Saturday, March 22, 2008

Preparing for Resurrection Sunday

It's been a busy day so far. We colored eggs this morning in preparation of our traditional "stootzing" (more on that tomorrow) on Easter Sunday morning. Then the crew set off to complete their weekend chores. I made Ina's Lemon Cakes for our dessert tomorrow. I can't wait for dessert they are so yummy. Also on the menu: ham with mango glaze, scalloped potatoes, roasted asparagus with parm petals, green beans and Art Smith's biscuits.

Tonight we are going to make Resurrection Story Cookies. I'll include the recipe in case any of you want to join us.

These cookies are made the evening before celebrating the Resurrection, and are cooked in a warm oven overnight so they will be ready on Easter morning.

You need to preheat the oven to 300 degrees (this is important--don't wait until you are half done with the recipe!)

3 egg whites
1 cup whole pecans
1 tsp. Vinegar
A pinch salt
1 cup sugar
A zipper baggie
A wooden spoon
tape
Bible

Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces.
Explain that after Jesus was arrested, He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.
Read John 19:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl.
Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink.
Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar.
Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life.
Read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27.

So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing.

Add 1cup sugar.
Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him.
Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed.
Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.
Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet.
Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid.
Read Matthew 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.
Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door.
Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66.

GO TO BED!
Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22.

On Resurrection morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Resurrection, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9

A few comments on this post......

If you haven't made Art's biscuits you HAVE to, they are to. die. for!! The Hero said if we didn't have guests he would have been hard pressed not to eat the entire dish. I doubled the recipe for company and served them with chive butter.

Our Resurrection cookies were not hollow this morning. I keep forgetting we are no longer in the desert climate we've become so accustomed to in the south part of our province. This is a relatively new home so it is very humid from the new wood. We also awoke to fog, add the snow still on the ground and you have tons of moisture in the air. We reheated the oven, turned it off and then put the cookies back in for a bit. After a couple of hours the were more hollow and able to be enjoyed. I didn't have pecans so we subbed almonds and they were yummy but needed a harder beating with the wooden spoons. We eventually added the meat tenderizing mallet into the mix to hasten the process. Iceman saved the lesson for the morning by remembering a book on his bookshelf called "Love One Another- The Last Days of Jesus" which told the story of Jesus' sacrifice and had a picture of the empty tomb in it. He did a great job starting off the reading of that story but turned it over to Kodiak when he became a bit overwhelmed by the size of the paragraphs.

4 comments:

  1. What a great tradition and a neat way for the kids to get involved and really start to understand what all the words that are spoken really mean. I will have to put this in my memory bank for a couple years down the road as an activity for our family. Very neat. Thanks.

    Happy Easter!

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  2. That is a great teaching tool!

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  3. This is a cool activity! Olivia is not quite there yet but I will store it away!

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  4. What a great Easter lesson! I think I'm going to have to save this one for next year.

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