An old Hungarian tradition:
Wheat seeds are planted in small pots on December 13th. Keep the pots in a warm room and water the seeds daily. On Christmas Eve, the growing plants are brought to the nativity scene and placed beside the manger. The plants symbolize that the Christ who is coming is the Bread of Life. So today, gather together your supplies to plant your wheatgrass pot for tomorrow. Gather your thoughts around what it means when we say that Christ is the “Bread of Heaven”.
Scripture:
John 6
33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Thoughts:
Bread is called the “staff of life”.
Bread is more than just a food. Just think of how the word is used: A person’s “bread and butter†is his or her main source of sustenance, while bread or dough can be cash, plain and simple. When people “break bread†they share more than just a meal: They come together in body as well as spirit.
It’s not surprising that bread is imbued with special meaning. The Science of Bread More Links
Activities:
Supplies you will need:
Wheat seeds
Planting soil
Small decorative pot
Wheatgrass is commonly grown and offered at health food stores. Check there for your supplies →or Amazon→ What a fun way to talk about seeds, life, and Jesus!
Bake some delicious rolls:
Refrigerator Whole Wheat Buns Recipe
1 package granular yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 tsp sugar
3 1/4 cup lukewarm water (second amount)
1/4 cup shortening at room temperature
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
3 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup water
2 cups white flour
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
Method
Mix the sugar in the lukewarm water, sprinkle yeast over top and let stand for about ten minutes. Stir.
Take a large bowl, mix the shortening, sugars and egg. Add the yeast mixture, flours, salt and baking powder. Combine this well.
Place this dough on a floured board, adding about 1/4 cup all purpose flour and knead for eight or ten minutes. Although this dough is very sticky, you do not want to add additional flour. Grease a medium sized bowl. Add dough to bowl and turn so as to grease the dough’s surface.
Cover the dough and refrigerate until you plan to bake some of your refrigerator whole wheat rolls.
When ready to bake, grease a 9″ pan, which can be round or square. Use about one third of the refrigerated dough. Break off eight pieces of dough and roll into balls about two inches in diameter. Place the eight balls in your pan and let rise until doubled in bulk. This takes about two hours or even two and a half hours.
Bake at 400 ° for ten or twelve minutes. Remove your refrigerator whole wheat rolls from the oven and brush with melted butter.
