I have been guilty of the same thing I love pixel of ink. Plus I also have a ton of ebooks in epub format too. I have no idea how I will read them all. So many great free books I don't know why I would need to buy any.

shaun said, "You aren't cooking the ham, you're just heating it up." But I wasn't planning to buy an already-cooked ham -- I would like info on cooking a ham. Do you think it best to only heat a cooked ham in a slow cooker, rather than cooking an uncooked one? Though my friend's Coke idea really threw me, I was thinking perhaps it was somewhat similar to the pineapple juice in your recipe, for keeping the ham moist? I'm a bit confused. Tracey -- I'm almost speechless at the thought of boiling a ham in a 2-Liter bottle of Coke! LOL I can't quite wrap my mind around that; I was already having a hard time envisioning pouring 'only' a can of Coke over the ham. Also, the recipe calls for onion on the ham. Now, I love to use onion to flavor ribs or fresh pork (as a roast, or for pulled pork BBQ sandwiches) in the slow cooker, but somehow 'cured ham' and 'onion' don't seem to go together in my mind. My friend's suggestion of brown sugar does sound more appropriate to me than onion. Nigella Lawson cooks her ham in the oven, which I don't think I'll be able to do. But one thing is certain: You have really livened up my evening! The day had been rather humdrum 'til I read your post and then read that recipe. :-)

One that I've thoroughly enjoyed is The White House Cookbook by Mrs. F.L. Gilette and Hugo Ziemann, Steward of the White House (1887). It's a fascinating peek into the social and culinary customs of that era. It's also a free one for Amazon Kindles.

I've posted this one many times before but it sticks in my memory because it was offered at a dinner party by a very busy lady, head of a university department, who came home after work to prepare this dish for her guests. We were all so impressed that she managed to make something tasting so good without working at it all day. She had made mimeographed copies of the recipe beforehand as she said everyone asked for it when she served this dish. This was before the days of photocopiers ! LOL. This was a simple but prize winning recipe in a cross country cooking contest sponsored by a Canadian womens' magazine in the 1960s. Tastes better if made one day ahead. 1 kilo of veal shoulder steak, cut into small bite-size pieces 2 medium onions, sliced 1 cup water 1/2 cup ketchup or tomato sauce 3 cloves garlic, chopped 1 teasp salt 1/2 teasp pepper 1 1/2 cups cashews (rinse if they are salted) 2 TBS butter Worcestershire sauce 1). Grind garlic, salt and pepper together in mortar and pestle. 2). Roll veal pieces in this mixture in the mortar and then on a clean plate, being sure pieces are well coated. 3). Brown veal in butter in a saucepan. When brown, add onions, water, tomato sauce and cashews. 4). Simmer slowly until meat and nuts are both tender. About 40 minutes. It may need a bit of water added. 5). Thicken with a bit of flour and a few drops of Worcestershire sauce. 6). Best served the next day. Goes well with rice and a crisp green salad. SharonCb