The Cooking Actress' 3rd Blogaversary --Original Recipes round up!

WOW....3 years ago yesterday I hit publish on my first ever post on "The Cooking Actress". I was bored, lonely, obsessed with food and thought it might be fun. I tried to think of a unique name, and so I pulled The Cooking Actress out of my head. And I fully expected no one to read this.

3 years later I am in awe. I have made such an incredible group of food blogging friends, people who understand me better than 99% of people I've met outside of blogging. Some of the most talented, giving, awesome people in the world-true story (there aren't even words for the outpouring of support I've gotten at various stages of this process-not the least of which was the overwhelmingly sweet response to my engagement. Seriously was enough to get me all teared up.) I've grown so much as a cook, baker-and even photographer (although I still have a lot of room to grow!--step 1, get a DSLR). This little blog has grown so much bigger than I could have imagined, and I've been blessed to work with fantastic brands that I never would have guessed I'd be on their radar! It's been crazy amazing. I now plan days around when I can photograph a new recipe, editing pictures, writing posts, etc. etc. It's a lot of work but it is so much fun! I love every second of it and I am so so SO grateful for YOU! You, whoever is reading this, you have allowed me to find this outlet and have completely altered my life. I've gained confidence and purpose and friends. Any time I get a comment, or email, from one of you, any time someone pins one of my recipes, it genuinely brightens my day. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU so much for taking this crazy ride with me. I am looking forward to everything the future will bring, and I know it can only be more awesomeness. I'm stoked to see what happens next!

Now, to celebrate my 3 year Blogaversary, I thought I would share a round up of every original recipe that's here on the blog. Recipes that I developed/created. This is a skill that I've really just been beginning to feel comfortable with, and it garners so much pride. Any time I know I created a recipe and it's good...omgosh I am so excited. I'm hoping to grow in recipe development much more, but in the meantime, let's take a walk down memory lane of what I've created so far...

Deep Dish S'more {for my BIRTHDAY!} and a #DivineInNYC Review

Happy birthday to me....

happy birthday to me,

happy birthday to meee-eeeee

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Yay! It's my birthday! I LOVE my birthday!!

You know what else I love? CHOCOLATE.

Chocolate and my birthday go together like...well ya know...like stuff that goes together.

For my 21st birthday, I even gorged myself on chocolate as opposed to the general tradition of getting sick on alcohol instead. Best. birthday. EVER! So, imagine my excitement when the amazing people at Divine Chocolate agreed to send me some of their amazing chocolate to celebrate my special day (and oh yeah, on top of that, they're giving 3 of you wonderful readers a gift set too! So it's like everyone's birthday!! Continue reading past the recipe for the giveaway info.)

Up until now I hadn't had the opportunity to try Divine chocolate, although I have seen it in multiple stores in the city, (such as the one on 1066 Third Avenue, near my favorite Bed Bath and Beyond location--check out their store locator to find where YOU can get some Divine chocolate.), so I was STOKED to be sent such an amazing array of chocolatey goodness! Divine provided me with their baking line as well as their super festive holiday goodies! So far, everything has been just luscious-I cannot wait to try out everything!

AND, on top of delicious chocolate products, Divine also has an incredible story. Grown in Ghana, the cocoa beans used by Divine Chocolate are hand-harvested, slow-fermented and carefully dried by the family farmers of the Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Cooperative, who co-own the company. While Fair Trade makes sure farmers get a better deal for their cocoa and some extra income to invest in their community, company ownership gives farmers a share of Divine’s profits and a stronger voice in the cocoa industry. HOW COOL is that??! 

For more info. about Divine Chocolate, visit www.divinechocolate.com/us. For news about competitions, deals, and more, sign up for the Divine Newsletter: http://www.divinechocolate.com/us/subscribe-our-newsletter. 

Now, on to what I DID with my chocolate. 

One of mine and Michael's fave spots to get some food in this city is Heartland Brewery and, at their Union Sq. location, they have a dessert they call "Ole Time S'mores" and I was SUPER into it. But, I don't get down there very often these days, and other locations don't seem to have that dessert. So, I thought to myself...why not just recreate it? And I did!

This deep dish s'more is, sort of, single serving. The perfect birthday dish means you don't have to share. First I made a nice thick, buttery, graham cracker crust. Then, the main component, a smooth, rich, thick chocolate ganache I made using half milk and half dark Divine chocolate (giving the perfect balance, methinks), and then a beautiful top of toasted marshmallows. Ahhh...definitely my kind of birthday dessert.

And it's pretty darned easy. Because nobody wants to spend all day slaving away on their birthday...

...then again...most people don't make their own birthday treat do they? I'm weird.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME AND MY WEIRDNESS! HOORAY FOR S'MORES AND CHOCOLATE AND KAYLE!!!

