Empty Tomb Cookies

For the past few years I have been wanting to make Empty Tomb Cookies also called Resurrection Cookies.  We served them at our Easter lunch on Sunday.  My step-mother didn't like the name Empty Tomb Cookies so we'll just call them Easter Cookies since Jesus is the reason we celebreate Easter anyway.  Last year we had just moved into our house and were extremely busy so we didn't do much.  This year was different, I wanted to make sure we had time to make these.  They took about 30 minutes to make and put on the cookie sheet for the oven.  I think just about any child would love making these.  Caden loved helping me mix the ingredients and taste various things.  While we were making the cookies, Collin read us the corresponding Bible verses.  I got the original recipe here.  This is going to be a new Easter tradition for our family.  We made these Saturday night and they were ready Sunday morning.  I think this recipe and the corresponding Bible verses really helps children visualize what happened during the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Empty Tomb Cookies 

Ingredients:

1 cup whole pecans, in a plastic baggie
1 wooden mallet or wooden hammer
1 tsp vinegar
3 egg whites
1 pinch salt
1 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees--you MUST do it now. Also, gather a cooking mallet, kitchen mixer, masking tape and Bible.
2. Read John 19:1-3 ~ Jesus was beaten for our sins; beat the nuts with a cooking mallet; set aside.
3. Read John 19:28-30 - Jesus drank something like vinegar (gall), sniff the fragrance, dip finger in and taste, too; place the vinegar in a mixing bowl.
4. Read John 10:10-11 - Egg whites symbolize Jesus' holy, innocent life; add whites to the bowl with the vinegar.
5. Read Luke 23:27 - the bitter tears of the women; taste a few grains, remember your own sins; add the salt to the bowl.
6. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16 - Sweet salvation! Taste and see; add to the bowl.
7. Crank up the mixer and let it go while you read from Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3; let the mixer go for about 12-15 MINUTES; this needs to be VERY stiff!
8. Read Matthew 27:57-60 - Fold the nuts into the egg-sugar mixture; this symbolizes the rocks in the garden.
9. Using a scoop or knife & spoon, drop by spoon into mounds (to resemble a rocky tomb); put into the oven and turn it OFF!
10. Read Matthew 27:65-66 - The tomb is sealed; use two pieces of tape (5-6 inches long) to "seal" the door edges (symbolically).
11. Read John 16:20 & 22 - Consider these passages, then go to bed!
12. NEXT MORNING: Read Matthew 28:1-9 - Jesus is risen! Behold--the empty tomb! Unseal the oven door, take out the cookies, break or bite one in half -- it should be hollow inside---empty---just like the Tomb!
13. He is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!

Caden first beat the pecans

Then he tried the vinegar

Poured the egg whites in the bowl

Tasted the salt

Tasted the sugar - he liked this more than the vinegar

Poured the sugar in the mixing bowl

Collin did a great job reading the Bible verses.

We watched for about 14 minutes

We folded in the nuts and then placed them on wax paper

Right before the oven

Caden taped the oven closed

Sunday morning

The cookies are hollow inside-empty-just like the Tomb!

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

"Let's go fly a kite, up to the highest height!"  My dad bought Caden his first kite.  Today Collin took Caden outside to fly it.  We live in a very windy neighborhood.  Our house is located at the edge of town next to farm fields with cows and wild animals.  Since our neighborhood is new, we have several empty lots next to us so there is plenty of room to fly a kite.  Caden LOVED it!!  Thanks, Opa, for the kite!  They spent almost 2 hours outside with it!

Southfork Ranch "Dallas" Tour

Our good friend and old next door neighbor, Michael, from Germany came to visit us for almost two weeks.  One of the places he really wanted to go was Southfork Ranch, which was the ranch where the popular TV show, "Dallas," was filmed.  The ranch is actually not in Dallas but in Parker, TX, near Dallas.  My friend, Emily, just happened to take a day off work when we decided to go so she came with us.

As someone who had never seen the show, I have to say the tour was very interesting and worth going on.  It actually made me want to watch the show.  I'm sure the library has the series.  Maybe I'll even see what the new "Dallas" show is like.  

 

Before the official tour began, we were able to walk through a museum from the show.  There were pictures of the actors, props from the show, and short clips from different series.  After we walked through the museum we all boarded a seated train-like wagon pulled by a tractor.  The tour guide drove us around the ranch and told us the history of it, who originally owned it and who owns it now.  He also pointed out interesting facts from the show.  We ended up at the main house in which the stage was designed from.  The show was actually never filmed inside the house because a family lived there while the show was filmed.  We were able to tour the house and all the rooms have been staged for tourists.

 

I enjoyed the tour and I know any fan from the show "Dallas" would like it too.

Michael on the train ride!

Ranch House

This table and the pool were the only things the show could use by the house

Collin and Michael

Marisa, Emily, and JR

Michael, Collin, and JR