Leftover Ham

April 22, 2014



"Do you think a ten pound ham will be big enough?" I remember asking that last week as I was buying it for Easter dinner. I'm sure there was an Easter miracle here, somewhat like the fish and the loaves, because I still seem to have at least 20 pounds of ham left over in my refrigerator! I had a few slices in a sandwich last night when I got home from work but that didn't make a dent in the pile left over. I remember worrying about the amount of food...will it be good, will there be enough variety, but most of all will there be enough? Even after Annemarie said, "It's a mid day meal not the last supper." The anxiety that every Italian woman feels when preparing a meal for her family... I even considered getting a tray of eggplant form my neighborhood Italian deli.



But when I woke up Easter morning and started cooking I felt strangely calm. And happy. Of course there would be enough food. All the "kids" where bringing dishes. How did they get old enough to do that? How can they be in their late twenties when I feel like I'm only in my thirties?!!! And Jocelyn, I'm officially handing over the mac and cheese to you. It tastes so much better your way! From the huge antipasto to the delicious desserts and the warmth of family it was a perfect afternoon. Even the weather cooperated. And as they say in the Master Card commercial having Margo cleaning in the kitchen was priceless!

                                       
                                             My beautiful Easter gifts, including a whimsy!

                                         

                                                       Margo in the kitchen! Love You!

                                    

Cream Puff Debacle

April 1, 2013


Ah, Easter. Harbinger of spring. Not my favorite food holiday except for the ham pie. ( Or hand pie as Fred calls it.) This year it was macaroni and cheese, baked ham, asparagus and artichokes( which I forgot to put on the table.) I was also looking forward to making cream puffs for dessert. They looked so easy when we did them in cooking class.


I made the ham pie first since it takes the longest.  It is filled with heart attack ingredients. 12 eggs, ricotta, mozzarella, basket cheese, ham, pepperoni, prosciutto, and in this recipe soppressata. It is the Cake Boss's recipe. Not my traditional one but I made it last year and loved it. New traditions and all. The crust has a pound of butter, so you see what I mean about cholesterol city. Anyway some of the filling spilled out while baking as well as the buttery oozing. But it looked fabulous when done.


Next came the cream puffs. Funny, they looked weird in the pan. Really loose and also oozing butter. Not at all what I remembered. I mixed in the eggs and dropped them on the cookie sheet. I put them in the oven and started to clean the kitchen. "Boy it's getting a little smokey in here,' I thought to myself. But I continued to clean up and then went to check the laundry. When I came back I couldn't ignore the smoke any longer. I opened the oven and it came pouring out into the kitchen. I was frantic as I knew it would set off my alarm. I ran to open the windows and doors but soon the alarm went off.


The fire department has been at my house twice before. Once, when I burned a dish towel by accident and again when I called about smelling gas. Both times with sirens blaring and in full emergency garb. I didn't want to bother them again. I grabbed the phone to call the alarm company (after searching for their number) but the phone wouldn't work because of the alarm! I finally found my cell phone and got them on the line. But I forgot to turn down the music blaring Pink from my new TV. I was screaming into the phone and begging them not to call the fire department while trying without success to shut off the alarm. Finally I heard the technician very calmly explain that the alarm would not go off until the smoke dissipated. Interestingly enough no one came over to check on me!


So, no dessert for Easter. The cream puffs were thrown to the birds. I figured we would have ice cream. But Jocelyn saved the day by making a chocolate cake with yummy fluffy white frosting. Of course she did surprise me when she texted me in the morning to ask if I had a blow torch. And the funny thing is I DID have one which she used on the icing! So, all was well in the end. A very pleasant Easter dinner from start to finish.