Adding Meaning to Your Easter Celebration
Making Jesus the center of your family's celebration can present
a challenge when images of the Easter Bunny are so prevalent.
Parents must take special measures to help kids understand that
Jesus is the giver of Easter gifts-His love, His sacrificial death,
the salvation we have through Him-not a big rabbit who hands out
candy and colored eggs.
Here are some ideas for putting the spiritual significance back into your Easter celebration.
* Put a spiritual twist on the tradition of decorating Easter eggs. Before dying the hard-boiled eggs, use crayons to write an Easter message on each egg. Because the crayon wax keeps the dye from adhering in those spots, your "Jesus is Risen" and "Jesus Died for You" messages will show through clearly.
* If your church does not celebrate Holy Week, attend Holy Week
services at a church that does. Or celebrate each day as a family
by reading passages of scripture that recount what each special
day commemorates.
* Attend an Easter cantata presented by a church other than the
one your family normally attends. This allows family members to
experience a celebration of Easter that is different than that
to which they are accustomed.
* As a family, choose a few craft projects that emphasis the meaning
of Easter. Do an Internet search or check out books from the library
for ideas. Use your completed projects to decorate your home for
your family celebration.
* Celebrate the Resurrection of Christ by doing the kinds of things
Jesus came to earth to do. Extend God's love to others by visiting
the elderly and sick, gathering up clothing to take to a homeless
shelter, or making and delivering food baskets to families in
need.
* If you don't usually do so, attend a sunrise service so your
family can experience a little of what Jesus' followers must have
felt the morning they found the empty tomb. Afterwards, enjoy
a big family breakfast in celebration of the Risen Lord.
* Do some research on how the Resurrection is celebrated in other
cultures. Turn the Easter celebration into a learning experience
by enjoying traditional Easter foods and activities from another
country.
* Many churches make Easter crosses by attaching real flowers
in some fashion to a wooden cross to symbolize the new life brought
to us through Jesus' death. Make your own family Easter cross
by cutting out a large cross from brown construction paper. Let
the children use construction paper, markers, crayons and paint
to create flowers to decorate it.
BYLINE:
Nancy Twigg is a Christian speaker and author who loves inspiring
others to live more simply. Adapted from Nancy's book, Celebrate
Simply: Your Guide to Simpler, More Meaningful Holidays and Special
Occasions.
Bunnies and Ham and Eggs, Oh My!
Bunnies and Ham and Eggs, Oh My!
by Tawra Kellam
http://www.livingonadime.com/
It’s almost that time of year again. You’re standing, dumbfounded, in front of a mound of hard boiled eggs, sliced ham and chocolate Easter bunnies. You wonder “what am I going to do with 6 dozen eggs, 6 lbs. of ham and 25 chocolate bunnies”. The stress of it is almost enough to send you to bed for a week--or at least tear most of your hair out. Here are a few ideas and recipes from www.LivingOnADime.com to help you avoid both of those.
Leftover Bunnies: Take a rolling pin to them and crush the life out of them. Then use the crumbs to sprinkle on ice cream, use in milk shakes, stir a few in a mug of hot chocolate, use in place of chocolate chips for making cookies or melt for dipping fruit and candy.
Leftover Ham: Save bone for bean or split pea soup. Make ham salad, chef salad or ham sandwiches. Chop and freeze to use in: potato salad, scrambled eggs, omelets, to top baked potatoes, for potato soup, scalloped potatoes, au gratin potatoes, pasties or pizza- with pineapple.
Top tortilla with ham, salsa, and cheddar cheese and warm, for hot ham and cheese sandwiches.
Leftover Eggs: Make potato salad, tuna salad, pasta salad, chef salad, spinach salad with eggs and bacon, deviled eggs, golden morning sunshine or fill tomatoes with egg salad.
Golden Morning Sunshine
2 cups white sauce
4 eggs, hard boiled and chopped
Make white sauce. Once the white sauce has thickened, add eggs. Serve on toast.
White Sauce
¼ cup dry milk
2 Tbsp. flour
dash salt
1 cup cold water
1 Tbsp. margarine
In a covered jar, combine dry milk, flour and salt and mix well. Add water. Shake until all the ingredients are dissolved. Melt margarine in a 1 quart sauce pan. Stir in flour-milk mixture and cook over low heat until mixture thickens and starts to bubble. Keep stirring until thickened completely.
Tawra Kellam is the editor of DiningonaDime.com
More Easter Themed Activities:
1. To learn to dye Easter eggs with natural colors, CLICK HERE.
2. Another fun Resurrection project is Resurrection Cookies.
3. Or make Hot Cross Buns.
4. More Ideas for Adding Meaning to your Easter Celebration.
Challah
Challah is traditionally served at Easter time or for the Sabbath meal anytime, according to author Martha Zimmerman in her book Celebrate the Feasts.
