• Yes to sauce: It feels like we could all use some stuffed shells right about now.
• What a statement: This new project from the National Museum of Women in the Arts is a powerful way to stick to your feminist message while undergoing building construction. Here’s more on Solange / As Long As.
• Zero commitment cozy jackets, fall wedding guest dresses, on-trend denim… sound like a dream? Nuuly is the best way to try styles you’ve been eyeing, *without* the fast-fashion ick. Plus, they stock tons of plus, petite, and standard sizes, so there’s something for everyone. Use code GNI20 for $20 off of your first month at Nuuly (ends 12/31) *Sponsor 
• Talk about decorative gourd season: Pumpkins x rainbows.
• If you went to high school in the ‘90s: Relive the not-quite glory days via Tegan and Sara’s new Amazon Freevee TV series, based on their best-selling memoir High School.
• Holiday movie fever: A middle-aged Freddie Prinze Jr. + Christmas + love story with a pop star? Sure, we’ll take it. Also, here’s a guide to all the holiday movies on TV.
• Getting your gift shopping done early this year? We love this practical and elevated water filter pitcher from LifeStraw Home as a go-to, crowd-pleasing gift for under $100. The pitcher filters out microplastics, bacteria, 30+ contaminants, AND it looks great on the counter. Use code GNI for 20% off. *Sponsor 
• Wait, another romcom! Kristen Bell in jail with Allison Janney and Ben Platt after a wedding? In.
• Two exciting developments in the choc + PB world: 1) Trader Joe’s dark bamba dipped in dark chocolate (okay, this has been around since Feb, but new to us!!) are very hard to stop eating 2) Big Spoon Roasters has a limited-time El Rico Chocolate Peanut Butter featuring Rancho Gordo stoneground Mexican chocolate.
• Just some cute babies in Halloween costumes: Good job, babies.

It’s no coincidence that fall is one of our favorite seasons for trying out new recipes (so much good produce at the farmers’ market!) and new cookbooks (so many new releases!). Here are some of the cookbooks worth checking out, according to some friends of GNI who know what they’re talking about when it comes to food.

1. The Vegan Chinese Kitchen by Hannah Che. A friend who’s been a vegetarian her whole life says that if you don’t know where to start with plant-based cooking, look to the cuisines that’ve been doing it for thousands of years. Plants are so inherent to Chinese cooking that in Mandarin, “cài” means “dishes” but also “vegetables,” and The Vegan Chinese Kitchen by Hannah Che does an incredible job of celebrating classic and contemporary Chinese vegan cooking. The recipes are very much meant to be cooked from, transforming humble ingredients with simple techniques for elegant results. Each time I read the book I see another exciting idea that propels me to the kitchen, like treating enoki mushrooms like noodles, stir-frying fava beans with pickled mustard greens, using tofu skin instead of scrambled eggs in a classic tomato-egg stir-fry, marinating broccoli stems for a crunchy condiment, and on and on and on! -Ali Slagle, recipe developer, food stylist, editor, and author of I Dream Of Dinner
2. Delectable: Sweet & Savory Baking by Claudia Fleming. The name "Claudia Fleming" has been swirling around pastry chef circles for the past two decades, thanks to Fleming’s gennre-making first book, The Last Course. After it first went out of print in the early 2000s, it was found on eBay and other resale sites for $200 or more. After it was finally reissued in 2019, the chef promised that she'd write a second book. As of October 25, the world finally gets another taste of Fleming's charming, farm-to-table baking ethos in Delectable. Don't miss the update to Fleming's signature chocolate-caramel tart—like a bonbon in dessert form—or her savories like gouda pizzelles (inspired by her grandmother) and Gruyere and Onion Cocktail Biscuits, which would be ideal with a glass of champagne during holiday party season. Come for the perfectly calibrated flavor combinations, stay for the pro pastry tips, from the legend herself. -Daniela Galarza, Washington Post food writer and Eat Voraciously newsletter columnist 
3. Honey Cakes & Latkes: Recipes from the Old World by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Survivors. It’s not often that cookbooks move me to tears, but this collection of recipes from Holocaust survivors certainly did. The first section of Honey Cake & Latkes shares brief biographies of the contributors and how they survived concentration camps, and then rebuilt their lives afterwards. The remainder—and majority—of the book features their recipes, many of which have been lovingly passed down for generations. These recipes couldn’t care less about food trends, they are simply what families have eaten for decades. Several of the survivors have died in the past two years after they shared their recipes with the book’s editor, making the publication of this cookbook feel timely and essential. Given the spate of antisemitic rhetoric making headlines recently, I’m especially glad to see this cookbook in existence. Proceeds for the book go to Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation. -Carey Polis, food editor, consultant, and content strategist

4. Rambutan: Recipes from Sri Lanka by Cynthia Shanmugalingam. I love Sri Lankan food but I don't get to eat it often, so I'm thrilled to welcome this beautiful new book of Sri Lankan recipes into the world. The book highlights dishes that range from sharp and sweet to utterly comforting. Plus, they're all home cook-friendly, many featuring short ingredient lists, pantry staples, and versatile spice blends. Couple those with the lovely photography and the author's beautiful writing about food, her family, and Sri Lanka (this is definitely the kind of book you can read like a story, making it an excellent gift for any food lover, reader, or travel obsessive) and you'll want to cook through every single thing. You won't go wrong if you start with the roasted aubergine curry. -Sonia Chopra, Bon Appétit & Epicurious executive editor

1. What exactly is a “cool mom”? (The Cut)
2. Just in case you haven’t seen this yet, about how the sausage is made when it comes to Christian Girl Autumn. (New York Times)
3. Babies! Don’t! Need! Fancy! Things! (The Atlantic)

4. How the marigold became a global icon (National Geographic)