I also like bone in....and have cooked my share of butt end hams as well as whole hams....when you get a hog and have it butchered and the hams smoked, you have to do SOMETHING with the butt. Yes, the shank is easier to carve. I prefer uncooked ham....and you sure don't have to cook it all day....a big one will be done in 3 hours or so at 325....depending how big is BIG! LOL! And I think they taste better by far! I also have placed the ham, cut side up in a dish in the refrigerator and poured honey over it....let it sink in and added more, repeat... It's sweet but delicious! So.....the consenus...bone in is tastier, shank end easier to carve, I like ready to cook rather than pre cooked....but some don't care, and honey baked are delicious, but expensive. That said, I think cure 81 is not worth the price and more like lunch meat than =real ham and I say stay away from those ham loaf things! Linda C

Ignoring the outburst.....and back to hams... To me....as I know it....a "country ham" is one that has been dry aged and has to be soaked, scrubbed and boiled in 2 changes of water before being baked. Then there is a fully cooked ham which is ready to eat and only needs to be warmed to eat if you like it hot...if not then just cut 'er up and eat. Than there is something else.....it's not cooked and the package says it needs to be cooked at thus and so for thus and so number or hours, or until a thermometer in the thickest part registers 160 degrees. The last ham I bought like that (a Smithfield for a funeral lunch) was wonderful....even if a pain to prepare......and I know that they are "raw" because the one that someone else cooked was like raw meat inside....I had to bake it more. I have no idea how those raw, but not country hams are cured. And I LIKE brown sugar glazed ham and cranberry sauce on my turkey and applesauce with my pork and fruit stuffed pork loin and sweet and sour shrimp. I love asparagus with hollandaise and trice baked potatoes with sour cream and cheese. I like butter on my whole grain bread.....sometimes even JAM!!!!! Forget the honey glazed ham and add your own honey if you want it sweet. Linda C

Maybe send a note in the basket along with phone numbers of the wives and or any of the other staff willing to go along with her to an appointment, out for just a coffee if she needs to talk, or a few hours of child care if she happens to have children, (no age was given ). She might have a job around the house that she has never had to do with winter coming and might be overwhelmed enough to overlook it right now. Any of the male members want to step up with a coupon booklet maybe?..One Snow shovelling, one emergency call if the car acts up...you get the idea.... even if she just needs someone to ask and figure out how to do it yourself deal ...who knows someone might make a very close friend of the deal!! Right now she need some. She may never take you up on them but I am sure the thought would be appreciated.

Does your uncle have a house? One of the most appreciated gifts I've ever given my husband was the Hoover Spin Sweep. It works like a little push street sweeper (no electric or gas required, just pushing it makes the rotating brushes spin) and the debris collects in a bin behind the sweeper. It makes really, really short work of sweeping the driveway and sidewalk. And it's fun. It's also the item in our garage that's borrowed most frequently by neighbors--EVERYone loves it! Lottery tickets are okay for someone who likes getting them as a gift, but some feel like after they've scratched them off, they're left with nothing but a pile of trash. Others have moral objections to gambling, so I always hesitate to give that sort of thing as a gift--sort of a cop-out on the one hand, and on the other, you can actually hurt someone's feelings if they're ethically opposed to the premise. For your friend, how about a gc to a large book store--the kind where you can buy books, have coffee or lunch and buy cd's? Most people can find something they want there. Or what about signing both of you up for a session at one of those places where you go and make up a bunch of gourmet dinners to put into your freezer? That would be a fun as well as productive way to spend an evening.