2 TB Saf yeast
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
2 TB honey
2 tsp. salt
4 1/2 to 5 cups bread flour or 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 bread flour
2 whole eggs
1 egg yolk (reserved for glaze)
1 TB poppy seeds
Mix 3/4 cup warm water, 2 eggs and yeast in mixer bowl. Stir in 2 cups flour, beat well, and allow the mixture to sponge (bubble up) for about 15 minutes or more. Meanwhile, heat milk, butter, honey, until the butter melts. Cool to lukewarm. Add these ingredients to the "sponge", add the salt, and stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead until the dough is smooth, and elastic but not dry; about 7 -10 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball.
Place the dough ball into a greased bowl. Turn once to grease the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, about one hour. A finger pressed into the dough will leave an imprint when the dough has risen enough. Punch the dough down, divide into thirds. Roll each third into an 18-inch strand. Line up the three stands one inch apart on a large, greased baking sheet. Braid loosely, beginning in center and working toward ends. Pinch ends together and tuck under.
Cover and let rise until double, about 30 minutes. Brush with egg yolk that has been beaten with one TB of water and sprinkle poppy seeds over the egg wash. Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven 35-45 minutes.This recipe makes one large braid or two small braids. Recipe can be doubled of tripled if you have a heavy duty mixer. This recipe can also be preapred as is, in a bread machine on the dough cycle and then shaped by hand.
For more more information contact marilyn@urbanhomemaker.com or call 1-800-552-7323.
www.urbanhomemaker.com
Easter Cookies with Bible Lesson
Easter Cookies
To be made the evening before Easter. My daughter did this in her Sunday School Class
and really enjoyed the taste, and remembered most of the symbolism.
You need:
1c. whole pecans
1 tsp. vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch salt
1c. sugar
zipper baggie
wooden spoon
tape
Bible
Preheat oven to 300.
Instructions:
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 1c. 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 Ps. 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 Isa. 1:18 and John 3:1-3.
Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons (you don't want them
too big or it
won't work, so I'm told) onto wax paper covered cookie sheet.
Explain that
each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid.
Read Matt. 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 Matt. 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 Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie.
Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow!
On the
first Easter Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open
and empty.
Read Matt. 28:1-9
Cookies can be left on a very very low temp..like 250 degrees.
and be ready
in a couple of hours...when surface of cookie looks dry and cracked....they
are ready to eat!!!!!
These cookies are quite sweet but tasty!
Remember the children's nursery rhyme that goes as follows?
Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns!
One a penny two a penny - Hot cross buns
If you have no daughters, give them to your sons
One a penny two a penny - Hot cross buns
Hot cross buns were sold in the street to the cry of "Hot cross buns!" around the period in English history dating back to the seventeenth and eighteenth century.
A hot cross bun is a type of sweet spiced bun made with currants and leavened with yeast. It has a cross on the top which might be made in a variety of ways. Using confectioner's frosting, is the most common way.
According to one source, hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday, with the cross standing as a symbol of Christ and the resurrection. Have fun with the children and enjoy the process of being together in the kitchen. Here's my recipe for the buns:
Hot Cross Buns
2/3 cup dried currants
3-1/2 to 4 cups whole wheat flour (or half bread flour and half whole wheat
2 TB yeast
1/2 to 1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup cooking oil
1/3 cup sugar or honey
1 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 slightly beaten egg white
Frosting (recipe follows)
Cover currants with very hot water. Let stand about 10 minutes or up to one hour at room temperature. Drain well. In a large mixing bowl combine 2 cups flour, yeast, and cinnamon. Heat milk, oil, sugar or honey, and salt until warm (115 to 120�). Add to the dry mixture. Allow to sponge for about 15 minutes if time allows. Add eggs, one at a time. By hand or mixer, stir in currants and enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead until the gluten is developed by mixer or on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 6-10 minutes.
Shape into ball. Place in greased bowl. Turn once to grease top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1-1/2 hours. Punch down. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.
Divide into 18 pieces. Form smooth balls. Place on greased baking sheet 1-1/2 inches apart. Cover; let rise until double, 30 to 45 minutes. Cut shallow cross in each. Brush tops with egg white. Bake in preheated 375� oven 12 -15 minutes. Remove from baking sheet. Use confectioner's Frosting to make a "cross" on the bun.
Confectioner's Frosting:
2 TB milk
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Combine these ingredients together and add milk or water as needed to get a good pouring consistency for the frosting. Place the frosting in a small zip-lock sandwich baggie, clip the corner and use the baggie to squeeze the frosting over the cooled buns in a cross shape. Small children will enjoy this process even if it gets a little messy!
