Weekend Festivities

Jason's parents visited us this past weekend because they found ridiculously cheap tickets and decided to come. All last week I wondered what in the world we would do with them because, as I discovered, everything we like to do in New England involves being outside or walking outside or standing on breezy cliffs and such. Apparently we are trolls in the winter, only poking our head outside long enough to get to and from work and church.

Well, I needn't have worried because this weekend wound up being The Weekend of Unexpected Snow. Hi, weather people? When you see a storm system moving across the country, chances are it will eventually hit New England. We were supposed to get a few inches of snow on Saturday night, but wound up with about 6 inches. Church was canceled, which was good since as of 10 AM, the plows still hadn't made their way down our street, and we had a very good excuse to be lazy bums on Sunday. Then, for good measure, it snowed about 6 more inches on Sunday night.

Saturday we kind of lazed around most of the day, then headed to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch/dinner. Then I happened to mention how Talbot's and Ann Taylor are conveniently located right next to each other in the mall, and Jason's mom thought that sounded very interesting and she might like to see that for herself and off we went to the stores (I got a $140 cashmere sweater for $40. I know!). Jason has needed pants for about 2 years now, so he bought 3 new pairs. A successful shopping day was had by all!

Sunday was our snow day. Jason's mom just finished her PhD in December and hasn't really had much downtime since so she reveled in having no commitments and no schedule. I kept myself busy cooking another loaf of bread, onion soup for lunch, and a faux HoneyBaked ham for dinner (details on the ham to follow).

Jason and his dad, on the other hand, were crawling up the walls because they do not like to be still. I should have sent them out on a snow walk, but that didn't occur to me until later in the day. On the plus side, Jason's dad took it upon himself to scrape the new window labels off of the tops of the windows in the living room. The labels have been there since Jason moved in 2 1/2 years ago and we have talked about peeling them off, but just never got around to it.

Monday we went up to spend some time with a couple of friends in Boston and then had a farewell dinner at the Texas Roadhouse for a labmate of Jason's who is moving back to Taiwan. What he wanted more than anything was to go to an American steakhouse before he left and we aim to please. I also made a loaf of Cinnamon Cranberry bread that turned out great.

Now, for the ham. I found a recipe online that claimed to be a replica of the glaze used by the HoneyBaked Ham Company. Hams just happened to go on sale at the store this past week, so I bought one. I mixed up the glaze and rolled the ham around in it, then spent a really, really long time caramelizing it with a little blowtorch from Home Depot. Note: the tiny blowtorch is great for creme brulee, not so great for an 8-pound ham. I think I need to buy a larger blowtorch for the next ham.

I thought the glaze tasted very authentic, and all told it probably cost about $20, versus the $70 or $80 it would have for the name-brand ham.

Faux Honey Baked Ham
1 fully cooked shank half ham, bone in (pre-sliced)
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Dash ground ginger
Dash ground allspice

1. If you couldn't find a pre-sliced ham, the first thing you must do is slice it. Use a very sharp knife to cut the ham into very thin slices around the bone. Do not cut all the way down to the bone or the meat may not hold together properly as it is being glazed. You want the slices to be quite thin, but not so thin that they fall apart or off the bone.
2. Mix the remaining ingredients together in a small bowl.
3. Lay down a couple sheets of wax paper onto a flat surface such as your kitchen counter. Pour the sugar mixture onto wax paper and spread it around evenly.
4. Pick up the ham and roll it over the sugar mixture so that it is well coated. Do not coat the flat end of the ham, just the outer, pre-sliced surface.
5. Turn the ham onto its flat end on the plate. Use a blowtorch with a medium-size flame to caramelize the sugar. Wave the torch over the sugar with rapid movement, so that the sugar bubbles and browns, but does not burn. Spin the plate so you can torch the entire surface of the ham. Repeat the coating and caramelizing process until the ham has been well glazed (don't expect to use all of the sugar mixture). Serve the ham cold or reheated, just like the real thing.

Next time I make this, I'm only going to make 1/2 to 2/3 of the recipe because I had a lot left over. I probably could have used some more on the ham itself, but the recipe would probably cover a 15-pound ham easily.