So we have Matt’s keyboard in our basement and when we need to go down there to do our laundry or straighten up, Linc occupies his time by playing with the keyboard.  It’s a long video, but hold out and watch it in its entirety.  He dances fast to the fast beat and at the end, knows to dance a little slower…  Enjoy! 

(You might have to let it play through once and then replay it …it was loading slow for us.)

mvi1355

Corn Chowder

(Courtesy of Family Circle, Aug. 2008 pg. 147.)

serves: 6     prep: 15 minutes      Cook; 28 minutes

This is a tasty way to finish up the corn season.

8 medium  ears of corn

4 slices thick-cut bacorn, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbsp. all- purpose flour

3 cups low sodium chicken broth

2 medium red skin potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

1 tsp. minced fresh thyme

2 cups milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/3 cup shredded white cheddar cheese

1. Cut kernels from 4 ears of corn (about 3 cups of kernels); set aside.  Working over a bowl, grate remaining 4 ears of corn on the large holes of a box grater.  Scrape pulp from cobs (about 3/4 cup) using the dull side of a knife; set aside. 

2. In a large pot over medium-high heat, cook bacon for about 6 minutes or until crisp.  Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper-towel-lined plate.

3. Add onion to pot and cook for about 4 minutes, sitrring occasionally, or until golden brown.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Add flour and stir constantly for 2 minutes.

4 Whisk in chicken broth.  Add potatoes, thyme, milk and grated corn and pulp.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.  Using a poato masher, press down on the potatoes 4 to 5 times, stir in cooked bacon.

5.  Add whole corn kernels and heavy cream and cook an additional 5 minutes or until corn is tend but still crunchy.  Sitr in salt and pepper to taste.  Ladle chowder into bowls and top each with grated cheddar cheese.

This past week, the Berberian Family went on vacation down the shore to Michele’s Father’s shore house.  This was Lincoln’s second time to the beach house, but last year he really didn’t notice much of anything.  Barbara spent the week with us –it was nice to have her on vacation with us.  We saw Michele’s Father and step-mother, Barbara over the weekend, and PopPop even came to Jenkinson’s Boardwalk with us on Monday night.  He went on the train with Lincoln…it was a long wait to get the train finally moving, but LJ seemed to like it.  He also went on a balloon ride that went up in the air…he was a little unhappy, but it wasn’t too bad.  We met Pam, Mike, Evan and Andrew for dinner.  It was nice to finally get together with them.  We had a drink or two with Tine, Jenn, Erin and their brother, Matt on Monday.  (Congrats to Jenn on her adventure into home ownership!  We met up with Margaret B.  It was nice to see her, too.  Barbara went to see the play Chicago with her on Wednesday.  We took Lincoln to play miniature golf at Barnicle Bills.  He’s not quite ready to play.  Every morning we walked to get fresh rolls for lunch and donuts for breakfast.  We also walked every day to the farmer’s market to get fresh vegetables for dinner.  We tried flying a kite at the beach—that didn’t turn out so well.  It was either too windy or the kite was too cheap-either way Matt got a few laughs from the bystanders.  Barbara was able to spend some quality time with Maylie and Lincoln slept in a twin bed with a bed rail for the first time.  He actually liked it once he was comfortable.  And we couldn’t have asked for better weather than what we had.  Our vacation was terrific! 

 Unfortunately, it had to end, but there is always next year!

For more pics, click here.

side note:  for those of you who did not hear about this, this happened on Sunday night.  We were at the boardwalk in Seaside and saw the ambulance and a crap load of stunned people, but didn’t find out what had happened until the next day.  Read here to find out what happened.

mvi0925

mvi0979

See pics from the Fourth of July, to plain ol’ summer days of 2008 with family and friends.  Maylie is finally sitting up!…So we really put her to the test!  For more pics click here.

mvi0851

mvi0857

Smoky Beer Burgers with Creamy Mustard Sauce

Courtesy of :

  Their burger

  Our burger

2 pounds lean ground sirloin
1/3 pound smoked Gouda cheese, diced into 1/4 to 1/2-inch cubes
1 medium onion or 1/2 large onion
2 teaspoons smoked sweet paprika, 2/3 palm full
1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/3 palm full
Grill seasoning (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning)
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
Generous handful finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 (12-ounce) bottle beer
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
1/2 cup spicy brown mustard
1/4 to 1/3 cup sour cream
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill
4 crusty Kaiser rolls, split and lightly toasted
Green or red leaf lettuce, for topping
Sliced sweet bread and butter pickles, for topping

Preheat grill over medium-high heat.Place the meat in a bowl and add the cheese. Peel the onion and halve it, if using the medium onion. Grate about 3 to 4 tablespoons of onion directly over the meat into the bowl. Finely chop the remaining onion and reserve for topping. Add spices to meat: paprika, cumin and about 1 tablespoon of grill seasoning and/or some salt and pepper. Add garlic, parsley and Worcestershire and beer then form 4 large patties making them a little thinner at the center than at edges. Burgers plump when you cook them so this will prevent burger bulge. Drizzle a little olive oil over the burgers then grill about 4 minutes on each side for medium rare, 5 minutes on each side for medium and 6 to 7 minutes on each side for well done.

Mix mustard and sour cream with dill.

Serve patties on bun bottoms and top with lettuce, pickles, chopped raw onion. Slather bun tops with sauce and serve.

Lincoln woke up Sunday morning and started using his words.  He wanted a waffle, so he went over to the freezer and said, “wah-gul” “wah-gul” and then later in the day said he wanted “ka-kas” or crackers.  He tried saying chips, but I knew that would turn out badly.  He ended up saying “shits”…not surprising.  I was asking him if he wanted to play with his trains and he said, “Ice”…which for LJ is “yes” 

Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you!

Lincoln LOVES the trains, tracks and table he got from his Uncle Paul, Aunt Michele and cousins, Kevin, Sean and Lindsey!  Thank you…Choo…Choo…Whoooo….Whoooo

So over the weekend, Matt rented a log splitter from HD and asked Jon and his mom to help out.  I took video and a few pics.  At the time, it was really loud and impressive…watching the video back…not so much.  The most exciting thing that happened is that one of logs had a knot in it and Matt wanted to cut it anyway…and he ended up at Priority Medical because we all thought he broke his foot after a 15 pounder flew out and onto his foot.  Turns out…it was just bruised.  Suck it up, Man! For more pics, click here.

mvi0710

Congrats…you found me.    You remind Michele all the time that there are too many of these here.

exerpt from an email sent from Jon Tettambel.  For the full story, visit http://www.tettambel.com.