Monday, April 13, 2009

A REAL Easter Dinner

Now this was more like it! We went to my parents house for Easter dinner along with my aunt and her family. It was really great - I just love being around family...our kids love it too! Of special interest from dinner tonight is the Ham (BEST you've ever tasted!) and the Cheesy Carrots (trust me - divine!!!). Everything else (potatoes, gravy, corn, turkey, and stuffing) was great too - but these two things sealed the deal for me.

Cheesy Carrots

12 medium carrots - sliced and cooked
1/4 cup margarine
1 diced onion
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp celery salt
1 cup grated old cheddar
2 cups bread crumbs

Sautee onion in margarine, then add flour, milk, pepper, and celery salt. Layer in casserole dish - cooked carrots, cheese, sauce. (or just mix all together, I don't honestly think it will make a HUGE difference. LOL). Top with 2 cups bread crumbs and Bake for30-45 minutes at 350....you can broil for a few minutes at the end to brown the top *mmm*.

Ham - seriously, the best ham ever!!! Please try it - I want to hear your thoughts!

Easy Slow-Cooker Ham

1 bone in country ham (you can use already cooked, but I prefer uncooked)
30 whole cloves (I skipped this step and omitted them)
3 cups apple cider (I used apple juice)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup maple syrup
2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp ground cloves
1 Tbsp vanilla extract (optional - I'm pretty sure I added it)
1 orange's peel

Press whole cloves into ham so they are evenly distributed. Scoring the ham will make it easier to insert. Place Ham in slow cooker. Pour apple cider until only about 2" of ham is above the surface. Pack the brown sugar on top of the ham, pressing into the cloves. Pour maple syrup over the ham. Season the remaining apple cider with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, ground cloves, and vanilla. Add the orange peel to the pot. Fill slow cooker as full as you can with the apple cider without going over the fill line. Cover and set to Low - Cook for 8-10 hours (you do not need this long....I cooked ours last time from about noon to 5pm and it was great!)

Seriously - so delicious! It's definitely a little pricier to make because of the maple syrup - but sooo worth it in my opinion!

SERIOUSLY SCRUMPTIOUS RATING: 5 STARS

2 comments:

  1. mmhmmm...sounds good! I think (for my benefit) you should do a series on one pot meals! In our tiny house, we cook on a two burner convection oven, and really want good stew, soup, casserol dishes!!! (just a thought!!!)

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  2. Krystal - get a crock pot :D It will make your burner issues disappear!!! You can do pretty much any stew or soup in it...as well as roast, chicken, etc. Casseroles might be a little tricky (typically cooked in ovens after all) but you still could do them - it would be more like *casserole stew* LOL

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