On each plate at the reception, we had a "Letter to the Bride & Groom" Madlib to entertain guests while we rushed to take as many pictures as possible in our now 20 minute cocktail "hour" that got cut short because of the shuttle snafu. We grabbed them all at the end of the night and spent a good part of our mini honeymoon giggling our way through the stack. There was one adjective in particular that seemed to make it on about 75% of the Madlibs: "sweaty." Coincidentally, most people chose it as the first adjective, which when placed in the letter read, "Congratulations to the sweaty couple!" Appropriate.
When Lucas stepped away from me after we had watched our talented friends sing and read for us during the ceremony, I busted up laughing because the entire left side of his shirt was completely soaked through. It seems everyone else also noticed. One thing's for certain, all of our friends and family in attendance most definitely love us if they're willing to sit through an outdoor ceremony in 110 degree direct sunlight (especially those standing up with us).
You can hardly see the sweat glistening on our faces!
Everyone says that your wedding day will race by; you'll say hi to each guest (if you're lucky), blink twice, click your heels together, and it'll be over. Something like that. Add a delay, some heat, and a killer custom dance playlist (#husbandbrag) and where on earth did the time go?! We shoveled BBQ into our mouths, took 10 more photos in the evening sun, said hi to a few guests, watched our friends and family bring us to tears of laughter with their toasts, fed each other cake, twirled to our first dance song (on our dance floor over the pool), and it was nearly 9pm!
The candid snapshots we've collected from various guests show that everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, but we ran out of time to say hi to each and every one of our friends and family. So, if you were there and we didn't see you, WE LOVE YOU for being there for us! To keep y'all interested, here are a couple of pictures of the dance floor my dad, brother, husband, uncle, and family friend built over our swimming pool.
The reception celebration ended at 11:30pm with We Are Young blasting and every single guest still at the party joining arms in a gigantic 50+ person (sweaty) circle around me and my new husband. Some shirtless, some shoeless, and all dancing, stomping, and screaming along at the top of their lungs. And in the last 20 seconds, everyone stormed the center into a gigantic mob of hugs and love. It was magical. The stuff of movies. You couldn't recreate it if you tried. Even if you listen to the song on repeat dancing in the living room with your husband and cats. So it's settled then, we have the best friends and family in the world. Yup.
I could share a thousand memories that made our celebration our favorite day of the year, but then I'd never get to tell you about this nomworthy summer dessert. When we get our photos back, I'll post again with a few more anecdotes and pics of all the details (and if you know anyone in the market for some vintage wedding decor - send them my way!).
It took me a bit to get back in my cooking groove after the wedding - I've spent a great deal of time these past two weeks sleeping, and the last thing I wanted to do was figure out what I was going to feed myself...let alone my HUSBAND. When our (vegan) friend Dane suggested a cooking adventure Thursday night, it was just the right inspiration to put me back on track. Dinner schminner - I needed to come up with a vegan gluten-free dessert to top off whatever savory dish we'd whip up.
Turns out I've been replacing my flour filled desserts with lots and lots of dairy - yogurt, heavy cream, milk, butter, more butter. You know, the tasty stuff that'll make you forget that the flour's missing. These vegan and gluten-free sesame peach mochi cookies are so addicting that you'll be more than happy to toss out the flour and dairy as long as you've got a plate of these treats. I adapted these summer sweets from a pumpkin version my friend Jen makes in the fall. They're chewy, slightly sweet, nutty, with a hint of juicy peach. A welcome alternative to super sugary summer desserts. I plan on gaining 10 pounds tonight as I singlehandedly finish off the second batch I made this afternoon.
Obligatory wedding ring shot:)
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup sweet rice flour
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 1 large peach, peeled, and mashed up (½ cup)
- ¼ cup sesame seeds, I mixed black and white
- ½ teaspoon water
- Vegetable oil for frying
INSTRUCTIONS
- Combine the sweet rice flour, powdered sugar, and peach mash in a medium bowl. Use your hands to knead it together. Add the water and knead until it forms a soft dough (Just a little bit more moist than the consistency of playdough - if it's too dry, add a tiny bit more water).
- Divide the dough into 18-20 1-inch balls and flatten each into a 1½ - 2" disk.
- Spread the sesame seeds out on a small plate and press both sides of each disk into the sesame seeds.
- Heat a thin layer of vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.
- Working in batches of 5-6, fry each disk for 2-3 minutes on each side, until lightly golden brown.
- Transfer to a paper-towel to drain and repeat until you've fried all of the disks.
- Let cool slightly and serve.
Nicolette -
These sounds AMAZING, I love all rice flour recipes. The texture is just my favorite hahah. I have been wanting to try this recipe for a while and I just remembered but I missed peach season!
Can I use canned peach? I am going to try to find it without the sugar syrup because I dont like when its overly sweet.
Hope to hear back soon! Once you reply, I'm definitely going to try to make em!
Sarah Menanix -
Yes, absolutely! You can also sub the peaches for canned pumpkin and add some pumpkin spice :)
Winnie -
Your recipe looks amazing! Can't wait to try it! Does it have to be with fresh peaches or can canned peaches do the trick too?
