Hello from New Jersey's shoulder!

[AnthonyJ]

Hello there folks! I've already gotten into the forums here, but figured I might as well drop a post here as well.

Obviously, I love to cook, but my other big passion is mountain biking. It's the only thing that I can find to counter the effects of being a really good cook. Unfortunately for me, a rather nasty wreck, on a flat, paved road no less, left me unable to bike all of last year. So I ended up putting on some weight. Good times.

As the title of the thread states, I live on the shoulder of New Jersey. I can walk to the bulkhead and wave to any of you New Yorkers across the bay.

As far as my cooking goes, I come from a traditional Italian background, but I love spicy cajun foods. My motto is, if you aren't complaining, it's not hot enough. My son, who will be 2 in April, also loves to cook. If I am cooking in the kitchen he will walk up to me and do the up hands until I pick him up and show him, or someone else comes over that can. We got him his own little kitchen for christmas and he loves it.

This is him at All About Fun, a place for kids to gather and socialize, playing on theirs.

And this is the kitchen set we got him from christmas. Clearly, this was before he got to it and made a mess. I think I have a video of him playing with it somewhere. He's definitely a mini-me. His favorite part is the fake Keurig.

 

[Dawgluver]

Welcome to DC, Anthony!

 

[Cheryl J]

Welcome, Anthony. What a sweet little boy! You're teaching him right!

 

[AnthonyJ]

Welcome, Anthony. What a sweet little boy! You're teaching him right!

That's my little monkey. Monkey see, monkey do. Everything he sees us do, he does. He watches myself and his grandma cooking and copies us. He sees the two of us cleaning, and he cleans. And dear lord, don't ever let him see a vacuum… I let him out of the bath one night to get his mother and get dressed, he found his way into the computer room, grabbed the handvac and all I saw when I got out was naked toddler vacuuming the floor around the birdcage…

Looking forward to teaching him how to cook for real on the stove in a few years. I started at about 6 or so. Figured I would start him the same.

 

[GotGarlic]

Welcome to DC It's great that you're starting your son off in the kitchen so young. I love the little kitchen set with its own recycle bin!

 

[AnthonyJ]

Welcome to DC It's great that you're starting your son off in the kitchen so young. I love the little kitchen set with its own recycle bin!

According to my son, everything is recyclable. That bin is currently full of everything but the kitchen sink. We do have to keep a good eye on him though, especially with the faux Keurig cups. We've taught him how to use the garbage and what to put in there, but he has a bad habit of throwing things in the actual garbage/recycle bins. We think he tossed a topping piece from his wood and velcro pizza set out while we weren't looking. He's sneaky...

 

[Rocket_J_Dawg]

Hi Anthony. Welcome to DC.

 

[Dawgluver]

According to my son, everything is recyclable. That bin is currently full of everything but the kitchen sink. We do have to keep a good eye on him though, especially with the faux Keurig cups. We've taught him how to use the garbage and what to put in there, but he has a bad habit of throwing things in the actual garbage/recycle bins. We think he tossed a topping piece from his wood and velcro pizza set out while we weren't looking. He's sneaky...

He's not even 2 yet! He probably doesn't separate plastics from glass, or know what the little triangle symbol means.

 

[salt and pepper]

Welcome, from Bergen county, now in MT

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Welcome! From the other side of Montana.

 

[AnthonyJ]

He's not even 2 yet! He probably doesn't separate plastics from glass, or know what the little triangle symbol means.

He's actually quite good with the real garbage. He knows that bottles go in the recycle can in the back and his diapers go in the trash can. He's very attentive and picks up on everything we do.

 

[GA Home Cook]

Anthony, welcome from GA. I am in NJ about 1 time a month. My corporate office is in Englewood Cliffs. Sorry about the accident. Hope you heal soon.

Hal

 

[AnthonyJ]

Anthony, welcome from GA. I am in NJ about 1 time a month. My corporate office is in Englewood Cliffs. Sorry about the accident. Hope you heal soon.

Hal

The accident was the dumbest I've had. As I was flipping over the handle bars, the music cued in my head: Waah, waaah, waaaaaaaah…

I'm about 90% healed. Had tendonitis in all the joints of my right (dominant) arm. Still have a tendon/muscle issue in the left side of my neck down to my shoulder. That and a possibly dislocated rib on the left side that I need to see the chiro for already… It took me until the end of July to get back on my bike, but after my third ride I realized in the accident, I bent both of the rims… Well, there's always this summer.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

....My son, who will be 2 in April, also loves to cook. If I am cooking in the kitchen he will walk up to me and do the up hands until I pick him up and show him, or someone else comes over that can. We got him his own little kitchen for christmas and he loves it.

....

Cute kid Anthony! Nothing wrong with getting them started on kitchen skills when they're young. Our son was always underfoot when I was cooking; by age 4 he would stand on his little step stool and I had him help where he could. Because "Chef Tell" was popular at the time, and because our son was very affectionate when he was little, I would call him "Chef Kiss-and-Tell". Now 33, there isn't a food yet that he doesn't like.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

The accident was the dumbest I've had. As I was flipping over the handle bars, the music cued in my head: Waah, waaah, waaaaaaaah…

I'm about 90% healed. Had tendonitis in all the joints of my right (dominant) arm. Still have a tendon/muscle issue in the left side of my neck down to my shoulder. That and a possibly dislocated rib on the left side that I need to see the chiro for already… It took me until the end of July to get back on my bike, but after my third ride I realized in the accident, I bent both of the rims… Well, there's always this summer.

Wow! I can't even fathom what kind of accident you must have had on a flat road to cause such injury. I was once riding my bicycle, while carrying my oldest child, who was at the time about 18 months old, in a backpack. I went to bunny-hop the front wheel over a curb and timed it wrong. I went flying over the handlebars, with P.A.G. on my back, strapped into the backpack. I couldn't roll out of it, so I spread out so as to land on my chest and forearms, chin up and back to avoid a faceplant. The only injury I sustained was a bit of roadburn on my forearms (Judo training is a must if you ever think you might fall ). The falling techniques have save me, and my children from injury more than one time. My oldest boy went out of a 2nd story window at two years of age. Again, the only injuries were some scrapes on his forearms, and a little red-spot where in bumped his forehead. He didn't even bruise. I highly recommend learning to fall properly. I've been doing it for years, and have had no injuries yet.

In any case, welcome to DC, and your boy looks like a very bright and capable young man, clearly loved by a bright and capable Daddy. And there is no greater joy in the world than being that Daddy. Just remember though, when he gets old enough to drive you crazy, say at puberty, ice water over the shower curtain is such a great revenge trick, but only when they truly deserve it.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North