"steam" and "white smoke" aren't exactly visually different. If it smells like burning tires, it's oil burning. Coolant smells sweet
The plug well rings fall out very easily during installation
The torque needed is in in-lbs, not ft-lbs. The wrench I have for this is 1/4" drive. Hell, my wheels only require a 3/8" torque wrench to get 100ft-lbs. There is also a sequence that you should follow to tighten it
Correct, head gasket failures are extraordinarily rare on these cars. It's much more likely you either dripped oil onto the cats and need to burn it off over a few hours or there's an active leak. Cleaning the area and inspecting later for fresh oil should help pin it down.