Friday Chaos, Weekend Cooking, and Family Anchors

As fall steams ahead, life feels like it’s moving faster than I can keep up. Friday afternoons are a blur of work, farm tasks, and family logistics. One recent exchange with Laura sums it up perfectly:

I called to ask her what podcast I should listen to on the ride home. She suggested Crime Weekly, then casually asked, “Are you picking up Julia at dance for 6?”

I froze. It was already 4 p.m., and I was still in Bethesda, hours from home. Laura stayed patient as I scrambled, assuring her I’d make it, while trying to wrap up with a student still finishing a test. By the time I remembered (again) and made a U-turn by the chickens, I got to the studio just in time. Julia was safe and sound.

Moments like this remind me how easy it is for me to get lost inside my head—whether in the details of science, farming, or just the sheer busyness of life. Farming grounds me: I can feel the soil, smell the plants, sense the rhythm of the seasons. But it’s often Laura’s patience and Julia’s reminders that snap me back to what matters most.

And usually, that’s when I decide it’s time to cook.

This weekend, I asked Julia what she wanted, and without missing a beat she said, “Meat on a stick.” That phrase is an old family joke—back when she was a toddler, she adored smoked baby back ribs and that’s what she called them. Thirteen years later, she’s busy with homework, football games, and late-night dance classes. She’s no longer the baby who swayed enthusiastically to Yellow Submarine at her first birthday party. But somehow, her “meat on a stick” request pulls me right back to those days and to the comfort of our family’s favorite foods.

Every family has its own rhythms. For us, food is often the anchor. This weekend I’m thinking less about ribs and more about what the garden is offering: spinach, baby bok choy, the first leeks of the season. Fall is here, which means I can imagine rest, a fire crackling, and the scent of cinnamon. I hope your family finds its own way to pause and gather this weekend. Maybe over something simple, maybe something special. For us, it might just be bok choy and leeks.

So—what’s on your menu this weekend?