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Kathleen[_4_]

wrote:

> On Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:31:07 -0600, Kathleen >
> wrote:
>
>
wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I want to do a ham dinner fo Christmas, I usually do a rib roast or lasagna so
>>>this will be a new thing for me. I was going to buy one of those boneless spiral
>>>cut hams. What I need is suggestions for side dishes with a ham dinner, and
>>>also, if I have mashed potatoes, what kind of gravy do I make, or how do I make
>>>it from ham drippings, if there are any? Thanks.
>>
>>My husband's family has very definite expectations when it comes to ham
>>dinners.
>>
>>It's got to be a BIG ham, bone-in, baked with a sweet glaze, unsliced,
>>so you can hack off chunks of varying thicknesses. You've got to have
>>sweet potatoes. And potato salad. And a green salad with two or three
>>types of dressings to put on it, a relish tray with various types of
>>olives and pickles (and woe be unto you if you forget the little sweet
>>pickles) and some sliced raw veggies. Maybe three kinds of bread and/or
>>rolls to make sandwiches, and a variety of cheeses. Condiments: mayo
>>(yeah, I know, "on ham!"), yellow mustard, sweet hot mustard, maybe
>>dijon and count on somebody asking where's the ketchup. And bowls of
>>nuts. I made homemade trail mix one year, with roasted nuts, dried
>>cranberries and dark and white chocolate morsels but they ate around the
>>fruit and chocolates and I caught one of the youngsters feeding craisins
>>to the dogs. Decidedly not cool.
>>
>>I also make homemade chunky cinnamon applesauce, but this is not
>>strictly cannonical. Cherry pie with vanilla ice cream for dessert, and
>>also something chocolate.
>>
>>Embarrassingly low tech but everybody goes home smiling, with bags of
>>left-over ham.
>
>
> Wow! Can I abandon my plans and come to your house for dinner? :-)
> Great menu!

Sure, what's one more? It ends up being a sort of open house with
family and friends popping in and out, with assorted friends and companions.

Last year my aunt's friend from back in her stewardess days turned up
with some random Irish guy in tow. He'd been stranded at the airport on
Christmas Eve and Auntie Mo brought him along to see an American Christmas.