Something Saturdays (6/20/15)-MY WEDDING DAY

Nearly 11 years since we met.

5 years, 11 months, and 19 days since we had our first "date".

565 days since we got engaged.

...it's finally here.

When Michael and I met in high school neither of us ever could have imagined that we'd end up here-he was just the super funny senior who was king of the drama club, and I was just an annoying little freshman. But, nearly 6 years ago, a series of random events led to us having a 3 hour long conversation on fb chat and then-a couple days later-he took me out to lift my spirits when I was having a bad day. At the end of the night he kissed me and...that was it. A day later we were an official couple and a day after that he told me he loved me-and I said loved him back. We spent 2 years long distance before he moved to NYC to be with me. We then spent 3 years living in the city and loving each other more every day. And, about a year and a half ago, he finally proposed. Since then we got amazing engagement photos taken and I've been knee-deep in wedding planning. And all of that has led up to this...the day where I get to marry my favorite person on this planet. The guy who makes me laugh and smile and makes me feel safe and unconditionally loved every single day.

So...um...yeah....I'm getting married today. And if you want to keep up on social media with any photos from the day, just keep an eye on #kayleandmichael on twitter, facebook, or instagram!

AND-as of today I'm pretty much gonna be MIA on the blog until we're back from our honeymoon (next Sunday). I might try to share on social media when I have a chance so keep an eye on my instagram (let's be real-that's gonna be where I'm mostly sharing stuff :P) if you wanna see how much fun we're having in Riviera Maya! I'll miss you tons and can't wait to get back into the swing of things when we get back!

Kustom Kufflinks Review

I'M GETTING MARRIED TOMORROW!

And that means today is the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. And typically, at the rehearsal dinner, we give gifts to the bridal party as a big THANK YOU for everything they've done to keep us sane and to help make the wedding amazing! From day one we knew that we wanted to give out nerd/comic themed cufflinks to each of Michael's groomsmen (and one for Michael) because...well...if you know Michael or his friends and family...it would make so much sense.

When I started researching the options for these cufflinks I was lucky enough to find Kustom Kufflinks and I am SO GLAD that I did because we had the best experience and ended up with the perfect gifts for the guys!

Orange Crinkles-Guest Post with That Skinny Chick Can Bake

I have not made anything for the blog in the last week and a half-and I feel awful about it. Buuut...wedding planning is crazy time consuming. And it's go-time on Saturday. SO I brought in one final guest poster to help me out-the amazing Liz of That Skinny Chick Can Bake!! You may remember Liz from when she posted for me last year when I moved. Obviously-she's an amazing friend and she bakes DELICIOUS treats! And without further ado, here's another one of those goodies!

Hi, Cooking Actress fans! I'm Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake, and I'm honored to be pinch hitting for Kayle. I have a feeling that baking cookies had to take a back burner when the countdown to the big day reached single digits. Kayle will be a Mrs. in just a few days! Since weddings are all about family and friends, I thought I'd share some cookies I made especially for my youngest sister. I have three sisters and we're all foodies, but Maddy rarely makes desserts. I did spy some grocery store orange crinkles on her counter top on one of my recent visits to Denver. Figuring they were laden with shortening and artificial flavors, I wanted to whip up some of these gems from scratch.

Though Maddy had purchased a relatively tasty store bought version, I had the urge to deliver a batch of homemade orange cookies on my next visit. I located loads of lemon crinkle recipes, but the orange variety was scarce. I just combined and tweaked a few of the former, adding orange zest and orange extract to amp up the citrus flavor. Make sure to take the extra time to massage the orange zest into the sugar to release the essential oils--a trick I learned from Dorie Greenspan. The results were terrific. I hope you'll give them a try!

Whole Wheat Italian Gougères

I had such lofty intentions to make these "Italian" gougeres. I thought roasted garlic and Parmesan cheese....perfection! I considered adding additional seasonings but didn't think they'd be needed.

Welll....learn from my mistake my friends. These gougeres ARE tasty. But-the way I made them they turned out a bit bland. As a result, I've adjusted the below recipe to use more cheese and garlic and I urge you to add some seasonings. They'll be better that way.

Don't let me scare you away though! LOOK AT THE PHOTOS-these are tasty tasty, pretty pretty gougeres! Plus--they're whole wheat and have flax meal in them! So a bit healthier! In fact, you can even tweak this recipe and change out the flavor combos to your taste. You could use cheddar and scallions or onions or...I dunno...whatever you like! But first...let's give this Italian version a try, shall we?

