Vintage holiday dinner

By LISA JOHNSEY

I remember as a little girl always wanting to eat the cherries on my mother’s Holiday Ham. They reminded me of Rudolph’s nose. My mother enjoyed making the ham because it was a festive, pretty dish but at the same time easy to prepare.

Reminiscing about the meal, this year we decided to do a “vintage Christmas dinner” — a blast from our past, if you will. It is also delicious and will feed a lot of people with leftovers. 

The sweet potatoes remind us of my grandmother’s pie, and the marshmallows are always gooey and yummy. Lima beans have always been a family favorite and again a simple dish to prepare; they can be adjusted for a few or several guests.

Our family loves food, but we also love being together, especially at Christmas. An easy, elegant meal is just the ticket for such a special day. My mother and I and the rest of our family wish you a very blessed Christmas season and hope you enjoy some of our favorite foods for your meal.

Menu: Holiday Ham, Sweet Potato Casserole, Lima Beans, Rolls

Holiday Ham

Fully cooked ham (whole or half ham bone-in)

Cloves, whole

4-6 Tbsp. brown sugar

20 oz. canned pineapple rings and juice 

Yellow Label Syrup

Cherries

1/4 cup water

Begin by scoring your ham in a crisscross pattern over the top of the ham where the fat is. Next, insert a whole clove between each X pattern. 

Place ham in roaster pan sprayed with non-stick spray, scored side up.

Spread the brown sugar all over the ham. Pour pineapple juice all over the sugar and then drizzle the syrup all over the ham. Add the water to the juice that the mixture has made in the bottom. Next, place pineapple rings over the top of the ham, using toothpicks to secure them. Finally, place a cherry in each pineapple hole and secure it with a toothpick.

Tent ham loosely with foil and bake at 325 degrees. Bake according to size/beginning state:

For a whole ham (uncooked): 20 minutes per pound or 160 degrees on thermometer.

For a half ham (uncooked): 22-25 minutes per pound or 160 degrees on thermometer.

Fully cooked: 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours until warmed through.

Remove tent after 30 minutes for uncooked hams. For cooked ham, leave tent on the meat until there is only about 1 hour left of cooking time.

Ham Glaze

1/2 cup orange juice

1 heaping Tbsp. cornstarch

1 heaping Tbsp. brown sugar

2-3 Tbsp. ham juice 

Small can fruit cocktail, drained

Cook cornstarch, orange juice, sugar and ham juice until thickened. Add fruit cocktail and stir. Serve with ham.

Lima Beans

1 medium size bag frozen lima beans

1 Tbsp. butter

Salt and pepper, to taste

Cook according to package directions. My family likes them really tender and with little liquid, so toward the end of the cooking time, I pour out some of the water and add about 1 Tbsp. of butter and salt and pepper to taste.

Sweet Potato Casserole

5-6 sweet potatoes, diced 

1-2 eggs

1 tsp. cinnamon

Dash nutmeg

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 stick of butter, diced

1 can evaporated milk (add until you get a good consistency — start with a 1/4 cup or so)

1 bag mini marshmallows

Boil potatoes until soft; drain and mash with a fork or masher. Beat eggs and add to potatoes. Add the cinnamon through butter and stir to combine. Add 1/4 cup milk and then small amounts at a time to get a smooth consistency, not too thick or runny. Pour mixture into a casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes until heated through. Top with marshmallows and put back in oven until melted and brown on top.