Easter in September

I think it's because my family is largely "Pennsylvania Dutch", we enjoy dinners like: potpie, roast chicken with mashed potatoes and stuffing, roast beef, ham, etc. It drives Rob crazy, he says he would be happy with "Thanksgiving dinner" just once a year. Instead, we'll often have "thanksgiving" in February, April, August, etc. I was at the butcher shop last week and saw a really nice ham piece and thought, "you know, I could eat a little 'Easter in September'"! So, last night we had baked ham, sweet potato casserole, steamed green beans and apple cake[with raisins and pumpkin] (the cake was horrendous...another story for another day).

We ate after soccer practice and you know what? It tasted delicious! It's starting to get a little cooler at night and this was just very satisfying (plus it kept well, covered, on 250 degrees for an hour and a half while we were at practice).

I've heard many people say that they use coke or ginger ale on their ham, but because I didn't have any of that I just used Pellegrino (truthfully, I'm not sure if it's the carbonation or the sweetness in the soda, but it's all I had!).

I always use ham with a bone-in because it's cheaper, and I love to use the leftovers to make ham and bean soup.


Baked Ham

1 large piece of ham (approx 1/2 lb per person)
brown sugar
some sort of jelly (I used apple because that's what I had)
1 cup carbonated liquid

1. Pour soda over ham. Sprinkle brown sugar and spread jelly on the skin.
2. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for about 1 1/2 to 2 hrs.


Sweet potato casserole
3 cups mashed potatoes (I baked mine whole and then mashed them)
1/3 stick butter, melted
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 T butter, melted
2 tsp cinnamon

1. Mix mashed sweet potatoes and next five ingredients until smooth and place into baking dish.
2. Combine pecans, melted butter (3T), brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle on top of sweet potatoes.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.