My in-laws, wonderful people, were due to arrive for lunch at about noon yesterday. Since they were driving from Ft. Worth, about three hours away, we had told them that the meal would be ready when they got here. We had done our shopping on Tuesday, which left me plenty of time to clean and have a couple of desserts ready. And I was ready, at about 11:00 yesterday, to get the ham ready to put in the oven. The carrot cake, lemon icebox pie and salad were ready, rolls ready to warm up, cheesy hash brown casserole in the oven, table set. Just needed to mix the orange juice and orange marmalade to spread over the fully cooked ham (as directed in Southern Living's "Your Way or Your Mother's Way" food article) before I popped it into the oven for 30 minutes.
Now, let's go back to the shopping trip on Tuesday. Hubby and I rush through the grocery store because we want to get home in time for American Idol. I give him items from the list, which he brings to the cart while I gather other items. One of his is a four-pound fully cooked ham. He brings it to the cart with his other items and I ask him, "The ham is fully cooked, right?" (I had emphasized "fully cooked" when I gave him his assignment.) He gave me his "do you think I'm an idiot" look and said, "Yes, it's fully cooked."
Now, back to the kitchen on Friday. I hadn't looked at the ham when I put it into the refrigerator (big mistake). I cut the netting on the ham and looked at the label. Nothing about it being fully cooked (or smoked, or anything else.) Uh oh. I examined the entire ham. Nothing, nowhere -- which (I'm assuming) means, IT'S NOT FULLY COOKED! I glance back at the Southern Living article, which also has "Ham Cooking 101", which also estimates the cooking time for a not-cooked four-pound ham at two hours.
Okay, now I have the original ham, waiting for us (just the two of us) to cook and eat it sometime soon. Contrite husband called Van's Pig Stand and asked about buying cooked ham, which they didn't have, but they did have some smoked turkey. He went and picked it up and it was delicious. My mother-in-law said she would rather have the turkey, anyway. Everybody's happy.
Except I still have this ham.
Annie Joy
6 comments:
Oh Annie. I feel your pain! I did the same thing (and had only myself to blame) some years ago when I invited guests for dinner and planned sauerbraten. I carefully went over the recipe. it said baking time was approximately 2 1/2 to 3 hours. O.K. So, I started the process about four hours before dinner. I came to a screeching halt when I came to the part that said "put the meat in the marinade and refrigerate, turning twice a day for FOUR DAYS"!!!!!
Enjoy all that ham.
Best,
Bonnie
Thanks, Bonnie! It makes me feel better that I'm not the only one! Annie
Good morning!
This is just too funny! MEN!
Can't live with them, can't live without 'em!
I love it that he gave you the "Of course it's cooked" look. :)
But! The turkey was healthier! So it all worked out!
Have a wonderful week!
Karen - Some days are diamonds
Thanks, Karen! Love your blog and hope you have a wonderful week in your beautiful garden!
I don't think I ever realized they had hams that weren't cooked. I always buy Hormel Spiral Sliced hams and they are delish! We love the left overs.
Stacey, since you've mentioned it, I must make a confession. The wrapper on the ham said, "Sell by June 2010" so I wasn't in a hurry to bake the ham. Today, I decided it was time, so I went back to it and looked once more -- still didn't find anything about it being cooked, but noticed that it was a Schwabs ham and decided to look for a website. Turns out, Schwabs is an OKC company and I called them and asked if the ham was fully cooked. I found out that it was! I sliced it today and it was delicious; sent a sandwich to work with my husband and am going to heat some with a glaze tomorrow. So, it turns out, much ado about nothing. By the way, my big cookbook did say that most hams sold today are fully cooked, but it did have instructions about cooking fresh ham. I guess my clue should have been that June "sell by" date.
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