Blessings at Easter

Easter to some means the arrival of spring, fancy clothes, and Easter Egg Hunts. For my family, it is the heart of our salvation. God gave his only Son (John 3:16) to die for my sins. I am so thankful that God gave His most precious child and through Jesus Christ my sins have been forgiven. On the third day, God rolled away the stone and Jesus rose again. For me that means God has justified me as if I'd never sinned and I have eternal life. Without God's gift, my life would be empty. God has also promised that we will live with Him and have Eternal Life.

So this Easter, our family and church family celebrate this gift in different ways. The way I celebrate is to prepare a large breakfast for our folks at church who serve in the Music, Production, Band, and crew for the three services at church. I love to serve my church this way and pull out all the stops because they work so hard at sharing the gospel on Easter Morning. I will be making a couple types of croissants, morning buns, egg casseroles, fruit platters plus some type of dessert. I thought about doing the mini cheesecakes, but I think I'm a bit burned out on them so I might do a filled cupcake like I did for Jonah's first birthday.

One of the recipes my mother gave me while growing up was a quick butter croissant. This roll takes little prep time but the results are that everyone can't eat just one....When our family gets together, they tell me, "Mom, you must make those rolls that Grandma made." My folks are both in heaven looking down on us and I'm sure they remember all the family gatherings and great food. I'm also sure they are having the ultimate celebration of God's precious gift and the sacrifice that was made for us.

Quick Butter Croissants

Cut 1 cup COLD butter into 4 cups of flour and set aside in the fridge.

In another bowl, use 1 cup warm water and 1 package yeast and let the yeast sofften and bubble. To this liquid, add 3/4 cup evaporated milk, 1 egg, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 cup melted butter. Wisk together and add 1 cup flour.

Take the cold flour out of the fridge and add the liquid. Mix until just moistened. Cover the bowl and put it in the fridge overnight or at least 8 hours.

When you're ready to make the rolls, Remove the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and knead a couple of times to make the dough into a ball. Cut this ball into 4 portions. Shape the rolls one portion at a time and put the other portions back into the fridge until you're ready to shape the rolls.

Roll out one of the four portions until it is in the shape of a circle and about 1/4 inch thick. Cut the circle into 8 pie wedges and roll up the wedges from the outer to the inner creating a croissant. Place the shaped rolls on parchment paper and repeat with the other three portions.

Let rise for two hours and bake at 325 degrees until golden brown. You can also use an egg wash on top of the croissants made of 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water just before baking. This makes 32 rolls. Plenty to go around for everyone. Enjoy.