Sarah Menanix -
I think frozen or canned peaches would totally work - just measure the puree to the same amount!
Nira -
I also wondered about canned peaches. I can’t wait to try them. These look and sound amazing.
Sarah Menanix -
I think they'd work! I would just be sure to drain them well.
Malgorzata -
Is it possible to bake them instead of fry them?
Sarah Menanix -
I've never tried to bake them, but that's a good idea! I'll have to give it a try and see what happens. In the meantime, if you try it, please let me know. My suggestion for baking it would be to put spray some oil in the bottom of the baking dish before baking and to rotate them halfway through baking. I'll keep you posted - thanks for the idea:)
Sanaa -
Can i replace peach with any other fruit? Banana perhaps? I don't get peaches here.
Sarah Menanix -
O yeah! I think banana would taste delicious. Really you can use anything that you can mash/purée - I've done it with canned pumpkin purée before and it's addicting. Maybe applesauce? HMMM. The options are endless! Goodluck.
Kickasscha -
Congratulations on your wedding! The picture of you too is so much fun!
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you! Photobooths are our favorite!
Lindsey C-J -
These look so good! I love mochi so I will definitely try these out. Congrats on your wedding! Pictures look fabulous and my parents said it was lots of fun and everything looked amazing. Wishing you many blissful years together!
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks! I hope your wedding this weekend is fantastic - can't wait to see pictures! Congrats to you too:)
Carolyn Jung -
Congrats on your marriage! I felt the same way -- the day was a complete blur. Good thing one of my close friends had warned me about that and told me to really concentrate on moments I really wanted to remember. It was a great reminder to take it all in before it was over way too fast. ;)
Sarah Menanix -
Good advice! My husband and I each have slightly different moments we remember, which is fun because we'll say, "really? that happened?" haha.
Laura Dembowski -
Congratulations on getting married! It sounds like your wedding was a blast - that's what's important. And these cookies are so unique and sound wonderful. Nice to see something different enter the world of cookies!
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you! Being gluten-free makes it hard to eat regular cookies, so I'm always looking for unique gf cookie recipes:)
Jenna @ www.sensationallyseasonal.com -
Sarah congrats on your big day! It sounds like it was a beautiful day. These cookies look really yummy. I am excited to try them. I haven't tried a gluten free cookie since I have gone gluten free and I admit, I'm intimidated, but these look wonderful and not so intimidating.
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you! These aren't really your typical baked gluten-free cookie, so they're not as hard to mess up (I've burned many gluten-free baked cookie batches over the past few months). A great place to start. Good luck!
Alanna -
Congratulations on your wedding! These cookies sound so amazing, and I love the photos - even and especially the obligatory wedding ring shot. ;)
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks! :)
Sheri -
Love the marriage (pun intended) of two of my favorite things, peaches and cookies!!
Angie@Angie's Recipes -
Love these mochi cookies! A brilliant glutinous rice recipe.
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks! I love every time my friend makes them for me with pumpkin so I figured I'd see what happens when I add peaches - nomnomnom
honeywhatscooking -
congrats on the wedding.. dont' even think i said hi to guests at my reception, i just partied all night. these cookies look good... never knew there were fried cookies out there.
Sarah Menanix -
haha - phew that makes me feel better!
melissa @ my whole food life -
I love mochi and can't wait to try these! Congrats on the wedding!
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you! Sesame + mochi = heaven to me.
Emily -
So fun to see photos of the pool/dancefloor setup, and I'm glad it held out through the night despite my fiance's "creative" dance moves! These cookies look yummy, we will have to come back to visit/eat more snixykitchen food soon!
Sarah Menanix -
Come back ANYTIME. Honeymoon in Cali?? :)
zosia -
Is sweet rice flour the same as white rice flour?
Sarah Menanix -
That's a great question! Sweet rice flour is different than white rice flour - Sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour) is ground from short-grain glutinous sticky rice. It has a much higher starch content, which makes it turn into mochi in recipes like this. Sweet rice flour can also be used as a gluten-free thickening agent in some sauces, which is really cool! The brand I use is called Mochiko and I've seen it at the major grocery stores around here. Goodluck!
Christine -
I actually used to make a version of these cookies but with roasted kabocha squash. They were so yummy and I bet these are too!
Sarah Menanix -
Yum! I bet that tastes similar to my friend's pumpkin version. I usually just experiment with swapping out all kinds of flavors depending on the time of year!
Veronica -
I have never had mochi! Must try this recipe! The wedding was amazing from the ceremony to the food and the music! I never stopped dancing! You looked amazing and the groom so handsome!
Elizabeth @ SugarHero.com -
Congratulations on your wedding! You and your husband (!!!) are adorable and the setup looks gorgeous. I'm super curious about these cookies! I've seen other recipes that use mochi like this but I've never tried it myself--I think I need to give it a go!
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks so much! Do let me know how you like them if you try it out! :)