers?

Mortgage Insurance Payment (MIIP) will increase from 1.75% to 2.25% of the one and be added to the balance at closing. This will go into effect April 5, 2010.

Credits scores must now be at least 580 if you want to qualify for a 3.5% down payment. If your credit score is lower, you must come up with 10%.

Sellers will only be able to contribute 3% to the closing costs, as compared to 6% now.

These changes are reasonable, but they will cost new buyers more. All three changes will be effective by late spring-early summer which means those who buy before April 30 will reap some benefits of the tax credit and be able to go by the old rules (except for the MIP increase effective 4/5/10.) Currently, interest rates are low but expected to rise by late spring, so buyers will benefit from that as well. After that, if your credit score is low, you may have to save longer to get your downpayment in order, while all FHA borrowers will pay more MIP and closing costs.

If you are ready to buy a home, call Sandy's Team to discuss your home buying plans. Sandy and her team can find you the perfect place to call home in the new year in Greater Baton Rouge area, including Baton Rouge, Prairieville, Gonzales, Denham Springs, Watson, Walker, Central, Greenwell Springs, Zachary, Baker, Port Allen, Brusly, Geismar, and St Amant. We can also you answer any questions you might have about the home buyer's tax credit - $8,000 for first time buyers or $6,500 for repeat buyers.

Pelican Point Real Estate Market Report

This report summarizes and compares the Pelican Point housing market in 2009 and compares it with previous years. In terms of unit sales, approximately the same number of homes sold in 2009 as did in 2008. While down slightly from 2008, the re-sale market segment remains ahead of pre-Katrina levels. New construction, on the other hand, is way down from years preceding 2008.

Looking at absorption rates, it is definitely a buyer's market in the subdivision. There are significantly more homes for sale than demand supports. Home buyers are likely to find bargains while home sellers should set themselves apart from the competition.

Since Pelican Point is comprised of a number of different filings, each with it own unique characteristics, when examining pricing it is useful to look at individual street addresses. The following chart examines pricing in the resale market segment in terms of the price per square foot of living area. We can see that there has been a softening of prices in many areas. This is, in my opinion, due to the buyer's market condition that exists. In general, prices in Ascension parish as a whole have held for the resale market.

The data used in this report were extracted from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors MLS database. The data are presumed accurate but are not warranted.

As always, I appreciate hearing from readers and I welcome any comments or suggestions for improvement that you may offer.

©2009 by Don Stern - All Rights Reserved

(225)413-3634 phone (866)723-5477 fax

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Monthly Sales were 91 units. Comparison to last month: Increased 3% from 88 units. Comparison to this month last year: Increase 11% from 81 Units.

Average Sold Price was $186,413. Comparison to last month: decreased 2% from $191,023. Comparison to this month last year: Decreased 10% from $207,090.

Current Inventory is 6.48 months. Comparison to last month: Holding steady from 7.05 months. Comparison to this month last year: Decreased from 8.92 months.

Average Days on Market was 67. Comparison to last month: decreased from 78 days. Comparison to this month last year: Decreased from 87 days.

So what do all these numbers mean? The Average Sold Price being down is again indicative of the type of buyers we are seeing. First time homebuyers are still fueling the market. The inventory is slowly being eaten up and homes are not sitting on the market as long. This is all great news in the recovery of the housing market. I feel as if we have hit the bottom and are on our way up. FHA has announced some changes that will not make the climb easy. But as the old fable goes…SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE.

As I am sure you are aware, the tax credit has been extended to having an accepted contract in place by April 30, 2010 and closing by June 30, 2010. It has also been expanded to include "long time homeowners". These homebuyers will receive $6,500 on a new purchase. For more information about these credits, click here.

These stats are for areas 90,91 & 92 in Ascension Parish. Information used from Greater Baton Rouge MLS. They include only single family dwellings. Mobile home and land sales are not part of these numbers. If you would like information on either of these, feel free to let me know.

When you become a homeowner who just made one of the most expensive purchases in your life, you are starting out on an exciting new adventure. You just bought a great home in Baton Rouge, Prairieville, or a nearby city and you are now surprised to realize that you are pretty much on your own in learning to be a homeowner. If a major system goes wrong, you may have recourse, especially if you have a homeowner's warranty, but that's only one of the challenges. Here are some tips to keep in mind to help you make the transition.

When you rented, whether there was a leak in the room or window didn't open, you called the landlord. (You may have even mumbled aloud that the problem wouldn't have happened if he had only done some preventative maintenance.) Now, you need to fix what's broke and plan ahead. Aside from anticipating possible repairs, you need to schedule time to mow the lawn, fix, and clean the gutters. If you don't have the time, money, or interest to do these things or hire them out, then perhaps a condo would have been a better choice for you.

If you are like most new homeowners, you will want to make a million changes in your new home to make it yours. These projects range from painting to adding an addition and everything in between. If you are qualified to do these things, great, you can save some money. If not, depending on how much is involved, you can learn to do many projects. For major projects involving plumbing, electrical, or major remodels, you are better off hiring a licensed contractor. It's safer, often cheaper, and more likely to increase resale later in comparison to an amateur job.

When you got your mortgage you probably had to get homeowner's insurance, to protect the bank's interest, but buying a home is a good time to reassess all of your insurance. The coverage on the home itself and on your possessions should include replacement value if you can get it, and should have high liability limits that can cover you if some litigation-happy person slips on your walk or is bitten by your dog. You should also consider whether you have enough life and disability insurance to protect your partner and children in case of your death or illness or an accident that could limit your ability to work. Even your car insurance deserves a look - minimum state limits won't protect you enough if you are sued.

When you buy a home, your days of the form 1040EZ are probably over. There are many deductions you can take as a homeowner, especially the first year; for other things, like improvements, there is no deduction until you sell. Even if you usually do your taxes yourself, you might want to use a professional tax preparer the first year to make sure you take the deductions you are entitled to without over doing it. Make sure to keep all your receipts on anything you do in the house so you can take the proper credit later.

Buying a home can be daunting experience but at RE/Max Excellent Properties, Sandy Ogburn-Sandlin and her team will prepare you for home ownership and follow up afterwards, as our testimonials attest. Sandy's Team can show you new and resale homes in homes in the Greater Baton Rouge area that offer great values for first time buyers and repeat buyers available under the home buyer's tax credit. AND that are right for you and your situation.