Empty Tomb Cookies

For Emily and anyone who would like a Paschal Project for Saturday, this recipe is from my baby's beloved Godmother Elizabeth.

Ingredients:
1 cup of pecans
1 TBS vinegar
3 egg whites
3/4 cup of sugar
pinch of salt
zip lock bag
wooden spoon
tape
Bible

Preheat oven to 300

The Project:

1. Put pecans in ziplock bag and have kids beat them with the wooden spoon until they are broken into bits. (Honestly, this never works for me and I usually purchase them already in bits! If any of you know the secret to making this work, let me know!) Read John 19:1-3

2. Smell the vinegar and have the kids put it in a bowl. Read John 19:1-3

3. Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life and Jesus gives us life. Read John 10:10-11

4. Sprinkle salt into the kids hands and let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. This represents the salty tears Jesus' followers shed and the bitterness of our sins. Read Luke 23:27

5. Add sugar, which is the sweetest part; Jesus died becuase he loved us. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16

6. Beat with a mixer on high for 12-15 minutes. The color turns white, which represents our purity because of Jesus, who cleaned us. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3

7. Fold in nuts and drop by teaspoonful onto wax paper on a cookie sheet. This represents the tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60

8. Put in oven and give each child a piece of tape to seal the oven door. Read Matthew 27:65-66 TURN OVEN OFF!

9. Leave cookies overnight; Jesus' followers were sad he was in the tomb. Read John 16:20,22

10. In the Morning, take off tape, give all a cookie, notice the cracked surface and take a bite. They should be hollow like Jesus' tomb on Pascha Morning. Read Matthew 28:1-9

Warning
Don't triple the recipe or all those cookies will not cook. In the morning they'll be soft and definitely not hollow!

Smile
Little Builder was really getting into all of the "this represents..." bit and started making little points in the cookies as we put them on the sheet. These represented the spears the guards held who guarded the tomb. Of course.


Gifts List
#31: shared ideas from other mothers

#32: baby's cheek resting on my chest as I rock kiddos before bed

#33: honeysuckle vines, so little ones can learn how to suck the honey out

#34: this book about Father Seraphim Rose, which I had put off reading for so long, but am being blessed by