More Easter Themed Activities:
~Yellow-- yellow onion skins, turmeric (½ tsp. per cup water) celery leaves
~Orange--any yellow dye plus beet juice
~Red--beets, paprika, red onion skins
~Pink -cranberry juice
~Blue--blackberries, grape juice concentrate, red cabbage
~Brown--black tea, white oak, juniper berry, coffee, barberry
~Light purple--blackberries, grapes, violets
~Green--alfalfa, spinach, kale, violet blossom plus ¼ tsp. baking soda, tansy, nettle, chervil, sorrel, parsley, carrot tops, beet tops or dip yellow egg in blue dye
Hard boil eggs with 1 tsp. vinegar in the water. Place dying ingredients in non-aluminum pans, cover with water and boil 5 minutes to 1 hour until desired color is achieved. Use enough material to make at least 1 cup dye. Crush ingredients as they boil to extract as much dye as possible. Strain the dye. Most dyes should be used hot. Let each egg sit in the dye until it reaches the desired color. Some dyes will take longer than others to make the desired colored on the egg. Remove the egg and let dry.
Glitter Eggs- Place 1 tablespoon each of glue and water in a cup. Stir the mixture and then paint the eggs with it. Sprinkle with glitter. This can also add sparkle to already dyed eggs!
Decoupaged eggs - Tear small pieces of wrapping paper, napkins, stickers, or clip art. Mix equal amounts of glue and water. Paint egg with glue mixture. Place paper on top and then cover with more glue mixture. Let dry.
Spotted Eggs- Place 1 tsp. of cooking oil in dye. Dip the egg. The oil will cause the dye to make an irregular pattern on the egg.
Waxed Eggs- Dip a portion of the eggs in melted paraffin or candle wax. Then dip them in the dye. Remove from dye. Dry and peel off the wax. The egg will be white on one half and colored on the other half. You can also dip in dye before waxing to get two colors.
Hollow Eggs- Poke a hole in one end of an egg with a very small needle. Poke another slightly larger hole in the other end. Then blow on the small end and the egg will come out the other side. Decorate as desired.
Tawra Kellam is the author of the frugal cookbook Dining On A Dime: Eat Better, Spend Less. For more free tips and recipes visit her web site at http://www.LivingOnADime.com/
More Easter Themed Activities:
To learn to dye Easter eggs with natural colors, CLICK HERE.
Another fun Resurrection project is Resurrection Cookies.
Or make Hot Cross Buns.
More Ideas for Adding Meaning to your Easter Celebration.
Matzah Kugle
This dish is simply delicious. It can be made ahead
and refrigerated. Leftovers are welcome at our house!
6 pieces of Matzah
1 dozen eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 cup raisins
8 grated apples (tart ones are best)
grated rind of 1 orange
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup chopped almonds
Crumble pieces of Matzah into water and soak until soft (do not drown!); squeeze out the excess moisture with your hands. Beat the eggs. Add sugar, salt, and cinnamon, beating till well blended. Stir crumbled matzahs, raisins, almonds, apples, and orange rind into the egg mixture. Turn it all into a well-greased 9 X 13 pan. Sprinkle more cinnamon and sugar on top and pour the melted butter on top of that. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, until firm and nicely brown.
Chicken Soup with Matzah Balls
Chicken Soup Stock
Start with a 4-5 pound chicken or use the back and the insides of the chickens you might be serving.
3 quarts of water
2 onions,
3 carrots
2 pieces of celery, stalks, and tops
1 TB salt
Several good shakes of garlic powder
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp. dill weed
Clean the chicken thoroughly; clean and cut up the vegetables. Add all of the ingredients to the water and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat. Simmer for 2 hours. Pour the soup through a colander, and refrigerate broth for 2-3 hours, until the fat forms a layer at the top. Save the carrots aside. Remove the layer of fat and return the broth (without the meat) and carrots to the pot to reheat. This will boil down to about 2- 2 1/2 quarts of soup. If you want to stretch it a little, add more water and a few chicken bouillon cubes (when n one is looking). The chicken meat should be cut up and used for salad or chicken casserole recipes.
Matzah Balls (a.k.a. Knaidlekh)
1 Cup Matzah meal
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup oil
4 eggs
1 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
Beat the eggs, add water, oil, salt, and pepper to the eggs; mix well. Add the Matzah meal and stir thorougly. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Bring a pot of slightly salted water to a rolling boil. Form the Matzah meal mixture into 1 " size balls and drop (gently, please) into the broth. First they sink, but then they should rise to the top. Cook 20 minutes. You may set these aside and later add them to the soup, just before serving. Makes about 30 -1" balls.
A. You can summarize the story using the "article" in each egg as a prop as you go. 
#7 – Dice – When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and played a game to decide who would get his clothes – John 19:23-24