A Dry June Wedding

Imagine having to plan a wedding in Minnesota with the deluge of rain we have had this past month. June has been the wettest month in history with water levels at historic highs and flooding all over the state. So to even get one or two dry days in a row is truly a gift. My niece was fortunate on Friday the weather was in her favor for an outdoor party before the rehearsal. It was a beautiful evening to be outside to enjoy the festivities. 

Pink was the theme for table decor. The guests enjoyed themselves playing a variety of outdoor games. 

Creativity abounded with the bride and groom gifts for their groomsmen and bridesmaids. 

These gifts were handmade by the groom. It was a wooden crate that held 4 small glasses (each glass was nestled in a cut out circle in the wood which was the exact shape of glass bottom), a variety of craft brews and 4 jars of homemade snacks ( such as M and M's, nuts )  It certainly must have taken him a long time to make 10.

Of course the bride was quite creative decorating the bridesmaid's gift boxes. Inside each box was a piece of jewelry with a gift card.  And the bride lovingly had this handkerchief embroidered with this sweet saying from a childhood book she liked and gave it to her mother. With the popularity of Pinterest these days I found it quite interesting that the bride or groom did not go on Pinterest for any of these projects and came up with the ideas on their own.   

The evening had a Mexican theme with food served from Chipotle Restaurant.    

And here is where I had a part in the evening festivities.

Mexican Wedding Cakes

a.k.a Russian Teacakes and Walnut Snowballs 

Cook's notes: The recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies. Be sure to keep dough chilled after making one batch of cookies. 
Ingredients:

• 2 cups pecans or walnuts (chopped in food processor) 
• 1 cup softened butter but cooler to the touch than at room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp.pure vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1/8 tsp. salt if using salted cream butter otherwise 1/4 tsp.
• 2 cups powdered sugar for rolling dough balls 

Directions:

• Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy for 2 minutes. Add in vanilla and mix well.
• Mix flour and salt, add to sugar mixture, beat for 2 minutes.
• Add in nuts and mix well.
• Chill dough in refrigerator for one hour.
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Roll dough into balls about 1-1/2 inches and place 2 inches apart on sheet.
• Bake for 14 minutes or until edges of cookies start to brown. Start checking at 13 minutes.
• Cool cookies on sheet 2 minutes,then transfer each one to wire rack. 
• In a large bowl place 2 cups powdered sugar and drench 3 warm cookies at a time in powdered sugar. Place each cookie back on wire rack. 

 

Mexican Kahlua Chocolate Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3 TB. softened butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1-2 TB. Kahlua liqueur

Directions:

• Over a double boiler on low heat combine chips, cream and butter.
• Stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth.
• Remove from heat and blend in Kahlua.
• Store in refrigerator until serving and warm slightly in microwave.

Meet Emma and Jake