New Blog

Please follow my new blog at http://andyandalisonkangas.blogspot.com/.

Andy and I will both share our joint adventures together now on one blog.

Coffee Shops in SE Portland on the 205 Corridor-Post #1

So Thursday nights are becoming "Try A New Coffee Shop Night" while I am waiting for class to start. My classes take place in South East Portland and needless to say, I do not know this neighborhood at all! Here's a post devoted to 2 new coffee shops I've tried.

A few notes about me and coffee: I love the stuff. Caramel lattes are my all time favorite drink. Insomnia Coffee Co in Hillsboro Oregon make the very best ones so everything I taste, I rate against the Real Caramel Latte (RCL) with light whip.

SoZo Coffee House
This place is an Asian run bubble tea joint that just so happens to make a kickbutt latte. Seriously. I have consumed a lot of caramel lattes hoping to find one as good as Insomnia's. While this just isn't quite an RCL, it is the closest coffee I have ever had to one! Yes folks, I've found a #2! The downside to SoZo is the atmosphere. I'm not into cheap Ikea furniture that is falling apart. And, I was the only non mandarin speaking person in the place. All this aside, I will totally be back seeing as though it's only 2 minutes from my school.

Coffees On-Mall 205
This is a strip mall coffee joint if I've ever seen one. Typical tiled floor with an office tiled ceiling. The barista was nice enough. The coffee was also good. It's not my #2 or my #1 but it's a solid coffee (latte). I would go back but I wouldn't drive across town just to get a drink here.

Well, look for more posts to come about my coffee adventures in SE Portland. So far, Portland has not made a bad cup!

a NEW school

Today marks the start of my academic career at Warner Pacific College. I am starting the last 18 months of my undergrad in the Adult Degree Program to earn my Bachelors degree in Business Administration.

After much runaround, I decided that I will attend classes at the 205 Campus in South East Portland. My first choice of campus was the Westside one that was located only 7 short miles from my work. The classes were scheduled to start in January but due to low enrollment were pushed back to start in March. The March start date meant that I would not meet the mandatory degree-in-hand deadlines for my internship at Intel...so a once a week drive to South East Portland it is!

Standing on this side of this new thing, I am a little nervous yet very excited to see what this new adventure holds.

1 Year Down...Many More to Go!

Last weekend we celebrated our 1st anniversary in Sin City, USA...Las Vegas. This wasn't my first choice of place to go but since I was already there for work at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) so it made sense. I flew down on January 6th and worked all week. Andy came down on January 11 to celebrate over the weekend.

This was the first time that we had been apart longer than 24 hours since we started dating in August of 2011! It was a long 6 days but when Andy finally arrived, I was so glad to see him.

We stayed at the Bellagio Hotel on the strip. It was a little ritzier than our liking but none the less, a very nice hotel. Our room had a view of the "lake" so we could see the fountains go off every 15 minutes. This was pretty cool. We could turn our TV on to channel 22 and hear music that the fountains were programmed to.

We weren't like most Vegas goers, staying up late at clubs and sleeping in till noon. We spent time relaxing at the hotel and on the morning of January 13, our anniversary, we ate at the Fountains brunch at the Jasmine. The food was soo tasty. Lots of fresh seafood, sushi, eggs, 3 types of prime rib and an entire room devoted to deserts complete with a floor to ceiling fondue fountain. We spent 3 hours eating here and watching the fountains.

On our last day we decided to gamble a little. I was VERY hesitant to do this but I gave in and we decided that $20 was our spending limit. We tried a slot machine and had no clue what we were doing and lost $2. Then we slide over to a video black jack machine and we found our niche. Here we spent 2 hours and won $25.

Las Vegas was a fun and I am glad to say I went there but I don't think it is on my list of must travel again. It is just not quite my style. I'm not a party girl but it was fun to celebrate 1 year married in a new place!

Slow Cooker Veggie Soup

Slow Cooker Veggie Soup

2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 small zucchini, chopped
2 medium carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
28 ounces tomatoes, undrained
2 (14 ounce) cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups chicken broth or 4 cups vegetable broth
4 cups tomato juice
2 teaspoons basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 -2 drop hot sauce



Directions:

1.) Combine all ingredients in crockpot and cook on low 10-12 hours. Easy!

Our Top 12 from 2012

Disney in December

Disneyland is kind of a Kangas thing. Matt (my father-in-law) loves to spend time with his entire family and what better place than to gather everyone in a warm sunny place to experience the magic that Walt Disney dreamed up so many years ago!

Summer Has Come and Gone

Fall is in full swing in my neck of the woods all though the weather isn't reflecting it. Andy and I came down with the first debilitating colds of the year this past week...that's how I know we've hit fall. Fox 12's weather blog called this July-mid October the driest on record, ever! It's been hot.We just took our air conditioning unit out of the window today.

