Most Fridays, I write up the week.
What I read. What I watched. What I cooked. What’s growing in the garden. What’s happening in the world that I have something to say about. The annoying small thing that’s been bothering me, the surprising small thing that delighted me, the recipe I’m planning for next week. The week, in roundup form, on Friday. Or Saturday. Or, occasionally, Sunday, because life.
This started as Friday Five — five things every week, tidy and constrained. The first half-dozen or so roundups still live in the archive under that name. The five-things format was useful at the start but started feeling artificial almost immediately; some weeks had three things worth writing about, some had nine. So I dropped the number and let the roundup be whatever shape the week was. The numbering on the current run started fresh when the format relaxed.
The format has been stable since: a handful of sections, a P.S. or three at the end, and a Bluesky-and-coffee tone throughout. Some weeks lean heavier on garden, some on watching, some on what’s been happening in the news. The mix follows whatever the week actually was.
If a Friday Roundup is the first KaraCooks post you’ve ever read, welcome. You’re meeting me on the most casual day of the week. The rest of the blog has more structure (recipes, essays, longer pieces), but the roundups are for catching up, the way you’d catch up with a friend who texts on Friday afternoons.
P.S. If you ever wonder what I’m up to between recipe posts, the Friday Roundup is the answer.
P.P.S. The Friday Five posts are still in the archive if you want to see the early version of this idea. They’re shorter, more constrained, and you can see me figuring out what I actually wanted this section to be.
P.P.P.S. Yes, sometimes the Friday Roundup is not actually on Friday. The day is aspirational; the writing is real.