Happy Holidays!

Love,
Joe, Gabby, and Rommel

Latte Layer Cake

Okay, so this is barely wedding-related. But I couldn't let you guys go so long without talking about cake, in its many forms.

Yesterday was Joe's birthday. I set myself the task of making him a mind-blowing birthday cake whilst trying out a variation of the chiffon-style cake we decided to use for our wedding cupcakes.

The recipe comes from Smitten Kitchen, Espresso Chiffon Cake. Light, airy espresso-flavored layers soaked with espresso-rum syrup. Insane. I thought the fudge frosting might be overkill though, so I opted for a variation frosted and filled with homemade whipped cream. So it's like a cappuccino disguised as a cake. Perfect for the guy who owns enough equipment to make coffee at least a dozen different ways.

Alright, I'll just let the photos speak for themselves.

















So delicious that we had a slice for breakfast too. I could totally imagine adapting this for cupcakes. You can almost count on it.



Somebody had a good day.

Lucky Number Seven

Seven years ago, on Halloween, I met this dude I'm going to marry.

Happy Hallow-versary, Joey.

Silk!

The fabric(s) for my dress came. Luscious.

I'm so scared to cut.

Bridal Show Woes

Hi there,

Not much activity on the wedding-planning front recently. We've still got like ten months, remember?

Anway, we got some free tickets to a bridal show down in South Buffalo this past weekend.

People have been telling me that you can win free stuff at these things, even if you aren't looking to buy services discounted for event-day booking. So we decided not to pass on the opportunity, since we are still looking for a photographer, accommodations, and all the other things that we don't want to think about paying for yet.

But it was a total bust! Not only did we not win anything, but the whole event was a total affront on the senses. All the vendor goods/services were incredibly tacky, outrageously expensive, or both. Think lime green groomsmen apparel at the Tuxedo Junction fashion-show/dance-off. It was that bad.

The only thing we were really interested in checking out were photographers, but we had a hard time finding a good photographer in the mix. I swear, if I see another black and white portrait of a bride holding a photoshopped-red bouqet, I'm going to break somebody's lens.

And seriously? Why is it so shocking that my fiance would accompany me to this stupid thing? I was talking to a vendor and she asked how I talked Joe into coming. He's getting married too right? Why is it surprising that my partner would have an interest in planning his own wedding?

But then I thought about it, and realized I didn't want to be there either.

Honestly, I think we left that over-perfumed banquet center feeling all the more confident in DIYing this thing. Our wedding is going to be awesome, and we won't even need to spend hundreds of dollars on a cake that takes like vegetable shortening mixed with maraschino cherries.



Talk to you soon.

Love,
Gabby

Wedding Dress Adventures

I apologize for the radio silence, but Joe and I have been busy. Not doing fun things, in case you were wondering, just working a whole lot. Anyway, we're both pretty excited for semester to begin in a couple weeks. Joe will be starting grad classes for his masters and I'll be finishing up my last year at Canisius and writing my thesis! Woohoo! Definitely more exciting than sitting in an office for 40 hours a week or slaving away at the airport all night.

Aside from that, I would like to direct your attention to my blog, where I've been posting about sewing my dress and the bridesmaid dresses. If you follow me on flickr, this is probably old news. But I have successfully produced a final mockup for the wedding dress! After about 3 muslins of my self-drafted pattern, I've got the cut and fit absolutely perfect. Now I just have to buy the nice fabric and start sewing the real thing. Look at me, 11 months to go and I am totally on top of this stuff.



Click on over to my blog to read my posts on...
Sewing bridesmaid dresses
Sewing my dress mockup
Finishing my dress mockup

Love,
Gabby

Did you think we forgot about the cupcakes?

Last night, around 10 pm, I decided to make some cupcakes. And not just any cupcakes. Dear readers, I do believe that I have stumbled upon the two most glorious recipes in the world of cakey confections. These are winners, no doubt about it.


Note: these were just testers. When it's time for the real deal, there will be a mountain of swirled buttercream atop these cakes. Fret not.

For the cupcake itself, I present to you: Alton Brown's Vanilla Chiffon Cupcakes
And for the very literal icing-on-the-cake: Smitten Kitchen's Swiss Buttercream

For the test batch, my additions were:
- almond extract
- 1/2 tsp of my own chai spice mix (cardamom seeds, fennel seeds, cloves, cinnamon, and black cardamom)
- ground almonds sprinkled on top along with my schmancy Williams Sonoma sprinkles

These babies are light as air, not too sweet, and taste like clouds of heaven in your mouth. I have found it, my holy grail of cupcake recipes. Amen.

Love,
Gabby