Taylor may play a crucial role in their upcoming vows, but the record-holding World Cup winner has other ways of bonding with her fiancé amid their engagement—including frequent FaceTime calls when they’re apart, and, of course, cooking.
“A couple years ago I learned how to make pretty good carbonara from a chef who works at Barilla,” Mikaela, who is also teaming up with her longtime sponsor for Barilla’s World Pasta Day Oct. 25, gushed. “I think both of us agree that our favorite pasta dish is carbonara and I think that’s also just our favorite meal in general.”
The gold medalist also emphasized that the duo is simply enjoying this stage of their relationship—as they don’t plan to officially tie the knot until after the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. (She’ll look to add another gold medal to her shelf while Aleksander, who has previously picked up silver and bronze, is looking to represent Norway for his fourth Olympic Games.)
“Weddings are a wonderful time to share meaningful moments with the people you love,” Mikaela added, noting Barilla’s Ticket to Togetherness sweepstakes emphasizes the same value. “I think we want to make it thoughtful—I’m not sure if we want big or small—we really don’t know anything but we know that we both want to be thoughtful about it. So, we’ll take our time.”