ness

That's good eats right there!

LOL. I usually would have made cornbread, but I didn't this time. I'm sorry to disappoint you. I've still got about 3/4 of a gallon of soup so I've got time to redeem myself. And the jelly thing reminds me, I failed to mention BilletHead's gooseberry jam in my thank you post. Thanks for the jam! too!

Well, I'm sure everybody's had or made good old ham and bean soup. I had about 1/3 of a 9 pound ham and the bone left over from Christmas and decided I'd do a big batch. But the bone and ham was too big to fit in my biggest pot, so I got to thinking maybe I cut the ham off as much as I could, then simmer the bone, and whatever residual ham was on it, in water for a few hours like I was making a stock. I did that and then added the 'stock' to two Crock Pots ® with the beans, some carrots, celery and onion and cooked it on low for 5 hours. The stock was very flavorful and the amount turned out to be just right for the 3 pounds of beans I was doing. I added in the reserved diced, de-fatted in ham for the last hour. I think I extracted a lot more flavor, salt etc. doing the bone first like that. I usually end up having to add some chicken stock in to boost the flavor. Not this time.

Wow -- lots going on there! What all was in that? We had a tradition in my house of Chinese food Christmas night -- a nod to A Christmas Story, where the neighbor's dogs ate the turkey and the family had to eat at the only place open on Christmas day.

I think even the mailman knew there is rum in the fruitcake ?

Looks great!

You can have my soapy-tasting green crap. ?

Gotta extend a thanks to Chief and BilletHead for their gifts this year. Nice, buttery waffle cookies from Chief. Not super sweet -- like so much of the stuff floating around this time of year. Very good, and thanks for sharing the family tradition with us! Got a couple mallard breasts from BH. Those are off in the freezer and I plan on fixing them (rare, I'm told!) in the near future. There's so much food floating around the house now (got two hams from vendors; shared most of both, but still a lot of ham!) that I socked them away so they get the attention they deserve! Also came with a delicacy I haven't had before -- goose fat. I took your advice, Marty, and did a simple fried egg. Nice flavor, and it appears to have a relatively high smoke point. Nice!

What, no gabagool (capicola)? Sorry, I loved the lingo in the Soprano's. Loved it more when Michael Scott (The Office) ordered it trying to sound cool. . All that aside, that's a good looking plate right there!

Hah -- never had made the connection. I like the browning step.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd rocks Rudolph: And, I always liked The Pretenders: ..and The Kinks ..and I can't help but picture Clark when I hear this

Found the original 1962 Nutcracker song rock version they based theirs on. Gotta say, they did it faster, longer, louder and just plain better at the Symphony -- but you get the idea from this clip.

Outstanding! Thank you Mitch. I've copied and pasted the recipe to where I store mine. Please thank your wife on our behalf.

Went to see the Kansas City Symphony's Christmas program tonight at Kaufmann Center. Man, that was outstanding. Not just classical music, but a great mix of choral (something north of 100 in the choir), upbeat takes on classics, some jazz, really fast-paced stuff. It blew us away. JoeD, they had an outstanding piano guy do 'Linus and Lucy' and a medley of other songs from 'Charlie Brown Christmas'. Choir did 'Christmastime is Here'. Sing along, some funny bits too. Did a really cool almost rock and roll take on Nutcracker's 'March of the Toy Soldiers' that was crazy good. Just a helluva show.

A little sloppy on the head, don't ya think?

That's what I did -- a little more than 2 hours at 350 i think.

You're welcome guys! Glad you liked it. I need to figure out how to make it pertier!

Agree! I got impatient.

Why didn't I think of that?

Yeah, I figgered somebody would have a bigger torch. ? Zee gumbo:

It's a pretty good way to crisp up the glaze without heating up the whole ham and possibly drying it out.

So I looked around in the Internet for ham glaze ideas. Settled on brown sugar, honey and pumpkin pie spice. Torched the crap out of it. Me likey!

I kinda like their stuff. I saw them on PBS a couple weeks ago and had three seizures before I could change the channel. All flashing lights and lasers and flames and stuff. Their show makes me like their music less.

I never did like going to the gym

Kinda the same thing here -- lots going on. Did a batch of gumbo and honey/spice glazed and torched a spiral cut ham for a work party tomorrow. Also taking in a rum soaked fruitcake. Then I catch a break. Going out to dinner tomorrow (Wednesday is dollar oyster night!) and to see the KC symphony Thursday. Friday I hustle home from work and cook some sides for a party that night. Gonna do maple glazed roasted carrots and garlic Parmesan roasted cauliflower. Then catch my breath Saturday.