Some Changes

So...I've been doing this little food blog for a couple of years now.  It started out as a place for my friends and family to find my favorite recipes and has since grown (not exponentially, obviously) to be something a little bigger.  I have followers!  I sometimes show up on page one of Google search results!  I get traffic from Pinterest!

As a result, I decided it was time to change to a custom domain name.  You can now find this blog at TheTallGirlCooks.com.  You can still use my old blogspot address, but it will redirect you back here.  And anyone who follows me should also be redirected and shouldn't experience any trouble with that.  If you do, please let me know.

There may be some changes in the next few months.  Nothing drastic, I just want to freshen up the place a bit.  As I (slowly) figure out how to do stuff, you'll probably see something new here or there.  And I may even include some ads to generate a little income.  Ingredients aren't free and I could use a little more dough (ha, ha).

Anyway, thank you to my friends, family, and followers for making this teeny corner of the internet a little more popular.  I enjoy maintaining this blog and finding new recipes to try out and share.

Orange Sesame Chicken

This was very popular in our house the night I made it.  Even in spite of the fact that I served it with a side of broccoli.  I was surprised at how good it was and it's relatively easy and quick!  The recipe comes from a wonderful food blog called Jamie Cooks It Up that I discovered through (what else) Pinterest.  Jamie has lots of delicious recipes, all with beautiful photos - you should check her out.

Now this recipe calls for a few ingredients that not everyone has on hand (I do, but that's because I cook a lot of Asian-inspired food).  You'll need rice vinegar, sesame oil, and sesame seeds.  Personally, I think it's worth investing in these ingredients (they really aren't expensive) because I have a feeling you will add this recipe into your weekly or monthly routine.  And they are ingredients that can be used in lots of other tasty recipes like Chinese Chicken Salad, Teriyaki Chicken, and Korean BBQ Beef, to name a few.

ORANGE SESAME CHICKEN
from Jamie Cooks It Up!

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup flour
1/8 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. olive oil

Sauce:
1/2 cup fresh orange juice (from 2 large oranges)
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
4 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. orange zest (1 orange should be enough)
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 Tbsp. cornstarch

Garnish:
1Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
sliced green onion, if desired

Mix flour and salt in a medium sized bowl.  Cut chicken into bite-sized chunks and toss in the flour mixture, making sure all sides are coated.

Mix together all sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over med-high heat.  Add chicken pieces to skillet (I did this in two batches) and brown on both sides.  Reduce heat to med-low and add sauce to skillet; stir to coat chicken and simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until sauce is thickened and chicken is cooked through.  Garnish with sesame seeds and green onions, if desired.  Goes well with steamed rice.

Cranberry Orange Salad

This is a new twist on an old recipe that I posted on here long ago: Cranberry Jello Salad.  The recipe is from my mother-in-law and it's my favorite gelatin salad to make for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  This year I wanted to change it up a little and decided to try it with some orange juice and a bit of orange zest.  I wish I had added a can of mandarin oranges instead of the zest because that would have added more color and better "orange" flavor.  The zest pretty much got lost in the cranberry sauce.  Next time I am definitely adding the oranges.  But even without them, I now like this salad better with the orange juice.

CRANBERRY ORANGE SALAD
 adapted from Cranberry Jello Salad

2 boxes (3 oz each) cranberry Jello (raspberry or black cherry will also work)
1 (14 oz) can whole cranberry sauce
1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple, well drained
2 (15 oz each) cans mandarin oranges, drained
1 1/2 cups orange juice
1 1/2 cups boiling water

In a large bowl, dissolve Jello in boiling water.  Add cranberry sauce and stir until well mixed and no lumps (other than cranberries) remain.  Add pineapple, oranges, and orange juice and stir until combined.  Pour into 2 qt. serving dish and refrigerate at least 4 hours or until set.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

This is the other pie I made for Thanksgiving.  My daughter is in love with it and ate two pieces of it on Monday.  I love that it combines two of my favorite desserts: cheesecake and pumpkin pie.  Mine didn't turn out as pretty as the one on the King Arthur Flour website, but it still looks good enough to eat.

The recipe makes more pumpkin filling than will fit in the pie, so I just put the rest of it in a ramekin and baked it alongside the pie until it was done.  Who doesn't love a recipe that results in a bonus dessert?

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE PIE
from King Arthur Flour

9-inch deep dish unbaked pie crust

Cheesecake filling:
1 (8 oz) block cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla

Pumpkin filling:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
1 cup (8 oz) evaporated milk
3 large eggs, lightly beaten

In a medium bowl, beat together cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Beat in egg and vanilla until incorporated and pour mixture into the pie crust.  Refrigerate while making the pumpkin filling.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, salt, and spices.  Add pumpkin, evaporated milk, and eggs and whisk gently until smooth.  Slowly and carefully spoon pumpkin mixture over the cheesecake filling (you may have some leftover - see note above).

Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 40-45 minutes.  Pie is done when it looks set, but center is still a bit wobbly.  Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate until serving.

Note:  I like to wrap strips of aluminum foil around the edge of the pie crust before filling, then remove the foil about 20 minutes before pie is done baking.  This keeps the crust from getting too brown.

Blackberry Pear Crumble Pie

We had our Thanksgiving with extended family this year and their tradition is for everyone to bring a different pie (or two).  I was excited for the opportunity to try out a new recipe that I'd been thinking about for a while.  I found a recipe for Pear Crumble Pie on Food.com and thought it sounded different and yummy.  It has a custardy fruit filling and a crisp crumble topping - what's not to love?  But, as usual, I wanted to mix it up and decided to add some blackberries with the pears.

I may be wrong, but it seems that the combination of blackberries and pears is a British thing.  Almost every "blackberry pear" recipe I found on Google was from a British website and all measurements were in metric.  What gives?  Are we Americans just not hip to this fruit combination? 

Anyway, my husband and mother-in-law liked this pie and I think it's darn yummy, myself.  If you are looking to make something different for a potluck or family party this year, here's your pie!

BLACKBERRY PEAR CRUMBLE PIE
slightly adapted from Pear Crumble Pie on Food.com

9-inch deep dish pastry shell, unbaked

4 ripe Bartlett pears, peeled, cored, and sliced
12 oz. fresh blackberries, rinsed
1 large egg
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Crumble topping:
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. cold butter
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large bowl, whisk together egg, sour cream, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 Tbsp. flour, vanilla, and spices.  Fold in the pears and blackberries.  Carefully pour mixture into the pastry shell and bake for 40 minutes.*

While the pie is baking, make the crumble:  in a medium bowl, mix together flour, sugar, and cinnamon.  Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or fork until crumbly.  After the pie has baked 40 minutes, sprinkle the crumble topping on.  Return to oven for 20 minutes longer.  Let cool before serving.  Refrigerate leftovers.

* To keep the crust edge from over-browning, I like to wrap the edge in aluminum foil before filling.  Then remove foil when adding the crumble topping.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

Here's a great way to use up that little bit of leftover pumpkin!  I discovered this little gem of a recipe last year and made this oatmeal quite often (for myself...).  The recipe is for an individual serving, but you could easily bump it up to make more.  Although, I would recommend cooking it on the stove top if you're making it for more than 2 people - I think you'd get a better result.  Just for reference: 4 Tbsp = 1/4 cup.

PUMPKIN PIE OATMEAL (individual serving)
slightly adapted from The Craving Chronicles

1/3 cup old-fashioned oats (I use a heaping 1/3 cup)
2 Tbsp. canned pumpkin
1 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp. milk
1/8 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt
dash of cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and ginger*
dried cranberries, optional
chopped pecans, optional

Stir together pumpkin, brown sugar, water, milk, vanilla, salt, and spices in a microwave-safe bowl.  Stir in oats and cranberries and/or pecans, if using, until well mixed.  Microwave on HIGH for 1-2 minutes, or until desired consistency.  Top with more pecans and cranberries, if desired.  Serve immediately.

* You could also just use a few dashes of pumpkin pie spice.

Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies

I saw these cookies on Pinterest and thought they looked really yummy.  Then I followed the pin to a food blog from Singapore and the entire recipe was in metric and I did not feel like converting it.  Lucky for me (and for you) I found a similar recipe from Southern Living (which pretty much ensured they'd be good).

Oh my, I love these little cookies!  Even my husband loves them, which is AMAZING because he is not a fan of Craisins (he even goes to the trouble of picking them out of my homemade granola bars).  The dough requires at least 4 hours to chill, which could be a hassle, but it's totally worth it because all that time in the fridge lets the flavor of the orange zest diffuse throughout the dough.  I just made my dough the night before and baked it the next day.

I made these without the almond extract because I was out (whoops) and they still turned out yummy.  So if you don't have almond extract either, no worries.

I gave some of these goodies to some friends recently and took a cue from rolling and wrapping the dough and rolled and wrapped the cookies in wax paper:

Cute for gift giving, eh?  If you don't eat them all first, that is.

CRANBERRY ORANGE SHORTBREAD COOKIES
from MyRecipes.com

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries
1 Tbsp. orange zest (from 1-2 oranges, depending on size)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
wax paper

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.  Add powdered sugar, beating until smooth.  Stir in chopped cranberries, orange zest, vanilla, and almond extract until well blended.

In a bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Gradually add flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended.

Shape dough into 2 (7-inch) logs and wrap each in wax paper.  Chill dough for at least 4 hours or freeze logs in a Ziploc bag for up to one month.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  If frozen, let logs stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.  Slice each log into 24 pieces (about 1/4-inch thick slices).  Place slices about 1 inch apart on lightly greased or parchment lined cookie sheets.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges of slices are golden.  Remove cookies to wire racks and cool completely.  Store in an airtight container.  Makes about 4 dozen.