I know it looks like all I do around here right now is eat pie.  And tomorrow, steel yourselves, there will be more.  But in between, we’ve actually been making all kinds of great things with tofu.  A vegan variation of this saag paneer, and a vegan riff on this lemony broccoli and harissa dinner salad, and straight-up tofu with greens and rice and so-good spicy peanut sauce.  Stay tuned.  Because by this weekend we’ll all be over talking about Thanksgiving, won’t we?  Or at least ready to sneak in some healthier meals among the gravy-laden feasts?In the Kitchen

Menu 1: We had 30 of our closest neighbors over for dinner last weekend and I made an extra-big batch of my biggest pot of minestrone, and served it with lots of cheese and bread.  Instead of adding rice to the soup, I boiled up a big pot of cheese tortellini and served the pasta on the side so that people could add it to their soup as they dished up.  I liked this approach because the tortellini made the soup a legitimate meal on its own, and serving it on the side both kept the soup from getting soggy and pleased the children who don’t like vegetables touching their white food (have I mentioned that we have more than a dozen children under the age of five on our block?).  Menu 2: Baked Fish and Potatoes in a Saffron-Tomato Broth made a quick and easy weeknight dinner with friends.  We had the fish with that Kale Salad with Miso-Roasted Winter Squash, which I’m a little obsessed with, but it also would have been great with this crunchy Winter Salad with Celery and Parmesan.  My friend says she’s been making this last salad and adding Marcona almonds.  Yes, I certainly do choose my friends well.And yeah, besides that, I’ve been making a lot of pies.  Preserving

Janet and Alana don’t know it, but they’ve been holding my hand long-distance and guiding me through batch after delicious experimental batch of fruit leather recently.  Thanks, friends!  It’s a favorite house treat at the moment: my girls love it because it’s sweet and I love it because I’m excavating fruit from parts of my freezer that I haven’t seen in two years.  (Should I admit that here?  Focus on the fruit leather, the fruit leather’s great.)On My Plate

Our Thanksgiving plans this year leave me largely off the hook in the kitchen, although I don’t think I can let cranberry sauce season go by without trying this and these.

But let me live vicariously through you instead: what’s cooking in your kitchen this week?