First Fruits Celebration

This time of year I usually post pictures from Passover but I thought it would be fun to mix it up and share some from a First Fruits celebration I attended. First Fruits is when Israel historically presented the first of the barley harvest to YHWH, and it is also when Yahusha was raised from the dead. What reasons we have to celebrate this Biblical holiday!

It was a simple get together; just an informal 'bring a snack or dessert.' We turned on some music, ate and chatted. Then talked about the Messiah's resurrection and read Scripture related to that.

Since the omer count begins on First Fruits, some sort of omer counter makes the perfect party favor! You could also make your own counters at the party for a fun group activity.

Here's a great idea for Matzah Week: if you're making homemade matzah, try rolling it into smaller pieces to use like you would crackers. It can still be soft or you can bake it longer to have it be crunchy. It's great with hummus and other spreads like this smoked salmon dip.

I love getting to celebrate this truth with a group of believers and would definitely encourage everyone to do so as well! Messiah rose from the grave = best day ever, right?! As Paul said, "Let us keep the feast!" (1 Corinthians 5:8)

Do you guys know about resurrection cookies? They are a meringue cookie and each step of the recipe symbolizes the story of the Messiah's death and resurrection, like beating the walnuts to symbolize how Yahusha was beaten by soldiers. You leave them in the oven over night and then they are empty when they are finished. I can share the recipe if anyone is interested.

Happy First Fruits everyone! What do you guys do to celebrate?

Feast of Trumpets Smoothie Bowls: Fun and Delicious Way to Celebrate Yom Teruah

Looking for a fun and festive way to celebrate the Feast of Trumpets? This recipe is such a fun DIY project to make for Yom Teruah or to teach kids about this special Biblical holiday in a way that's really engaging! Smoothie bowls are healthy and easy to make, and you can of course customize it to suit your preferences and the ingredients you have on hand. It can easily be made gluten free, vegan, or whatever else you may need. I used an ice cream cone as a shofar which makes it perfect for the Feast of Trumpets. The blue backdrop and lots of white and yellow toppings symbolize the search for the new moon, which marked the holiday in the Bible. Celebrate Trumpets in a fun way this year!

You can use any smoothie or smoothie bowl recipe. I wanted mine to look blue since there is such an emphasis on looking for the new moon in the night sky for the Feast of Trumpets. I used blueberries and yogurt, but blackberries or elderberries or acai or blue majik spirulina could also make a blue smoothie. You can easily use whatever you like or have handy, and it's simple to adjust these for any dietary preferences or allergies. 



Night Sky Smoothie:
1 cup frozen blueberries
2 cups yogurt
1 tablespoon spirulina powder
1 tablespoon honey (or to taste for sweetness)

Put your blueberries in the blender and run the ice crushing setting for 30 seconds or so to break up the berries. This makes it easier to smoothly blend everything. (If you don't have this setting on your blender let them thaw for a few minutes before blending everything together.) Once your berries are mostly in small pieces, add the yogurt, spirulina powder, and honey and blend until smooth.

The spirulina is optional but it gives you a nutritional boost and also is responsible for the dark shade of blue. Without it the combination was more of a light purple. 

Once your smoothie is blended, pour it into bowls and decorate.

To decorate I used:

Ice cream cones for shofars (use gluten free if necessary)
Blueberries
Calendula flowers
Peaches
Sliced apples
Melon
Chia seeds
Sesame seeds
Coconut flakes
Menorah cupcake toppers (from here)

You could use any fruit or berry, seeds, nuts, or edible flower. Granola or cereal works here, and so do sprinkles or chocolate. You can use cookie cutters to make fun shapes out of apple slices. A ten commandment gummie would be a great touch too. It's easy to make these exactly to your liking and everyone can decorate their own bowl. If you don't mind a thinner smoothie base, you can even make the smoothie the day before and keep it in the fridge, along with sliced fruit for topping.

I hope you have fun making these smoothie bowls!

