A parent/child recipe for the evening before Easter.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup whole pecans
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 3 egg whites
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup sugar
PLUS, you’ll need these:
- zipper baggie
- wooden spoon
- mixing bowl
- electric mixer
- waxed-paper-covered cookie sheet
- an oven
- tape
- your Bible
FIRST, preheat your oven to 300° F.
NEXT, place the pecans in the zipper baggie, and let children beat the pecans with the wooden spoon to break then 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 t. vinegar into the 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 the 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 each child taste it. 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 1 c. sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and to belong to Him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.
Beat everything with a mixer on high speed for 12-15 min. 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 the broken nuts.
Drop the cookies by teaspoons onto a waxed-paper-covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60
Put the sheet of unbaked cookies into the oven; close the door, and turn the oven OFF. (Just make sure that the oven was at 300°F BEFORE you turned it off.) Give each child a piece of tape, and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus’ tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66.
Acknowledge to each child that he may feel sad or confused to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22.
Now, go to sleep.
On Easter morning, open the oven, and give everyone a cookie. The cookies are hollow. On the first Easter, Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9.
Happy Easter!
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