Guest blogging Archives

Is There A New York Cuisine?

August 6, 2013 by Momstart Leave a Comment

Is There A New York Cuisine?

Guest Post

The Melting Pot of the World has been simmering away for almost 400 years now, spiced with the new flavors of a never-ending stream of migrants. This nickname for New York City can be traced back to a playwright called Israel Zangwill in 1908 and came about because of the city’s intense mix of immigrants from across Europe. The same can still be said today, with Chinese and Mexican immigrants as common as Irish or Italians were in the 19th century. But how is this ethnic mix shown in the city’s cuisine?

Across the world the image of the brash New Yorker is synonymous with donuts and bagels. Neither would the crime scene be complete without New York-style thin-crust pizza (expect an earful if you’ve come expecting Chicago deep-pan pizzas). But these American foods are of course indebted to that same history of immigration. The ever-present street foods that make cheap holidays in New York, bookable through holiday comparison sites, still a viable option are hamburgers, pizzas, hot dogs, bagels and pretzels. Of these staples only the hamburger has a real claim to have been invented in America. Pizzas are of course Italian, while hot dogs, bagels and pretzels are the legacy of an influx of German immigrants at the turn of the 20th century.

Nonetheless street food trends are always changing. The surge of Middle Eastern falafel and kebab vendors is catching up on the burger market while Japanese ramen restaurants (noodle and meat broth) have continued to grow in popularity ever since the first Instant Noodles hit the streets. Mexican ‘tacos’ have taken a road trip from Los Angeles to hit the Big Apple while towering plates of African-American ‘soul food’ feature across Harlem and The Bronx. “Koreatowns” are challenging Chinatowns for precedence across the city.

Despite the civic pride in the history of immigration and integration in New York, no distinct cuisine has been born. And that is part of the adventure – when so many cultures are weaved into the City That Never Sleeps, you can sample a different cuisine at every meal.

Growing the Garden Together as a Family

July 25, 2013 by Momstart Leave a Comment

Growing the Garden Together

Guest Post

Now that it’s summer, I’m finally (mostly) done seeding and nurturing these tiny little plants, making sure none of my peppers or tomatoes gets hurt or hurts itself. I think this is my favorite part of gardening, just watching the plants as they constantly develop (much like my children), putting forth little peppers and hard round green tomatoes that gradually grow and ripen each day.

Although I do most of the work and heavy lifting for our modest backyard vegetable garden, it has been such a pleasure (yet sometimes a challenge!) to get my children involved in the process with me. No matter how old your kids are, or what phase of the garden you’re in, there are some really easy and simple methods I’ve tried to engage my kids in caring for and learning about where their food comes from. Plus, it’s helped me get them to actually eat their veggies!

(artsy picture from nzgabriel)

Make it Fun

Adding creativity to your garden is important. You can let your children name your new plants and create small signs for them by using popsicle sticks and permanent markers. One idea is to give all of one vegetable a name that starts with the same letter; for example, all the tomatoes could have T names. Your child will look forward to taking care of Timothy, Terry, and Tom the tomatoes. If you need more of your own specificity (if you’re like me and you have lots of different kinds of tomatoes), you can give each Timothy, Terry, and Tom a last name that will tell you what type of tomato it really is.
Add Some Flair

A bright and colorful garden will certainly be more likely to draw your child’s attention than a dull one. Paint the fence around your garden all sorts of colors and add some fun decorations, like a windmill or garden gnome. You can even buy an unpainted garden decoration from your local garden store and have your children decorate it. By adding colors and interactive elements, your kids can go out and play with the windmill or larger-than-life stone frog even if the plants haven’t done anything particularly exciting recently.
Dress the Part

Go shopping with your kids and let them pick out their own garden boots, rakes, shovels, and gloves, or get creative and make your own with your child’s personality in mind. When it becomes time to work in the garden, your little one will be excited to get outfitted in their own gardening gear. (Even dogs get dressed up for yard work!)

(beekeeping dog photo credit Josh Kennett)

Give Them a Project

If your child is old enough and ready for the responsibility, giving them their own project to focus on, like taking care of all the pepper plants, is a great way to get them invested in their new veggie garden. Let them know that it’s their responsibility to water and take care of these peppers so that they grow big and hearty. Give them tips along the way, of course, and be there in case they need your help, but let them do all the work themselves so they can really see the impact they’re having on growing these plants. My youngest isn’t quite old enough for this, but my 8-year-old boy’s potted tomatoes are doing very well!

