Snow Community News By Shirley Taylor

Keep in mind there will be no potluck in April. Giving everyone more time to spend with their family for Easter weekend. Some folks go out of town, and some have family coming in to visit. The next Potluck will be on May 21st. April brings the dreaded Income Tax season and then blessed with the Easter celebration. Jellybeans, cellophane-covered baskets, giant candy bunnies. As I spotted all the trappings of Easter in the supermarket, I thought to myself, no wonder kids get confused about Easter.

Explaining Christmas was a cinch–the birth of Christ is simpler to grasp. Creches, carols and pageants all reinforce the message, making it easier to keep Santa Claus in perspective. But how could I explain to my two school-age children something as profound and mysterious as the Resurrection?

I knew that other parents were struggling with this, too. In fact, I took the greatest comfort in the advice of one friend who said, "Start with the traditions you already have."

On Good Friday in our home, we always colored Easter eggs–three dozen. What could be a more obvious symbol of new life than eggs? One year I told the children about a chick I once saw hatching in an incubator. I described how he poked his way out with his beak. "A new life. That's what we celebrate at Easter," I explained, "the new life we have in Christ."

The next bit of inspiration came while I was shopping. I found a set of Bible storybooks for my son and came across a tiny gold cross necklace for my daughter. I included these presents in the children's Easter baskets, and since then I've added prayer journals, tapes, Scripture stickers and bookmarks. I like the tradition of Easter baskets, especially when I could include gifts that will nurture the children's faith.

The third idea came from Guideposts contributor Posy Baker Lough. "Try something," she suggested, "to give children a good visual image of the Resurrection." She described a project at her church: The children were given caterpillars, and in the weeks prior to Easter the kids watched them spin cocoons, metamorphosing into butterflies.

"The butterflies were released just before Easter Sunday service," Posy said. "Afterward, when we explained to the kids that the cocoon was like Christ's death and entombment, and that his resurrection was like the butterfly, they understood."

At Easter time, images of new life are usually easy to find crocuses and daffodils blooming, lambs gamboling in fields, birds returning to their nests, green returning to the landscape. But sometimes spring comes late (or Easter comes early) and the holiday meets a gray, cold day. Then I think of something that happened to my friend Alison.

On an unseasonably cold Easter morning when Alison was 10 years old, her mother urged her to go outside to see what was in the yard. There in the snow her mother had made a rainbow of hundreds of brightly colored lollipops, sparkling like bits of stained glass. "It seemed like a miracle," Alison says. "Magical, beautiful, full of mystery and wonder."

And that, I realize, is what I want more than anything else to give my children: the miracle of Easter. It was God's most astonishing miracle, the resurrection of Christ and the promise it held for us: eternal life.

So, finally, go to church on Easter. Put on your best clothes, take flowers from your garden, sing all the hymns with alleluias. Celebrate. Last Easter Sunday I was delighted when I overheard one youngster say, "Christmas is Jesus' birthday, but Easter is everybody's birthday."

Yes, it is. Easter is the time for you and your children–for all of us–to joyfully celebrate our new birth. The one tradition in my home, was the pretty coconut cake my Aunt Lillian made from scratch. I have tried several times to duplicate. Wish I knew her secret. I will give it another try again this year. Aunt Lillian’s Coconut Cake. You will need 1 1/2 cups white sugar, 2 eggs, 4 egg yolks, 1 cup milk, 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 2 1/2 cup AP flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla. For the frosting 1 3/4 white sugar, 1/2 cup tepid water, 4 egg whites room temp, 1 teaspoon vanilla, ? teaspoon cream of tartar, 2 cups sweetened flaked coconut, or as needed. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease three 9-inch round cake pans. Mix sugar, eggs, and egg yolks together in a mixing bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Combine flour and baking powder in a bowl. Pour into egg mixture. Add vanilla extract and milk mixture; beat well using an electric mixer. Divide batter evenly among the prepared pans. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. Meanwhile, thoroughly clean mixing bowl and beaters. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer until foamy. Bring sugar and water to a boil in a saucepan. Boil until a candy thermometer reads 242 degrees F (116 degrees C), 3 to 4 minutes. Beat egg whites on high speed. Carefully pour in hot sugar mixture in the side of the bowl, avoiding the beaters; continue to beat on high until stiff peaks form, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in vanilla extract. Place 1 cooled cake layer on a serving platter and frost the top. Repeat with second and third layers of cake. Complete frosting the sides, top, and throughout. Sprinkle coconut on top and smooth onto sides of cake using your hands. For best results for the frosting, make sure the bowl and eggbeaters are clean with no trace of grease and the egg whites have no streaks of yolk. Room temperature egg whites will hold more volume than cold eggs.

Keep all our family and friends in your prayers. This season can bring aches and pains and be hard for some to enjoy the time as others. The crazy weather isn’t helping with the temps going from 32 one day and back to72 the very next. Most of our gardens are in, just waiting on ‘really’ no frost before the peppers and tomatoes go in the ground. Please keep in mind the recycling containers in front of the Snow Community building. The funds taken from these donations are turned back into the building for the upkeep and maintenance. All help with this is appreciated. Please refrain from throwing your trash in the recycle container. There is another trash can to the side of the building that you can use. Also, the Finley Community normally has a lunch on each Friday at noon. Days Finley are not open or only doing take outs will be posted on their Facebook page. Anyone wanting to add to the article please turn them in before Friday at 5 p.m. Additions can be emailed to me at: freylake123@yahoo.com or call me at 580-2080870, Have a blessed week.