Resurrection Rolls

Like our Easter story cookies, these resurrection rolls are turning into a tradition for Easter lunch! All you need are some of those pre-made crescent rolls and jumbo marshmallows!

Friday Pie-Day: Loquat Pie

We have a loquat tree in our backyard. Some years it doesn’t do much, but this year the fruit on it was abundant! So much so that we decided to make a pie. (Our family has a thing for pies.)

Now loquats are tiny, tasty little fruits, also known as Japanese plums, and they have several seeds in the middle. The recipe I found called for 4 cups of loquats, but I doubled that, wanting to fill the whole pie dish. Needless to say, even if you do have easy access to loquats, this recipe is not for the faint of heart.

Easter Story Cookies

These cookies have become a tradition for our family, and I hope they will be for yours too! I don’t know where this recipe originated from, but what a wonderful opportunity this presents to further teach the truth of Easter!

Begin this recipe on SATURDAY, the night before Easter.

Easter Story Cookies

YOU WILL NEED:

1 cup whole pecans

1 tsp. vinegar

3 egg whites

a pinch of salt

1 cup sugar

zipper baggie

wooden spoon or wooden meat hammer

duct tape or packing tape

Bible

Preparing for Easter: Holy Week

This Week's Hymns:

Wednesday, March 27: A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth

Thursday, March 28: Low in Thine Agony

Friday, March 29: Throned Upon the Awful Tree

Saturday, March 30: Christ Jesus Lay in Death's Strong Bands

Sunday, March 31: Christ the Lord Is Risen Today

SPECIAL FEATURE: Holy Week

Make Your Own Resurrection Eggs

If you’ve never heard of Resurrection Eggs, they are definitely worth investing in. Inside each Easter egg is an object for kids to handle that symbolizes a part of the Easter story. Our class used a simple devotional book to go along with it and opened a few every day. 

At the end of the week, we made our own for the students to take home and share with their families! 

Monday Meals: Waikiki Meatballs

I’m not sure where we got this recipe; I just found it in our cookbook, and my mom made it for our “family potluck” last summer. (Yes, one day our family of 6 had a “potluck” where we each made a different dish to share for dinner.) Anyway, since then we have made this dish several times.

Friday Pie-Day: Banana-Berry Pie

When I saw this beautiful pie in my Taste of Home pies book, I knew we had to make it! We finally got around to it March 2012 (last year) for our pie of the month, and this double-layered pie was so fun to make and very tasty!

4 More Easter Activities for Preschoolers

I’ve shared ideas for Easter crafts and Easter displays; here follows a conglomeration of ideas from the 3 Easters I’ve spent as a preschool teacher.

Preparing for Easter: Week 6

This Week's Hymns

Wednesday, March 20: Worship Christ, the Risen King 

Thursday, March 21: Hallelujah! Jesus Lives!

Friday, March 22: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Saturday, March 23: The Day of Resurrection

Sunday, March 24: All Glory, Laud, & Honor

Monday, March 25: Ye That Pass By, Behold the Man

Tuesday, March 26: Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended?

Special Feature: The Tradition of Sunrise Services

Easter Displays for Children

Last week, I shared several Easter crafts to make with preschoolers. Here are 3 ideas for ways to brighten up your classroom or home and display the real meaning of Easter (and a nonreligious one too).

Monday Meals: Basil Orange Pork Chops

It’s another awesome recipe that we originally found in the Taste of Home Busy Families cookbook. As is evidenced by the title, the primary flavors added to these pork chops are basil and orange! The flavors come together in perfect harmony to create something unique and delectable.

Friday Pie-Day: Butterscotch Pie

It all started because we had some butterscotch chips left over from a cookie recipe. They sat in our fridge for months before we finally went on All Recipes and looked up ways to cook them.

Easter Heart Preparation: Week 5

This Week's Hymns:

Wednesday, March 13: The Strife Is O'er
Thursday, March 14: O Sacred Head Now Wounded
Friday, March 15: Not All the Blood of Beasts
Saturday, March 16: Arise, My Soul, Arise
Sunday, March 17: This Is the Day the Lord Hath Made
Monday, March 18: All the Sacrifice Is Ended
Tuesday, March 19: All Ye That Seek the Lord Who Died

Special Feature: Christ and the Passover

4 Easter Crafts for Preschoolers

It’s hard to believe I’ve already spent 3 Easters as a preschool teacher. Easter is one of my favorite holidays, and I look forward to incorporating it into the school year. Of course the kids are excited about Easter egg hunts and the gifts they’ll receive in their baskets, but it’s also a special time when we have an opportunity to share the salvation message with youngsters. Here are 4 of my favorite Easter crafts to make with preschoolers.

Monday Meals: Chicken Pot Pie

Besides its spectacular taste, this recipe brings back wonderful memories for me. During my 4 years as a student at Bryan College, I was very active on the yearbook staff. I spent countless hours each week designing layouts, gathering photos and copy, editing pages, and helping to produce a meaningful record of the school’s year. Our staff advisers, Jon & Karin Carpenter, shared wisdom, encouraged us, and supported us through all the deadlines and in spite of our issues with “ladders.” And… oh yes, they fed us!

As I recall, it was a weekly ordeal. We would gladly shirk our cafeteria duties, traipse down to the Rankin building, and inhale some homemade delicacies, which would give us energy to work long into the night. Of the many marvelous meals I ingested, this one was my favorite. Before I graduated, I begged Karin for the recipe, and she gladly obliged. Every time we make this recipe, we think of her, and I share it here with her blessing.

Friday Pie-Day: Key Lime Pie

The real adventure with this pie started a couple weeks before we made it in March 2010. 

The key lime tree in our front yard was sagging with the weight of fruit, and I wanted to make sure it would still be fresh. 

Preparing for Easter: Week 4

This Week's Hymns

Wednesday: This Joyful Eastertide

Thursday: Father, Forgive, the Savior Said

Friday: 'Tis Finished! The Messiah Dies

Saturday: What Will You Do with Jesus?

Sunday: How Calm and Beautiful the Morn

Monday: Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Tuesday: Come, Ye Saints, Look Here and Wonder

This week's special feature (thanks to Ace Collins' Stories Behind the Traditions and Songs of Easter) is the custom of dressing up for Easter and the tradition of the Easter parade.

Pom-Pom Color Fun for Toddlers

All year we’ve been having fun with colors, but these past few weeks we had a fun pom pom center! This included a pompom drop and a place to sort the pompoms by color.

I came across some great ideas for pompom drops on Pinterest, but this was just a quick throw-together. I would love to attach these to wood instead of just paper!

Monday Meals: Skillet Steak & Corn

Here’s another great recipe from the Taste of Home’s Busy Family Cookbook – I tell you it’s our favorite!

Friday Pie-Day: Perfect Pie Crust

I am not against using pre-made crusts. (I learned my lesson with the Oreo pie crust, and I’ve used graham cracker pie crusts many times in the many pies we've made.) But some pies cry out for a homemade crust, and this is an easy recipe we’ve used successfully for more than 4 years. Since March has 5 Fridays and I only have 4 pie recipes to share for the month, it is now finally time to reveal our classic and simple pie crust recipe, shared with us by Aunt Betty.