I'm making Monte's Ham (actually I just use Monte's glaze on whatever type of ham I purchase...it is delicious). Also making my sweet potato casserole and some type of interesting salad (mixed greens with mild goat cheese or gorgonzola crumbled over it plus walnuts and a vinaigrette). Ann

Monte's Ham

Italian prosciutto can cost $20 to $25 a pound if Spain's legendary jabugo ham ever reaches these shores, it'll probably run at least twice that. Monte Mathews reports that he's never paid more than 99 cents a pound for a ham to use for this unfailingly popular party dish.

For Ham: One 15 lb. smoked ham, on the bone

For Glaze: 1-1/2 cups orange marmalade
1 cup dijon mustard
1-1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 rounded tbsp. whole cloves

1. For ham, preheat oven to 300 degree F. Trim tough skin and excess fat from ham. Put ham in a large roasting pan and score, making crosshatch incisions over it with a sharp knife. Roast
for 2 hours. Remove ham from oven and increase heat to 350 degrees F.

2. For glaze, combine orange marmalade, mustard and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Stud ham with cloves, inserting one at the intersection of each hatch, then brush entire surface of ham
generously with glaze and return to oven.

3. Cook ham another 1-1/2 hours, brushing with at least 3 times. Transfer to a cutting board or platter and allow to rest for about 30 minutes. arve and serve warm or at room temperature.
Source: Saveur Cooks Authentic American
By the editors of Saveur magazine
Chronicle Books

Sweet Potato Casserole

4 large sweet potatoes
½ cup granulated sugar
½ stick butter
1 Tbsp Half & Half (or more if it needs thinning)
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
Walnut or pecan halves
½ cup Brown sugar
1/3 bag Miniature Marshmallows

Boil, peel & mash sweet potatoes. Add butter, granulated sugar, Half & Half. Then add vanilla. Whip potato mixture in electric mixer until smooth. Pour into casserole dish; swirl in brown sugar and about 1/3 bag of miniature marshmallows. Top with walnut or pecan halves.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. (Recipe can be made ahead and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before baking.)

Note: I have also added the miniature marshmallows towards the end of the baking time so that theyÂre partially intact/melted

Prime Rib

Leg of lamb.....
Just learned tonight that I am cooking....but leg of lamb is traditional...and the rest is up in the air....
Likely peas in some way....and likely either strawberry short cake of angelfood cake ( from scratch) with either strawberries of lemon curd, either Mrs. Avery's rolls or angel biscuits...
Hmm...salad? Baby greens and a vinaigrette made with that fancy-schmancy olive oil and tangerine balsamic from the Olive tap...
Veggie?..peas...or should that be the soup??
Pickled beets and eggs?
Still thinking!
Linda C

Sis, Dad and I just started discussing yesterday...

My sister will be hosting, with an assist from DH and I (time to get my little red wagon so we can easily bring our goodies around the corner to Sis' house).

-Hor d'oevures...

Not sure what we'll be serving for hors d'oeuvres, but already on the menu is:

Pizza rustica (I make anywhere from 10-12 depending upon who I feel like giving one to (you have to rate high on my list)

-I am thinking of modifying an asparagus dish I saw that calls for wrapping stuff around blanched asparagus (flattened bread, prosciutto, etc) but have to give it more thought as I don't want to compromise the beautiful asparagus I am seeing)

We typically have a platter of antipasto, which is really a must have, so perhaps it'll be just that and the pizza rusticas.

-First course we were thinking of doing perhaps some fresh ravioli. I saw Giada do a chicken cheese ravioli with a lemon zest sauce, so perhaps we'll play with that, eliminating the chicken. I just got the pasta-roller attachment for my Kitchenaide, which will make prepping the ravioli a breeze.

-Second course, perhaps a salad in Parmesan cups. We did this two years ago and it was fantastic.

-For dinner, so far we know we are going to make a nice stuffed pork loin. Our local Italian store does a nice job of it, it comes out so moist. Perhaps some simple roasted chicken as a second choice for the kids and whomever doesn't want the pork.

I'll make a nice merlot or cabernet-based gravy or perhaps defrost some pork gravy I've been saving and kick it up a bit with some wine and herbs.

-Veggies: We agreed on a few veggies, one baked, one roasted, and perhaps a steamed veggie. Will be finalizing that within the next week.

-Starch...I'm thinking something potato. Perhaps Ann's Perfect Roasted potatoes will be the way to go. I love, love, love them. (Did I say I love them).

-Dessert is left to the experts. One of our guests is master of all things baked and we leave that to her. Dad will want to bring something, so perhaps he'll make a grain pie.

That's it so far...not much detail, but it is an iterative process and should be finalized by the end of the week.

Sue

We are just so boring, same old ,same old every year but there would be mutiny if anything changed much...I can get away with one or two new dishes but not much.

Baked ham with glaze, pineapple rings and maraschino cherries
Scalloped potatoes
Mashed potatoes
Baked Beans
Squash .... usually Acorn baked with brown sugar and butter but sometimes roasted Butternut
Cauliflower and broccoli with cheese sauce on the side
Cole Slaw
Pickled beets, dills and bread and butters
Homemade rolls
Deviled eggs

Dessert is whatever DSIL decides it will be.... : )

Breaking with tradition this year-friends from Toronto are joining Ernie & I at Sea Critters at Tierra Verde (south of St Pete Beach). Their house feature is a Seafood Boil"..lobster, king crablegs, clam, scallops, mussels, shrimp, potaoes & corn on the cob...works for me! I can do ham anytime and have no family here anyway.

DH and I are going to daughters. She will make mashed potatoes and furnish ice cream and hot fudge sauce for dessert. I will bake the ham with raisin sauce, sweet potatoes, bean casserole [her favorite], asparagus, homemade dinner rolls and fudge brownie sundaes for dessert. Almost forgot the bottle of wine.

ribs n chicken
coleslaw
baked beans
baked mac n cheese
honey wheat rolls
caramel dip and strawberries
devilled eggs
Lemon Creamcheese pie
flourless chocolate cake with homemade caramel or Dulce

Ham, broccoli casserole, ambrosia, baked mashed potatoes, rolls and dessert of some kind. keeping it simple this year.

If you can fit it into your menu, you MUST try the absolutely decadent macaroni salad I discovered in an old TASTE OF HOME mag. It was SO GOOD and SO FATTENING, dd's and I made a pact to never make it again! Well. . . older dd asked for it. I'd been good and had discarded the recipe, but it was easy to find online. It's the one w/ sweetened condensed milk AND sugar. Cooks.com has it. Maybe you could just go lightly on dessert.

Happy Easter!
chery2

All of the menus sound delicious.

chery2 - May I ask whether the macaroni salad is a dessert? I am willing to try anything once, please share the recipe.

Our menu:
Spiral Ham - I made a glaze with pineapple, OJ brown sugar, dijon mustard, etc.
Asiago Au Gratin (from Recipe Forum last year)
Pineapple Bread Pudding
Haricot Vert
Cole Slaw with fennel
Grilled Pineapple
Deviled Eggs
Croissant
Lemon Merangue pie
Blueberry pie
Birthday cake (celebrated 2 birthdays!)

Hope everyone had a HAPPY EASTER!

If someone would be so kind as to give the recipe for the asiago au gratin potatoes that was mentioned ,I would be so very grateful. Sounds delicious.

June