Friday Round-up

These 30-minute fish sticks are going on next week’s dinner line-up. Only dilemma to be reconciled: Yogurt-Dill or Pickle Juice dipping sauce?

I may be biased, but the guy interviewed for this week’s Longform podcast sounded particularly smart and handsome.

If someone had handed me  GO: A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design 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 from Catherine Newman.

Writers: Here’s this month’s must-read.

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, 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.

Is family dinner one of the hidden costs of suburban commuting? (Doesn’t have to be, says one commuting, suburban family dinner blogger.)

RIP Lou.

Astute readers will remember a plug for Cricket Magazines a year or two ago, but as my daughters have graduated from Ladybug and Click to the more science- and literary-minded Ask, Muse, and Odyssey — 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.

If I was feeding toddlers again, I’d hit up John Derian for these.

Attention Philadelphia Metr0 Types: My cousin started an interior design company. Check out her just-launched website…then call her for a consultation!

I know, love, and trust half the staff who put together this special holiday issue. 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.