Resurrection Cookies (Easter Story Meringues)

Resurrection Cookies (Easter Story Meringues)

Made the night before Easter; each step goes with a part of the Easter story.

Ingredients:
1 cup pecan halves
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 quart or 1 gallon size zip-top bag
Wooden spoon
Tape

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Place the pecans in the zip-top bag and let the children beat them with the wooden spoon to break them into small pieces (Jesus was beaten by the Roman soldiers, John 19:1-3).
Let each child smell the vinegar, then put 1 teaspoon in a mixing bowl (Jesus was given vinegar to drink on the cross, John 19:28-30).
Add the egg whites; eggs represent life (John 10:10-11).
Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand to taste, then brush the rest into the bowl; it represents the tears of Jesus' followers (Luke 23:27).
Add the sugar; the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us (Psalm 34:8, John 3:16).
Beat with a mixer on high speed 12-15 minutes until stiff peaks form; white represents purity (Isaiah 1:18, John 3:1-3).
Fold in the broken nuts.
Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper and drop the mixture by spoonfuls onto it; each mound represents the rocky tomb (Matthew 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 to seal the oven door, as the tomb was sealed (Matthew 27:65-66).
Go to bed. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed (John 16:20, 22).
On Easter morning, open the oven and take out the cookies. Take a bite: the cookies are hollow, just as the tomb was empty on the first Easter (Matthew 28:1-9).