These 30-minute fish sticks [1] are going on next week’s dinner line-up. Only dilemma to be reconciled: Yogurt-Dill [2] or Pickle Juice [3] dipping sauce?
I may be biased, but the guy interviewed for this week’s Longform [4] podcast sounded particularly smart and handsome.
If someone had handed me GO: A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design [5] when I was 10 years old, I can’t help but think my life would’ve gone in a different direction. It’s written and designed by the legendary Chip Kidd and it has the power to make a kid (and a grown-up) see the world with completely new eyes. (For starters, you will never look at a FedEx truck the same way again. Who out there knows what I’m referring to??) Too many gem-like moments to touch on here, but how about this sentence: “You should definitely recognize the alphabet as a miraculous thing, and not take it for granted.”
Perfect Pasta for a Crowd [6] from Catherine Newman.
Writers: Here’s this month’s must-read [7].
Did you read Unbroken? Or Tears in the Darkness? Or any other WWII-related book by a writer with chops? Well, if so, you will probably love Wil S. Hylton’s Vanished [8], published next month, which tells the story of a special unit in the military charged with recovering lost bodies of American soldiers from various wars — and the WWII pilot they return to his family, 70 years later.
Print this out and take some time with it: David Sedaris on his sister’s suicide [9].
Is family dinner one of the hidden costs of suburban commuting [10]? (Doesn’t have to be, says one commuting, suburban family dinner blogger.)
RIP Lou [11].
Astute readers will remember a plug for Cricket Magazines [12] a year or two ago, but as my daughters have graduated from Ladybug [13] and Click [14] to the more science- and literary-minded Ask [15], Muse [16], and Odyssey [17] — and as I watch my 11-year-old literally sprint to the mail-slot when she sees that her magazines have been delivered — I feel the need to endorse the whole publishing operation again. Cricket has a magazine for any kid of any age with any interest — and a one-year subscription makes a supercool birthday gift.
If I was getting married again, I’d register for this [18].
If I was feeding toddlers again, I’d hit up John Derian for these [19].
Attention Philadelphia Metr0 Types: My cousin started an interior design company. Check out her just-launched website [20]…then call her for a consultation!
I know, love, and trust half the staff who put together this special holiday issue [21]. Look for it on the newsstand today!
Speaking of which, now that Halloween is over, we can get down to the business of my favorite holiday on earth: Thanksgiving. Starting next week, look for a “Countdown to Thanksgiving Series” on DALS — everything from sides to pies to a genius trick for staying organized from my very own Thanksgiving matriarch, aka my mom.
Have a great weekend.
Photo credit: Hirsheimer/Hamilton for Bon Appetit.