April 10, 2023
“Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.”
~ Matthew 28:1-2 CEB
Holy Saturday found me experimenting with a recipe called Resurrection Rolls. I thought it might make for a good Time for Children on Easter Sunday. They are marshmallows dipped in melted butter, covered with cinnamon sugar, and then wrapped in refrigerated crescent dinner roll dough. When you break the baked rolls open, they are empty inside, representing Jesus’s tomb on Easter morning.
I followed a similar recipe years ago, and they were empty when broken open, but not very tasty. So, I tried again this year with a newer recipe. Not being one to waste, I used some marshmallows from a pack that had gotten a little stale and chewy. What could go wrong?
When the timer went off, I pulled the pan out of the oven and was shocked to see that the now gooey and caramelized marshmallows had exploded out of the dough in blobs. I thought all was lost, back to the drawing board for the Time for Children. Perhaps I could substitute the Peeps I’d baptized in dark chocolate. Then I looked a little closer, to see that each roll had an opening into its now hollowed-out core that looked a lot like the opening of a cave. It could work!
I tend to think of the garden tomb scene as a thing of pastural beauty, sunrise breaking on the horizon, Easter lilies in full bloom, lush green grass, flowering trees, and a hushed silence, like Sunset cemetery in Woodstock, VA. In reality, the tomb was in Jerusalem, in the more arid Middle East. And in Matthew’s telling, there was a great earthquake, and the arrival of an angel light a shining bolt of lightning, dressed in shining white robes.
For this Easter Sunday, blobs of melted marshmallow exploded from dough is perhaps more fitting. The children enjoyed the connection to the resurrection and getting to eat the rolls. And I got a kick out of a cooking disaster turned into an illustration of Easter.
With a joyful heart. ~ Anne
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