But Be Safe

As with any activity, it’s important that you supervise your children while gardening at all times. Make sure that they aren’t getting ahead of themselves by carrying shovels that are too big, trying to lift something that’s too heavy, or making a swamp of your yard with the hose. Also be aware of what you’re putting into your garden that might get onto your children’s hands or even into the food you grow! Garden pests can be tricky to get rid of, and it’s convenient to turn to store-bought pest control methods. Regardless of whether you use a commercial slug-killer or choose instead to use saucers of beer embedded in the ground (a surprising and surprisingly effective solution!), make sure you are aware of what your children might be handling.
Share Your Spoils

When it’s (finally) time to eat, make sure your kids taste a little bit of everything – they’ll probably be excited to taste what they’ve grown, and they might change their mind about liking some veggies! Have them help you prepare a salad or a stir-fry using the bountiful harvest. Also, the next time you go shopping for seeds to grow, make sure you involve the little ones. This will ensure that you’re planting veggies they like while having them involved and hooked from the get-go.

Gardening is a healthy and active project that your children will enjoy right along with you. It might make for a bit more work, but it’ll also be a LOT more fun. So what are you waiting for? Go out there and get your hands dirty!

(Preposterously adorable little gardener from Monica R)

About the author: Maya Rodgers is an avid amateur gardener and is so excited for her tomatoes and peppers to get ripe this summer. When she isn’t gardening and watching her kids grow, she tries to keep pests out of other people’s homes and gardens as a pest control consultant, whether it’s elaborate bed bug treatment or straightforward slugs and beer. To learn more, connect with her at http://www.petsandpests.com.

Did You Take Your Husband’s Last Name

September 12, 2011 by Momstart 31 Comments

Did you take your husband’s last name? Over at Jen and Barb, Mom Life, Jen and Barb are discussing this hot topic. After watching the video I felt insulted that Barb said changing your last name is declaring that I need a man in my life. You have to watch the video and then weight in with your response. How do you feel about your last name and did it change who you are?

Here is part of my response……

Taking your husband’s last name is a personal choice. You have to do what’s right for you. I grew up in a very traditional family where the father is the leader of the family and has the final say. At the same time, I was raised to be very independent and to think for myself and to make sure my opinion was heard. My stepmother raised us girls to have the desire to take care of ourselves. I went off to college, lived on my own and took care of every expense myself. I can be on my own, I know this about myself.

I took my husband’s last name and I’m not wimpy and I didn’t lose my identity by changing it. I haven’t lost my voice either. My husband and I make decisions together. My name doesn’t identify me it never did. I define myself. I actually never even considered not taking my husband’s name. As part of taking a husband I took his name, I believe that a man and woman become one unit, we both bring different things to the union but we are both still ourselves. We grow and change over the years and we learn how to understand our differences. A name doesn’t change any of that. I don’t even really see what the big deal is in changing your last name.

For the rest of my take on taking my husband’s last name check it out.

Oh and for every like Like on their Facebook page $1 will be donated to Challenged Athletes Foundation.

I have been compensated by “Jen and Barb, Mom Life.” to express my opinion.

Guest Blogging, What’s your take?

November 2, 2010 by Momstart 11 Comments

I’m a little late with my Monday Mingle this week but here it is better late than never I say.

This week’s questions (submitted by Alexes from One Cluttered Brain):

1. What is your favorite way to spend your time during the day?
2. What do you think about guest posting on other people’s blogs? Have you ever done it before? Did you like it?
3. What is the craziest item in your purse??

Do you do guest blog posts?

(just a fair warning, this is a random blurb, with answers to all three questions mixed in)

Yes I do if I had more time. Guest blogging increases awareness of yourself. It gives you the chance to interact with a new reader set. Some people do it just for the page rank, but I only do it if I have time and I feel that I can write something that audience will benefit from. For you to have guest posts on your site it can give you more content. I don’t ever have issues coming up with content, I just have issues with having time to write it. From now until after Christmas, I’ll be lucky to get anything up that isn’t a review or giveaway. But I’m going to work really hard to keep it about our family. I was thinking of only doing giveaway posts during the weekend and having actual content up during the week. But I’d have to turn off the TV to do that. We just signed up for a Netflix account and all we’ve been doing for the last few weeks is watching Lost. I also was reading the Hunger Games. I read all three books in 2 weeks. I would have read it even faster but every night my husband would wake up in the middle of the night and remind me that I have to get up in the morning and told me to go to bed. I think that’s why I got sick, was because I was up every night reading. Oh that and the new dog that needs to go out all the time.

Anyways, I do like guest blogging and if you want to have a guest post on Mom Start. I’m always up for that. Just let me know.

Want to participate? Monday Mingle is a Meme over at Eighty MPH Mom. Go over to her site, find the questions, take a video of the answers and post them to share. Then visit everyone that linked up and have fun getting to know each other.