According to Warren, “every time a holiday rolls around, I post this on facebook and always get some good comments.”

Warren’s Holiday Ham

Step One: Open a beer and pour it in a glass to let the fizzle out of it.

Step Two: Make deep cuts around the entire ham and across the bottom of the ham also. Place ham into a ZipLock Storage Baggie, big enough to hold ham and the rest of the contents. The ZipLock Storage Bag (One Gallon) is usually big enough.

Step Three: Pour 16 ounces of honey and 16 ounces of Log Cabin Syrup into a large pan and heat to a simmer.

Step Four: Add 6 heaping Tablespoons of Brown Sugar to the honey/syrup mixture while hot (This allows the brown sugar to dissolve). Stir well.

Step Five: Remove Syrup/Honey/Brown Sugar mixture from heat and slowly add the beer, stirring constantly (and I bet you thought I’d tell you to drink the beer). Be careful, because the beer sometimes has a habit of foaming up when its poured in.

Step Six: Let the Syrup/Honey/Brown Sugar/Beer mixture cool just a bit and pour into the ZipLock Storage Baggie with the ham. Let out as much air as you can and seal the ZipLock Storage Baggie. Let sit in refrigerator until you are ready to cook the ham. I try to let it sit and soak for 24 hours, turning in over every once in a while to get even saturation.

Step Seven: When ready to cook, remove ham from ZipLock Storage Baggie and place in a large baking pan lined with aluminum foil. Also cover top of ham with foil. (I usually save enough of the Syrup/Honey/Brown Sugar/Beer mixture to pour over the ham occasionally while it is cooking)

Step Eight: Cook per instructions on the ham.

Although it is excellent right as it comes out of the oven, it cuts better if it is allowed to cool just a bit.

Enjoy!

On a fun Sunday afternoon, I staged a tea party with my daughter and two friends to do a photo shoot. The pictures were used for a slide show presentation I was doing about tea etiquette. We took pictures of what to do and what not to do. The girls had fun, I got some great pictures and I think they learned a bit about manners. The video is posted on youtube if you’d like to watch it.

Found some more browned ground beef from the prepping the pantry day hiding in the freezer. Having that on hand made putting the lasagna together so much easier. All the cooking I had to do was boil the noodles. Then I assembled the lasagna in a glass casserole dish.

Put a bit of sauce on the bottom of the dish, then layer the ingredients: noodles, sauce, meat, cottage cheese mix, mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers 2 more times. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Bake for one hour at 325 degrees.

Ingredients:

lasagna noodles

large jar of spaghetti sauce (or your favorite recipe of sauce)

browned ground beef (and onions)

16 oz. container of cottage cheese mixed with 3 eggs

grated mozzarella cheese

parmesan cheese

Serve with a toss salad and garlic bread and enjoy! Serves about 8 people.

Ants Climbing a Tree

¼ lb. transparent vermicelli (bean threads)
1 slice ginger, minced
¼ lb lean pork
3 tbsp. finely chopped scallions
1 tbsp+ Szechuan hot bean sauce (chili-garlic sauce)

Seasoning:

1 tbsp Sherry
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1 Cup stock

PREP:
Soak bean threads in warm water until soft. Drain well
Cut several times to make shorter pieces
Chop port very fine, then chop scallions and ginger very fine (I do all together in food processor)
Mix seasoning ingredients together and set aside

COOK:
Heat 4 tbsp veg oil in wok. Cook pork, scallions, and ginger a few min
Add in hot bean sauce, mix 1-2 minutes
Add seasoning and cook 2-3 more minutes
Add bean threads, reduce heat. Simmer until liquid cooks down.
Serve hot.

NOTES:
You should be able to find the bean thread vermicelli in the Asian section of the grocery store.
Chili garlic sauce

Fill the bottom of a large glass dish with a  layer of (24) lady fingers. Spread 1/2 of the prepared cheesecake mix over them. Place another layer of lady fingers on top then add the second 1/2 of the cheesecake mix. Top that with cool whip. Then pour chocolate syrup over it and refrigerate.

To make chocolate sauce:

In a small saucepan, mix 1 cup cocoa powder, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup water, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, dash of nutmeg.  Whisk to blend and bring to a boil, stirring for three minutes or until beginning to thicken. Remove from heat and add 2 teaspoons vanilla and stir to mix. Cool before pouring on dessert.

Even though there were only three people eating, I made the full crust recipe that makes two large pizzas.

Dissolve 1 package dry yeast in

1 cup warm water
Add:
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
Stir to mix thoroughly then add
1 cup white flour
Cover and let rise until about double. Punch down, divide and make crust by spreading onto oiled pizza pan. (Bake at 400˚ until toasty and freeze to use later.)

For immediate use, spread out crust then begin layering. Lightly coat unbaked crust with olive oil, spread spaghetti sauce evenly over crust. Top with desired amount of mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, ground beef (which has been browned with garlic and onions), pepperoni slices, mushroom slices and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 400 about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is browned.

Now I will say that the one who didn’t like the dish is not often willing to experiment and the other two did have seconds. I still want to make it with pumpkin soup with a dollop of sour cream on top, perhaps.

Instructions:

Dice desired veggies (1/4 onion, 1/2 bell pepper), rinse and drain quinoa, saute veggies AND quinoa in small amount of olive oil until lightly browned. Add required amount of water and seasonings. Cook about 15 minutes or until water is totally absorbed. Then it is good to go!

A grilled cheese sandwich around the fried-egg-in-the-middle-of-the-toast was just the ticket. First a biscuit cutter is used to make the hole (also known was the nest for “bird in the nest”) in the base piece of bread.  The ‘holey’ slice and the hole are placed in a hot frying pan with butter. Crack an egg into the hole to begin to fry it. Flip over when about 1/2 done (or done enough so that the egg white is stuck to the edges of the hole). Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on the top and cover with another slice of  bread. Turn over and sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on this side and top with another slice of bread. When the bottom side is browned, flip to brown the new side. Use as much butter as needed/desired. If the pan is hot enough, the burner can be turned off so the bread toasts slowly. That’s a total of three slices of bread, one egg, and enough cheese for both side of the middle. Another high protein load for the athlete. (Must have been the right fuel: Victory! and a game well played.)

So, here’s the recipe:

Put 3 eggs, 1/4 cup milk (or water like I did because I didn’t see the gallon of milk!!!), salt, and pepper in a small bowl and scramble. Melt 1 Tablespoon of butter in omelet pan and heat on high. Pour in egg mixture and cook, lifting up edges to let egg juice run under cooked part. After a couple of minutes, add ground beef and cheese. Turn down burner to medium high. Continue to lift edges and allow juice to run under cooked part until almost fully cooked.Fold in half and finish cooking until no juice runs out. Serve to a happy, hungry athlete or anyone ready for a protein-packed breakfast. (Oh, the calories will be burned off in the game, just in case you wondered.)