You need to do some homework. Every material has it's pros and cons, and it all comes down to what you are willing to live with. "Best" is completely subjective. Frankly, if my DH had not felt so strongly about our using a "higher end" counter top (we ended up with engineered quartz) I would have done a laminate. They are durable, warm, soft, and very inexpensive. Completely low-maintenance if you are not careless about using them. Our quartz will be fine, and looks fantastic, but we spent nearly three times what we could have spent on a high-end laminate. IKEA has some DIY laminate for incredibly little cost if you are willing to put in the effort and will buy you plenty of time to do some research on your countertop options. Here is a link that might be useful: IKEA wood and laminate countertops

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!

Thank you CW. I have decided against the leathered look. The beach house photo in my original post does not looked leathered like some of these other photos I am seeing. I believe that kitchen counter description is wrong. By the way, I am OCD and was not offended by your statement. Finger prints would bother me, too! I prefer to think that I am OTT... Over the Top when it comes to perfection. Anyway, the topic is Off topic. ;)

Yes you're right! So I had the old Carrara marmi and they were getting a new lot in June that would be whiter so I think that ended up being the difference. They said the company switched manufacturers and the whole lot they had received was the off white tone of marmi. It's identical to the first picture! I had no idea there was a new vs old. Luckily they were very helpful and are allowing me to pick out any quartz from the show room and replace it for $300 whichever I choose. I could have gotten the new marmi but I would have to wait until June when it comes in. This felt like a great option to me though as the higher up quartz was not really in my price range at all. So I am happy with that and I got to look through many different styles of white quartz slabs in the warehouse and bring a few home to decide. They are going to replace the whole thing. Now I just have to choose between Cararra Morro and Calacutta Clara!