Here's a recap of this summer:

June was pretty uneventful. It marked the start of a very busy wedding season as we went to Rachael (Rotter) now Gross' wedding. Spring term also came to a close just to have summer term kick off a week later. On that week break, we journeyed to Battle Ground Lake and camped for 2 nights. Needless to say, it rained. After all, what could we expect? Did we really think that we would stay dry while taking a camping trip in June? I think we've learned our lesson that summer doesn't really start until July in Oregon. The highlight of this month was Timmy (my brother-in-law) decided to get baptized when they came up to visit us at the lake. Phil & Kate (brother/sister-in-law) also came up to visit for the day and brought along the cutest little one year old (Xa) to play in the mud at out campsite.

 Timmy making public his decision to follow Christ through water baptism at Battle Ground Lake.

 Camping breakfast.

Trenches had to be dug around our tent to keep water out.

July brought another wedding and some long awaited sunshine. I had the privilege of standing along side my friend Christina as she wedded Stanley Friesen. The Branches Camping trip to Kilichis was also in July. Little did Andy and I know, July was a pretty chill month compared to the storm of events that awaited us in August and September.

Cooking chicken fajitias at the Branches Campout.

August held 2 more weddings, 3 family birthdays (including Andy's 30th), a new job for me and a family vacation. Heather and Jerry, our friends from church, were wedded on August 18th. Andy played a set of Beatles songs at their reception. On the same night, Nichole and Adam (Nichole was once in my small group), tied the knot. Since we couldn't be in 2 places at once, we attended Heather and Jerry's due to the fact that Andy was reception entertainment. The very next day was Andy's 30th birthday also a Sunday. We took the day off from all of our duties at church to celebrate. We traveled to Lincoln City and stayed the night at The Shalishan Lodge, a great place to stay! We will go back, hopefully soon. After that we drove up the coast to take part in my side of the families vacation. We stayed at a beach house in Cape Meares, just a few miles away from where we got engaged last November. Two nights later we were on our way back home so I could start my new internship at Intel. Somewhere at the beginning of August, I interviewed for an administrative assistant position at the largest employer in the state.

 Gorgeous weather!

 Timmy, Briana and Abe

 Happy 30th Birthday

 Celebrating August Birthdays! Andy(30) Rhonda & Dan (55)

On to September...Wedding season really ramped up this month. On the first Saturday of September, Andy preformed his first wedding as an ordained minister for a couple from Branches. (Side note: Andy has been ordained for 3 years just never been asked to preform a wedding. Must be because he wasn't married himself.) Fast forward 7 days to the next weekend, Andy was preforming wedding #2. This time I was the wedding coordinator for my good friend and ex roommate Katy (Pedersen) Smith. Then just one short week later we were celebrating our best friends, Rachael (Christophersen) & Dustin Ward's wedding. As this month came to a close, I started back to school at PCC for my last term before I transfer in January to Warner Pacific College to finish my bachelors degree.

We are very glad to be in the second week of October, done with weddings and settling in to what feels like a more normal routine. It's looking like December will be a fun month as we are going to Disneyland with the Kangas side of the family and of course Christmas will cap off the month. I am very much looking forward to the holidays this year and hitting our one year anniversary at the end of the season. God is still our sustenance through it all.

Getting to know Us!-A video from our wedding

Invites for Couples Bridal Shower

Cupcakes, Sweet Treats and Little Smiles

Could it possibly be June already?!? Spring term is almost finished and boy am I happy about that. I am seriously looking forward to a week off before I start back at it...SUMMER TERM. I hated it last year and promised myself I would never do it again but here I am all registered to start at the end of June. The only bonus to it this year is that when I am done in August, I will officially be a college degree holding citizen, Associates degree that is. 

  

In between staying very busy with Branches and school, I still manage to find time to bake...one of my favorite pastimes. Here's 2 of my favorites:

Salted Carmel Cupcakes

Makes 15 Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 stick of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line muffin tins with papers. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until pale fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated.  Add vanilla.  Mix and scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and beating until combined after each.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each about halfway full.  Bake for about 25 minutes. When done, transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.

Salted Caramel Filling:

1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons salted butter cubed
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoons heavy cream, at room temperature

Melt the sugar over medium  high heat in a large pot.  Whisk the sugar as it melts and cook until it becomes a deep amber color. Add the butter and stir it in until melted. Pour in the heavy cream (mixture will foam) and whisk until you get a smooth sauce. You may have some lumps but keep stirring until they have melted.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly.  

Cut a small round piece out of the tops of each cooled cupcake and pour in 1 teaspoon of caramel.  Replace the cake piece and set cupcakes aside.

Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting:

1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick salted butter
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

In a saucepan, stir together granulated sugar and water.  Bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Cook without stirring until mixture turns a deep amber color.  Remove from heat and slowly add in cream and vanilla, stirring until very smooth.  Let caramel cool for about 20 minutes, until it is just barely warm and still pourable.

In a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and salt together until lightened and fluffy.  Reduce speed to low and add powdered sugar.  Mix until thoroughly combined.

Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the caramel.  Beat on medium high speed until light and airy, and completely mixed (about 2 minutes).  Mixture should be ready to use without refrigeration.  If your caramel was too hot when added, it will cause your icing to be runny.  If this happens refrigerate for 15-20 minutes. 

Top caramel-filled cupcakes with frosting.

 

 

Dutch Babies or German Pancakes

(A Gallaher Family Favorite) 

 

3Tbs Butter

3/4 cups + 2Tbs of flour

2/3 cup of milk

dash of salt

 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put 3 table spoons of butter in a cast iron skillet or deep pie pan. Put in oven to melt as oven is heating. Meanwhile, mix flour, salt, milk and eggs with wire whisk or beaters. Once butter melted, pour batter in pan and cook for 15minutes. Best served with lemon juice and powdered sugar.

I have a great crew of taste testers. Andy, along with my 3 nephews that live right across the street and will often times drop in unannounced (which we love!) and be treated to whatever is baking. Here is Darius paying his neighborly visit and playing with our camera.

 

 

 

3 New Things

1. We got a cat! A couple from church were looking for a loving home where this cat could have a lot of attention and that is exactly what he is getting. Choosing a name for this guy wasn't too hard. Andy wanted to go with a wizard name so we googled 'wizard names'. I choose Merlin (it was either that or Saraman.)

At first, I wasn't too keen on getting a cat but this guy has worked his way into my heart. I would have never called myself a cat person (and still wouldn't) but I do really like this guy. He is very friendly and loves to be around people.

2.Cupcakes! The more I get to know Andy, the more I learn about myself. At our resort in Mexico there was a dessert buffet every night. I knew that I always enjoyed dessert but Andy has pointed out how intense this this passion for sweets really is. I would load up a plate from the dessert buffet before the dinner buffet...every single night!

One night last week, I was board so I decided to bake. I am not a big cupcake fan because the frosting always seems way too sweet. I found a recipe for pound cake cupcakes. These things are delicious! I then frosted them with whipped cream frosting that was amazing. Not too sweet but just made these cupcakes great. I knew these were a winner when Andy sent me a text that said, "Babe. Your cupcakes are the best I have ever had!" A big complement from a non cake, non dessert lover.

This same night I also made cream cheese filled chocolate cupcakes that were equally as delicious.

You might be worried that we ate all of these but not to worry,  took them to a worship night at our church.

3. St. Patrick's Day! In honor of the great Irish holiday I made corned beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes for date night this week. It is actually a fairly easy meal to make as long as you have a big pot to boil everything in.

I think this has been Andy's favorite meal that I have made since we've been married. Speaking of being married, it's been 2 months since we tied the knot! We are definitely learning a lot and figuring out this married thing together!

A Winter Rewind

The name of this blog is "Tryin' New Things" and something new I have been trying lately is marriage. It's been about 8 weeks since the wedding and my oh my...it has been crazy, stressful, time consuming, yet very enjoyable!

Let's recap back to December. Mid way through the month was my one and only bridal shower. I was so happy to only have one. My sister had 3 and I was adamant that we only have one. It was on a Saturday afternoon a week before Christmas. In my head I was thinking this idea of a bridal shower was a very bad idea and that I was not going to like sitting up on stage, opening presents with all eyes on me. Much to my surprise, Andy made a video that played during the present opening time. He told the story of how we got together, dating and the engagement. It was actually very sweet and a few ladies in attendance had a few tears in their eyes.

In December, I also spent my first Christmas with the Kangas family. Words can't even begin to describe the wonderful day I experienced with my "almost" family.

The first few weeks of January went by extremely fast. My bachelorette party was a huge surprise and a ton of fun! Paige planned the night and did a great job. We had dinner at Old Chicago Pizza in downtown Portland and had dessert at Papa Haydn's. Then it was off to the Hilton Hotel to end the night and well, start the next day. We had the brunch buffet at the hotel in the morning and then came home.

The week of the wedding was filled with last minute errands and MOVING! I have now successfully moved 3 times in less than 2 years.  (I think I am going to stay where I am for a while:-)

January 13 finally arrived. I was so excited yet very calm. The weather that day was gorgeous. I couldn't have asked for better January weather. Clear blue skies with the sun low and shinning bright.

There's not a lot I remember form the actual wedding but I do remember turning the corner and hitting the white isle runner walking arm and arm with my dad.

I remember looking deep into Andrew's eyes as we vowed our lives to each other.

I remember having more fun dancing at my wedding then I have ever had dancing in my life.

And I remember walking hand in hand with Andy through the gauntlet of people to our car where we drove off....

After staying a few nights in Portland, we came home opened our presents and had dinner with family. The next morning we flew to Mexico where we enjoyed the sun and laid on the beach for many hours a day.

This last winter has been the most memorable of my life. I have got to catch up with old friends, meet new ones and ultimately, commit my life to Andrew Kangas. In everything, I am finding God's fingerprints. He has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams.

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." Proverbs 16:3