Michael's Birthday Recap

Hi everybody! Ok, so I've gotta give you a rundown on what's going on around here:

1. Yesterday was Michael's birthday! Hooray! He isn't big into celebrating his birthday, but I always want to at least do something (I mean, I have to celebrate the fact that my Michael is in the world!). So this year we went out dinner and had some steaks (mmmmm!) and I baked him a Raspberry Ganache Pie (via Kraft's recipe site)--recipe to be blogged soon:
   
   
2. Today I am on my way to Ohio, and Michael will be heading over tomorrow after work. This Saturday is Michael's younger brother (who is 1 year older than moi) Kevin's wedding! I know, crazy, I am SO excited! He and his fiance' Emily have been together for like ever and this is going to be my first time going to one of my peers' weddings. (I'm still at an age where none of my friends are getting married yet, and I actually haven't been to that many weddings in my life, so I'm excited!) Plus Michael is a groomsman so he's gonna be all important and wearing a tux and stuff. :) Michael flies back here on Monday, and I'll take the bus back on Tuesday. So...yeah. 
3. Don't worry, you'll still have posts to read while I'm gone, and I should still be arouuund, but yeah def. not as active as usual.

This picture feels like it was taken forever ago. I was reminded of it when my brother asked for a healthy pizza recipe and I directed him to my favorite whole wheat pizza crust, and he started laughing and said, "That picture of Michael!" heheheee

Anyway. Back to the (post) birthday boy.

Remember when he wrote his own post on the blog? Still laughing (and cringing).

I remember what I made him for his first birthday here with me: Brown Sugar Roasted Chicken and Raspberry Ice Cream "Cake-Pie".

And last year's birthday's recipes and photos.

And my round up of Michael photos and recipe favorites.

Classic <3

My Birthday: A Recap in Photos

So...I was gonna share a recipe with you guys today. Really, I was.

But...I'm tired.

I had a super fun/super busy birthday.

And today I've got an audition and some stuff to get done, because tomorrow and Friday I'm filming an episode of True Crime, and Saturday I have to work. So instead, you guys get to see some pictures of my birthday!!

Yay...!...?...!

Michael's Birthday in Photos

Happy Birthday Michael! A Round Up of My Boyfriend's Favorite Recipes!

(Some snapshots from Michael's life! Obviously the middle one is his baby picture. The one directly to the right of that is from his long hair days (before he & I dated), he looked sooo handsome! Middle bottom is Michael with all his siblings, when they were younger. Second from the top on the far left is him and his brother as Mario & Luigi. Bottom far left is his dad, stepmom, brother, and him. Bottom far right is him dancing with his mom (and his cousin in the bg). Oh and obviously...he loves Batman.)

Today! Today today today! Today is a great day!! 

Why, you ask?

Because it is Michael's birthday! The day he was born!

26 years ago today my soulmate was born...then he had to wait around for 3 years before I was born. :P

Then of course, he had to wait around until he was a senior in high school to meet me (when I was just a wee little freshman), and as far as he knew, I was just another annoying little freshman in choir and drama with him. It was not until he was almost 23 that we finally had all the weird set of circumstances that led us together. It was worth the wait :).

Michael's not a fan of having people make a big deal over birthdays, etc. for him, so (against his will, I might add) all I'm doing is making him a BIG dinner tonight! We're having homemade tortilla chips with salsa (for him) and homemade guacamole (for me), chicken enchiladas with a scallion sauce (since I don't normally cook Mexican for him), and he will be having mini raspberry cheesecakes for dessert! I really hope he likes everything, and I am so happy that I get to spend time with him today. I love him very much :).

I thought, as another way to celebrate, I would share with you all some of Michael's favorite recipes that I've posted on the blog. Michael likes pretty much everything I make, but there are some recipes that particularly get my boy's tumbly rumblin! Some of these, in fact, are things that I don't even like, things I made specifically and only for my very Michael. This is still but a small sampling, but I hope you'll enjoy looking at a few of the birthday boy's favorite recipes:

My Birthday!!!

Yesterday-was my birthday! Not a big one, just 22 years, but nevertheless-I love my birthday :) I feel so old now, my mom was this age when she had me. This thought is what, I'm assuming, caused me to have a dream where I was pregnant the night before my birthday. Anyway, like I said-weird. I feel like I'm still only 16! (While simultaneously also being middle aged, what with all the cooking and housework and then relaxing on the couch with the boy-weird, I know.) Anyway, I thought-since food was a large portion of my day, and since this is a food blog, why don't I share it with you?

(I am not being reimbursed by any of the following places or things. I, in fact, gave them money...you know...for the pleasure to eat the yum yums. So please know all of this is just my experience and opinion.)

 The perfect start to any good day is Godiva. I got some free chocolates (REWARDS CLUB!) and they also had a sale, so I bought some dark chocolate bars for future baking.