Alright-I'm trying to be normal and just talk about food like I would any other week....how am I doing? Convincing? You totally can't tell that I'm getting married this Saturday and am kind of freaking out because I'm so excited/nervous/anxious/worried/excited again....right?

Oh good. Because you know I've totally tried to barely even talk about my wedding on here.*

*sarcasm...yes...I know I've been incessant and can talk of almost nothing else. Sorry!

Michael insisted I start calling these "puffs". He felt like I was being snobby with my constant "I made gougeres!" "Do you want a gougere?" "Don't forget there are gougeres..." His initial request was that I refer to them as "biscuits" which they are NOT biscuits. They're way to light and airy and soft! So then he amended I could call them puffs. Which...since gougeres are made from choux pastry just like cream puffs...I sort of can accept that.

So...puffs or gougeres...Italian or French or just perfectly YOU...give 'em a try!

Something Saturdays (6/13/15)

I'm getting married in 1 week-NBD.

And I should not be allowed to check weather forecasts because it just FREAKS me out--can we all just sound out collective prayers/good vibes that it not rain on my wedding day? At least not during the stuff where it matters (like...if it rains in the morning or in the evening that's fine I guess).

Car news: I did end up needing a new tire on my car (apparently some lovely person left a pair of scissors in the road just for me to drive over 'em...thanks.) and we also ordered a paint pen from the dealership for the scratch on my car. THEN Michael's car died and we had to get him a new battery. Totally awesome timing for car troubles.

Good news:
I tried on my full on finished wedding dress and I LOVE IT. It's the best I've ever felt in it and I'm insanely excited! I'm going to go back and try it on one last time next week with my mom so she can see how to properly bustle it. Then we'll take it home!

We got our favors (they're bookmarks) and then spent a couple days attaching ribbons to the tops of them.

We also got the table numbers, escort cards, and programs (and I tried not to care that the filigree was a different shade of red from the font...and it's totally ok. I know it's not a big deal. But it was a smidge annoying at first)--and today we're having our "final details meeting" with the reception venue. This is where we give them all the stuff that'll need set up at the reception as well as picking out our menu and other deets. And we pay them. Fun fun.

Double Chocolate Coconut Flour Muffins {Gluten-free, Dairy free, Paleo, Low fat}

Hurray! I did it! I made a healthy-like really...actually healthy-thing and Michael liked it and complimented it and had no comments like "yeah it's ok but it would be better if it were sweeter..." etc. These muffins are that healthy thing.

Now-if you're into the paleo thing or if you're gluten-free or dairy free, good news! You can totally eat these muffins! And if you're not paleo or dairy free? Feel free to use peanut butter and cow milk in this recipe (which I, in fact, did). I was super excited about the gluten-free aspect because I was able to use some of the coconut flour that I've had just sitting in my refrigerator, and these muffins were by far the best recipe I've made using it! Anyway, regardless of dietary needs--these are just taaasty tasty muffins! The texture is really nice and they have a perfect amount of chocolate flavor. They taste like a delicious and healthy treat that make an amazing breakfast or snack! (And if you're really being good-you can even make these your dessert.)

Michael even let one of his co-workers try a muffin and she raved about them. She loved that they're not too sweet but they don't taste like health food either. They're just...good! 

Which is good becaaaaause....I've got a wedding dress to wear in 10 days!

eep.

Chocolate Chewies

Allow me to gripe about something wholly un-food related (although you could somewhat blame my love of food for part of this...)--I went shopping for tank tops the other day and firmly realized that it is a difficult time to be a curvy (yet still petite?) girl. 90% of the tank tops were cropped, sheer, and/or possessing an open back or some such where you cannot wear a bra. Y'all...I NEED to wear a bra. And I need to not flash my tummy. And I have 0 idea how anyone can wear those sheer tops because they're too small to wear anything under them and if you don't then...you're just essentially naked? So...anyone who makes clothes that is somehow reading this...do us young curvy ladies a favor and make more tank tops that allow us to wear bras. kthanks.

Speaking of those silly tank tops--my cousin is a twiggy little thing and I complained to her about this, while she nodded and commiserated. Not 3 days later I see her in a cropped tank where you can see her bra and belly! I mean..no big deal but cmon girl, where's the solidarity? Even though she betrayed me I still allowed her to partake in the treats I had brought to our grandma's house for her Memorial Day party-these cookies!

