Just tossed my christmas ham bone in the soup pot yesterday. I had green peas in my hand but a craving for lentil soup took hold and so lentils it is. I was so hungry for soup I ate almost two quarts between lunch and dinner.... ahh heaven (good thing I was working alone). Last week it was bean soup made with kidney beans and black beans.... with some fresh cayenne peppers. It turns our gray and funny looking because lots of people at work ask me what the hal is that. I don't care it has a hearty smokey peppery taste I like. The slime would probably be bacterial growth. Far as I know it won't hurt you. Beef often has it if stored awhile. Bad bacteria stink like rot... no danger you will accidentally eat it. As noted in a previous post you can just rinse it off. As for my ham... a chunk of lean stuff for sandwiches, the bone in the soup pot yesterday, and fattier chunks went into the freezer for soup later. About 10 pounds of ham in the freezer right now which will be all used up by the end of March. : ) lyra

LOL May! I don't really use a recipe... I eye up the amount of ham. If I had about a lb. of ham, I'd chop it in the FP, put it in a bowl, add a couple of Tbsp of sweet relish, a couple stalks of celery, chopped, season with some black pepper and add enough mayo to bind. I know some like to add hard boiled egg... If the ham is fresh, then you could figure the salad will be good for 5 days refrigerated but if the ham has already been sitting in the frig...for three days, then you would figure on the salad staying good for only 2 more. Five days is my limit when using any high perishable food and you need to figure the time left when using leftovers... Nancy

Thanks flwrs! And Cj - Knowing you both had success with using the roaster is reassuring. I use a brown sugar and bourbon glaze and I don�t think anyone will notice the ham isn�t very brown. My biggest worry is that the ham is only 8 pounds and might get too dry. I promise to use my electronic thermometer. Fori, I don�t think I could talk my DH into grilling. Our current forecast is: "Snow beginning around midnight tonight and ending around noon (CST) Friday with 2-4" in most places. Isolated higher amounts are possible near the 5-6" range." He might grill for us if we only get 2 more inches � more than that and you could probably hear him laugh all the way to your house. Beuhl, I am intrigued by the thought of using the slow cooker. I have an older one that has a metal container that sits on a griddle style base. I know the ham would fit nicely in there. I wonder if the glaze would do better in the roaster or the slow cooker. The instruction booklet has been missing for years. As I remember it was only 3 or 4 thin pages with very little real info. Cindy, may I have your apricot, mustard and honey glaze recipe. I promise to wrap that ham in foil before baking. It sounds delicious! I think my brown sugar and bourbon would stick tight to the foil and everyone would be tearing off bits of foil so they could lick the glaze off. I see you are due for a high of 52 degrees tomorrow. I do miss South Carolina winters!! Here in my part of Iowa we are promised a high of 20 tomorrow, which really isn�t too bad. (My southern bones can�t believe I�m saying that.) Northcarolina, I use my roaster to cook 15 to 18 pounds of pork (I also use boston butt) for BBQ all the time. The next time I�m making a smaller amount I will try the slow cooker. Hmmm � New Year�s BBQ. I think I will try your sage and sugar combination with my spices. I have been wanting something with sage lately. I love the aroma of sage cooking. Jakabedy, I like cooking a big turkey in the roaster because it does seem cook up more moist than in the oven. But my old Panasonic convection microwave cooked a very moist turkey in half the time. Thank you all for taking time to reassure me. May all your holiday meals be wonderful!

If we are talking canned beans, bushes vegetarian beans taste better than their orinal pork & beans To make my own I begin by baking a 12 or 15lb ham,, When the ham is baked I remove the skin and save it for my beans. After we have finished the ham I put the ham bone in the crock pot, then I take all the skin that I saved and cut it into 1" squares and put those in the crock pot. I then put two 1lb bags of dried navy or pinto beans in the pot (prefer one bag of each) and chop two or three large onions and toss them in. Add a 1/2tsp of chili powder, 1tsp of course black pepper and a cup of molassass. Turn the crock pot on high and cook for three to four hours (till the beans are done.) Sometimes I add a couple small cans of tomato paste too. Note: when the beans cook down all those pieces of the ham skin will soften and have the same flavor and texture as the chunks of meat in cambels pork & beans.