Magazine

A confused dad standing next to a backyard smoker holding a baby and barbecue tongs.

A Dad's Guide to Smoking Baby Back Ribs for Tiny Humans

Dear Marcus from exactly six months ago, You're currently standing on the back patio in the Portland drizzle. You have a pair of metal tongs in one hand and your phone in the other, aggressively Googling Traeger recipes. Inside, your...

Read more

Messy baby eating puree from a reusable silicone food container in a car seat

The Great Puree Glitch: Debugging Dinnertime

The ceiling of my Subaru Crosstrek currently has a modern art installation made entirely of organic sweet potato and turkey puree. I was driving down Interstate 84. My 11-month-old son, Leo, was screaming in the back seat. The temperature was...

Read more

A mother serving soft slow-cooked lamb to her baby in a high chair

The brutal truth about feeding your baby lamb meat at six months

My mother-in-law nearly dropped her chai when I told her what was in the slow cooker. She looked at me like I had personally wandered into a petting zoo and kidnapped a newborn animal. There's this bizarre, pervasive guilt in...

Read more

A dad holding a baby near a pellet smoker on a backyard patio

Before and After: Smoking Baby Back Ribs With An 11-Month-Old

It's 6:14 AM on a damp Portland Saturday, exactly 43.7 degrees outside, and I'm standing on my patio holding a squirming eleven-month-old in my left arm and a slippery rack of raw pork in my right. I'm staring at the...

Read more

Dad checking smoker temperature while baby plays on a bamboo blanket with a rib bone

Why Smoking Baby Back Ribs 2-2-1 Actually Works for Tired Parents

Let's talk about the biggest lie on the BBQ internet. If you search for rib recipes, every guy with a beard and black nitrile gloves tells you that the 3-2-1 method is the absolute gospel for your weekend cookout. I...

Read more

A dad overanalyzing the exact thickness of a vegetable spear for his baby

The Cucumber Protocol: From Slippery Hazards to Teething Hacks

It's 6:15 AM in our Portland kitchen, and I'm staring at a cutting board with a digital caliper in my hand. My wife, Sarah, is pouring her coffee, watching me measure a wet green vegetable down to the millimeter. "It...

Read more

A messy baby eating semolina porridge in a highchair

The myth of the aesthetic baby suji bowl and what to do instead

Scraping hardened semolina off the ceiling fan wasn't exactly what I pictured when my mother-in-law told me suji would be the perfect first food for my son. I'm standing on a dining chair with a butter knife, chipping away at...

Read more

A chaotic backyard barbecue setup with smoked baby back ribs and kids playing on blankets.

My Chaotic Weekend Learning How to Smoke Baby Back Ribs With Kids

I was elbow-deep in raw pork juice at 6:15 AM on a Saturday, staring blankly at a massive, slippery cut of meat while Maya, who's seven and currently entrenched in her "question everything" phase, stood three inches from my hip...

Read more

Toddler holding a clean rib bone sitting on a bamboo blanket on the grass

St Louis Ribs vs Baby Back: Which is Actually Safe for Your Baby

My mother-in-law told me handing my ten-month-old a rib bone was essentially attempted murder. My favorite internet momfluencer swore a massive rack of meat was the ultimate teething hack. And when I asked my pediatrician about it, she just gave...

Read more