On chilly, rainy October Sundays, the warmest place in my house is the kitchen. With the oven preheating, the burners firing away and my knife steadily tapping against the cutting board, the kitchen is the heart of our house.

While the other rooms laze in darkness, the kitchen is vibrant, alive and usually pumping upbeat tunes that stream throughout the whole house.

This past Sunday I woke up with Jenny Owen Youngs’ “Here Is A Heart,” playing over and over in my mind. When I stepped into the kitchen, the first thing I did was select that song on my iPod. I felt the kitchen yawn, blink its weary eyes and come alive as I preheated the oven for braised beef stew and boiled water for tea as the first note streamed through the speakers.

“Here is a heart. I made it for you so take it. Battered and braised, grilled and sautéed, just how you like it.”

I lost myself in the groove of dusting beef cubes and dicing butternut squash. There was no other place I would have rather been.

In the evening when the lamps clicked on and the last essay grade had been entered in Blackboard, I was ready for a hearty meal, but more so, I was ready to share it with those I love.

The table is where we create community, where we make time for one another between hectic work schedules, evening obligations and extracurricular activities. Sitting down together, as a family, for dinner, not only nourishes our bodies, but also nourishes our bonds with one another.

Time around the table reminds us to slow down and consider our values.

Even dining together one night a week will make the meal taste that much better. If you find yourself away from home, invite friends to the table.

If there’s anything to be learned from the cast of “Jersey Shore,” it’s that Sunday dinners, with family and/or friends, are a worthwhile tradition.