Thanksgiving: Pandagrub edition

Today we are introducing a new panda -- he is from Chengdu, Sichuan Province in China!  My daddy just brought him over from China last week.  Since Sichuan is the home of many spicy hot foods, I decided to name him Spicy!  Isn't he cute?  He came just in time to discover American Thanksgiving!

Got leftover fruit or vegetables? Well here's what you do with them. First get some sprayable glue and different color glitter. Then roll the glitter onto the fruits and vegetables.  

 As a warm welcoming to guests you can make some warm apple cider. First add 2 cinnamon sticks, one tablespoon of cloves,and a quarter cup of brown sugar to a crockpot or slow-cooker. Then add a gallon of apple juice and some orange slices. Set crockpot or slow-cooker on low and serve.

 For Thanksgiving Spicy also made stuffed acorn squash. Inside the stuffed acorn squash is: sausage and  apples. For the full recipe click here.

We also made dry-brined turkey. My mom used to do a wet brine but she stopped doing that a few years ago because when I was three years old, I almost fell into the brining bucket and drowned.  Anyway, dry brining is much easier.  Spicy is very excited for Thanksgiving! For the turkey recipe click here

This is the stuffing. The stuffing has 10 cups of bread, 2 pints of mushrooms, onions, 2 sticks of butter,a cup of turkey stock, giblets from the turkey, 2 eggs, and salt and pepper.

In the picture above are a nice green salad and a cranberry and orange relish. I cooked the relish all by myself.

Here is Spicy's Thanksgiving feast. The boy in the background is my brother, Jason.   Right behind the golden spaghetti squash, you can see the delicious pumpkin thyme rolls.  They are so good.  Here's the recipe.  Also -- my uncle brought deviled eggs which are my most favorite food in the world.  You can also see some meatballs to the right of the photo and also some kimchee (which my cousin made from scratch from homegrown red peppers).  (We are part Korean so we must have kimchee and rice!) We also had some mashed potatoes -- which my mom placed in the oven to stay warm and then forgot about.  Luckily, she remembered them before we were done with dinner.

For dessert Spicy is having a pumpkin cake with cream cheese filling and a slice of pumpkin pie.

THE DAY AFTER.........

What can you make with Thanksgiving leftovers? Well the answer is simple. Make STUFFED BREAD for the ultimate Thanksgiving sandwich!!!!!  Inside the bread is turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and cranberry relish.

Yum!


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Crunch Crunch!

This week on pandagrub, we are making potato chips the right way-homemade with plenty of salt. Just the way Professor Shang(the panda above) likes them.  She used purple, red, and yellow potatoes. 

Professor Shang used a Japanese Benriner mandolin to cut the potatoes into thin and even slices.    

Here is Prof. Shang hard at work, slicing the potatoes.  Be careful and always use the finger/paw guard!

 Professor Shang is unwinding after a long day of hard work slicing potatoes.  The Professor is on sabbatical.

Once you have sliced the potatoes, you are ready to fry!   Heat up some vegetable oil to 350 degrees farenheit. Drop in potato slices and cook until crispy on each side.  This will only take a minute or two.

Drain on paper towels and season with salt and pepper. 

Enjoy!!!

Stuffed Bread

This week on pandagrub we are making stuffed bread. The panda in the picture above is named Pesto. First you must buy the frozen bread dough which you can find in the frozen food aisle of most grocery stores. (Instructions to thaw the bread are on the back of the package.) (Sorry but I did not make the bread myself.)

After thawing bread, roll out the bread dough into a long rectangle. Make some scrambled eggs and bacon. Lay them out on the bread dough.

Pesto loves his bacon and eggs.

After adding ingredients, pinch together the sides of the bread dough.

Then fold edges together into a donut shape and crease edges together. After being folded into a donut shape, brush the top of the stuffed bread with butter.

After being baked for 30 minutes at 350 degrees cut into slices and serve. Look how golden brown the bread is!

Yum!  You can add any fillings you desire!  Some people like to stuff their bread with ham and cheese, spinach and hard boiled eggs, etc.  I just love a good breakfast sandwich so bacon and eggs are my favorite.  Next time, I might also add some cheese and potatoes!

Side By Side

Look at Mini Stubby and a spaghetti squash side by side!  They are the same size and shape.  Mathematicians call this "congruence."  

Today we will be making two side dishes: a roasted spaghetti squash and a couscous salad.

After baking the spaghetti squash for one hour at 350 degrees, Mini Stubby is ready to scoop out the spaghetti squash insides.

It's not a monster! It's just Mini Stubby playing with the spaghetti squash insides.

See how easily the spaghetti squash comes out in strands with just a fork!

Season with salt and pepper and enjoy!

Now it's time to make the couscous salad!

Mini Stubby likes couscous so much that he decided to dive right in. For the couscous salad we used: couscous, scallions, the juice of one lemon, cherry tomatoes, and cucumber.

To cook the couscous, 

1.  Bring one cup of water, 1/4 of a teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of butter to boil.

2. Add one cup of couscous and stir quickly.

3. Remove from heat and cover.

4. Let stand for four to five minutes.

5. Fluff with a fork.

Dice all of the vegetables and slice one lemon.  Mix all of the vegetables together.  

Mini Stubby licked the lemon and found out that lemon is very sour. 

Live and learn, Mini Stubby! 

Combine cooked couscous with the chopped vegetables, juice of a lemon, salt, and pepper. 

Yum!  Sometimes I like to bring couscous to school for my lunch.  What do you like to eat for lunch?