More posts on the Feast of Trumpets:

The Beginner's Guide to the Feast of Trumpets
Music and Moonlight Yom Teruah Celebration
DIY Noisemaker Craft for the Feast of Trumpets

Coconut Cookies for Passover

It's Matzah Week! At least for some of us. My congregation just started observing the calendar that Torah to the Tribes uses so we are celebrating a little earlier than most this year. I wanted to share this cookie recipe today for those of you who are craving something sweet for this Feast but don't know what to make. Or if your Passover is still coming up I think this would be a great addition to the menu.

(Menorah lattes. An ongoing project in my life.)

I don't know if you've had a Passover cookie before, but often other than the name and the shape they bear no similarities to real cookies. They tend to be dry, crumbly, and not very good. These however are nice and chewy with a little bit of toasted coconut crispness on the edges. Since they contain no refined sugar or flour they fit with the GAPS diet and are Paleo friendly, so this should be a winner even for those on restricted diets. They don't taste like a diet cookie though; if you like coconut, this is the Passover cookie of your dreams!

You know how the best part of a coconut macaroon is the edge that got toasted? Flattening before baking makes the entire cookie that good!

You will need:
1 egg
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup finely shredded coconut flakes (unsweetened)
3 tablespoons almond meal or almond flour
2 tablespoons chocolate chips (I used 100% cacao but feel free to use whatever kind  you like)

Preheat your oven to 350°.
Mix together the egg, honey, and salt until smooth. Then add in the remaining ingredients. You will end up with a sticky mixture that is not as together as a typical cookie dough. This is what you want.
Since it is so sticky you'll want to line your baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. Scoop about two tablespoons of your dough per cookie. I ended up with 9 cookies. Then using a clean, wet hand pat your cookies until they are flat. Since they have no leavening they will stay whatever shape they are.
Bake for 14-16 minutes. Your cookies are done once the coconut is nicely toasted and golden brown. When your house starts smelling heavenly of toasted coconut it's time to take them out.
Let cool before eating.

I really like that these aren't cloyingly sweet but if that's more your thing you could add an extra tablespoon of honey.

I know the food restrictions can be a little confusing during this week. If you need a little clarity or inspiration check out these posts for more meal ideas.

Happy Feast of Unleavened Bread!

Spring Feast Printable Roundup

My first Passover was more than ten years ago. It was new to us and we had no idea what it was supposed to look like. I remember scouring the internet for something, anything to get a better idea of how to celebrate and finding almost nothing of help. You could hardly find anything online about Passover, let alone the Feasts of Unleavened Bread and First Fruits. Today it is so exciting to see other bloggers sharing their creativity to help us celebrate YHWH's feasts! Today I am sharing with you a few free resources that will help you celebrate the Spring Feasts this year, whether or not you are new to it.

1. Passover Printable - Land of Honey
- I shared this last year, but it's still a great way to decorate!

2. Passover Busy Book for Kids - Torah Sisters
- With puzzles, coloring pages, and mazes this will keep kids occupied at the Seder table or use it for fun throughout the week of Unleavened Bread.

3. Why Is It Place Cards - Almost Makes Perfect
-A quick way to make your Seder table a little more sophisticated and have the Ma Nishtana at the ready.

4. Ten Plagues Finger Puppets - Tori Avey
-Tori thoughtfully made two versions, one is in color ready to print, and the other is black and white to color yourself.

5. Happy Passover Cards - The Climbing Tree
-Since Passover things aren't easy to find, this is just what we need to spread the joy of the Spring Feasts and say, "Chag Sameach!"

6. Find the Afikoman Game - Joyfully Jewish
-This sounds so fun! Go on a treasure hunt and work on your Hebrew. Print off a set in a different color for each child participating.