And boy, were these little beauties a hit! One of my cousin's kids ate half of them before anyone even knew what hit them. One of my teenage boy cousins was thrilled when he heard I had brought cookies and I know he ate at least 4. Everyone raved about how chocolatey they are, how they taste almost like brownies...but also sort of like meringues? And they're crisp on the outside and super chewy on the inside...really...they sort of perplexed everyone. But in a "how can this be so tasty?" sort of way.

To be fair-these cookies ARE sort of strange. They're sort of a meringue cookie, but not exactly? They definitely have the whipped egg white thing going for them. They also reminded me a bit of macarons when they baked, because they have those little "feet" and that shiny shell-like exterior. Whatever they are, they're made with only 5 ingredients (egg whites, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla extract), are pretty quick and easy to make, and they're lovely little bites of bliss. The texture is super unique and addictive and if you like chocolate...oh you'll love 'em!

Something Saturdays (6/6/15)

In case anyone wonders why I'd move back to Ohio. (in addition to the family reasons and such)

Are you a fan of The Goofy Movie?? If so then check out this theory about Powerline and Bruno Mars :P

Let's see-this week we finished the seating chart and officially finished and approved the programs, our favors (which are bookmarks), etc. I had my veil trial with my hair and makeup team and that was suuuper exciting. Michael finished his summer intercession class which is good because he can now help me work on other stuff lol! (cuz guys...the wedding is in 2 weeks !!!)

In not so great news I scratched my pretty new car and then, yesterday, got a flat tire. *sigh* Of course the dealership was closed when I got my flat so now I have to call them this morning and hope it can be easily taken care of.

Oh well-tomorrow is Michael's soon-to-be aunt's bridal shower and that should be fun!

Ginger-Nectarine Galette-Guest Post with The Spiffy Cookie

Hallo again my friends!! I've got another awesome guest post for you today! Erin of The Spiffy Cookie has guest posted on here before and she's one of my best blog/real life buds--she recently moved to Ohio and it's so awesome to only be 2 hours away from each other! Because then if I see her post a particularly delectable treat I know I can just hop into the car to go beg her for some...that's logical, right?

Enough rambling, over to Erin!

Why hello there Cooking Actress readers! My name is Erin and I blog over on The Spiffy Cookie, but don't let the name fool you, there's far more than cookies and desserts. Of course I say that right before diving into a dessert recipe, but I digress. I'm super excited to be here today and consider myself lucky to not only know Kayle through the blogging world, but in real life as well.

I met her for the first time while visiting NYC 2 years ago and then guest posted for Kayle when she was in the process of moving to Ohio. Little did I know at the time that I soon would join her and live just 2 hours away! We've already reunited once and have plans to visit the KitchenAid experience center here in Ohio after she's done getting hitched. Hurry up and get married already!

But enough about our shenanigans, I know that what you really want is a slice of this galette. To me, galette just means a fancy looking, yet lazy free-form pie. You don't even need a pie pan or rolling pin, just toss the fruit with the seasonings, unroll a package or refrigerated pie crust onto a baking sheet (or okay, be fancy and make one homemade), spread out the fruit, and fold over the edges of the pie crust. Viola!

The best part is that if you do decide to make your own pie crust, you don't have to worry about it being perfectly symmetrical or having smooth edges because we're going for a more rustic look anyway. And those nectarines dotted with pieces of ginger will steal the stage no matter what it looks like. But in case your galette is feeling self-conscious, I covered the edges with sliced almonds.

Thanks Kayle for having me today. I'm so happy for you and Michael to be married! You two are the absolute cutest.

Swai, Rice, and Broccoli in Parchment Paper

As I've mentioned before-Michael is a big fan of variety. And he has a big appetite. So I often struggle with making enough food and enough different kinds of food to keep him satisfied. Which is why I was SO thrilled when I came up with this super simple dinner idea and he loved it!

One of the best parts of this recipe is-in addition to the fact that you cook an entire dinner together in the oven-that you can completely customize the flavorings based upon preferences. I went a slightly spicy route using chili powder and paprika, but you could also do soy sauce and ginger, or garlic and herbs, etc. Also, you can switch out the veggies according to preference-I used broccoli but you could use whatever, or a combo of different vegetables. (Heck, you can even use chicken instead of fish!) And in the end you have flavorful rice, veggies, and fish all cooked up together. It's perfect. My solution to weeknight dinners for my hungry hungry hippo of a fiance' and I know it'll be a great option for your family too!