7. Seder Plate Labels - Chai and Home
-An elegant addition to your Seder Plate that will teach a little Hebrew.

8. Four Cups of Wine Printable - Hebraic Roots Network
-A fun decoration to remind us of the Seder meal.

9. Unleavened Matzah Verse - Land of Honey
-Keep this up for the duration of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

10. Count the Omer Calendar - Kosher on a Budget
-A simple way to count the days until Shavuot.

11. He is Risen Printable - Kraft and Mint
-Use this to celebrate First Fruits!

12. Passover Matching Cards - The Climbing Tree
-Two activities in one. Decorate the cards, then play memory games.

I would recommend printing on a thicker cardstock type of paper. It's sturdy and gives it a better look I think. Of course you can also opt to have these professionally printed if that works better for you. If you know of any other great printables for the Spring Feasts please share with us below!

Looking Forward to Yom Kippur

Yes, you read that correctly. I am looking forward to Yom Kippur. Why? Because it is a time that YHWH designated as different from the rest of the year. He made it distinct from the other set apart days. Yom Kippur is worth celebrating and we should be excited about it.

I don't want to give you the idea that I've always felt this way. Yom Kippur used to be a day of trepidation and dread for me. An entire day without eating and drinking? That doesn't exactly sound like a joy. But it is.

It is important to know that Yom Kippur (like the rest of YHWH's festivals) is not a "Jewish holiday." While the majority of those who observe Yom Kippur may be Jewish, YHWH's intention was not to create festivals and set apart times only for a tiny fraction of His people. Yom Kippur is for all of YHWH's people, whether or not they are from the tribe of Judah.

Yom Kippur is such a strong reminder of how upside-down YHWH's ways are from what we know. It's one of those things that sounds a lot like, Blessed are the poor.... It's something totally backwards from our culture. Interestingly, YHWH deliberately placed an all-day fast in the middle of harvest season. Not eating for a day would make a little more sense in say, February, when most of us haven't seen a plant growing in months. But right now? I have tomatoes and squash in the garden, fresh peaches and a huge watermelon on my counter, just canned jars of salsa and applesauce that need put away, a bowl of peppers that need to be frozen, and a huge pile of greens that need to be dealt with. Food is in abundance right now in most of the world, and if you grow your own you're well aware of what needs picked and how you're going to freeze or store the rest. We would never pick this as the time to fast. It doesn't make sense not to partake in the good things we have. This doesn't seem like it's the best time to fast. But it is.

Why should we be excited about an all day fast?

We should have joy that we have this instruction from YHWH. In Nehemiah 8 Ezra read the Torah scroll to those in Jerusalem; many heard it for the first time and wept. While the text doesn't give a specific reason for the crying, we can surmise that they were mourning that they had not been keeping the instructions of YHWH. In Nehemiah 8:10 it says, "This day is kadosh to our YHWH: neither be sorry; for the simcha of YHWH is your strength." Don't be sad or regret this. This day is set apart to YHWH. He will give you gladness. Our greatest joy is being able to keep YHWH's word.

We are no longer dependent on the blood of animals. While we praise YHWH for providing the Levitical temple system as a temporary appeasement for our ancestors, we can be joyful that Yahusha has once and for all provided the perfect sacrifice for our sins.

It is a day of forgiveness. On Yom Kippur we should spend time in prayer asking for forgiveness and forgiving others. It is a joyous thing to be forgiven of the sins we have done. We should be happy to let go of the burden of unforgiveness against others as well.

Yahusha praises fasting. He taught that fasting, when not done to impress others, would be rewarded. Yahusha also famously fasted for forty days. One day doesn't seem so hard when we remember that.

Fasting is used to make teshuvah. In Joel 2:12 YHWH says, "Make teshuvah to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and mourning." We can use this day of fasting to return to YHWH in all areas of our lives and repent of the wrong paths that we have been on.

It gives us compassion for those with less than us. Some 800 million people, or more than 10% of the earth don't have enough food to lead a healthy life. Going without food, even for one day gives us a tiny idea of what it's like to really be hungry.

We can focus on YHWH. My favorite part of the all day fast is how much more time it gives me for study and prayer. I don't need to make lunch or keep going to the kitchen for water or figure out what to have for a snack. Each year it surprises me how much of our time is spent preparing and consuming our meals. A day set apart for Scripture reading with no distractions is okay with me.

For these reasons we can have gladness in our hearts during Yom Kippur. Why will you be joyous?