Help/Suggestions About Whole Fresh Ham

My next recipe for Stirring the Pot is Baked Fresh Ham with Apple-Cranberry Chutney. I saved the recipe for Easter hoping to find a 5-6 pound fresh ham. After some serious searching, I have come to realize that finding a 5-6 pound fresh ham is next to impossible. I finally called Mike the butcher in Lexington and they do have fresh ham, but only sell the whole fresh ham, which is 20 pounds.

Mike said that he could cut a 5 pound ham from the middle portion of the whole ham. I'm okay with that. This next part is where I need your help. There will be two ends of the ham once the ham is cut from the middle. The two ends will equal almost ten pounds of meat and a ham hock. If there is at least ten pounds of meat left, Mike can make me some sausage. If there is not ten pounds, he suggests a roast or even just plain ground pork. At one point he even mentioned ham steaks. My mind was racing as Mike talked on about the possibilities. I saw a food challenge and I was seriously down with it!

Here come the questions. What would you do? Would you get sausage made? Would you simply have it all ground? Get the roast? Go for the ham steaks? Is there another cut I didn't mention? Do you have any other ideas? Also, do you have any great recipes for any of these cuts?

I ordered the whole ham today and will pick it up on Friday. The whole ham will come to around $30, which really isn't bad when you consider that you're getting 5 pounds of fresh ham, a ham hock, and about ten additional pounds of meat.

I'm now referring to this as my Whole Ham Adventure and think it will be a fun challenge. I welcome your ideas and suggestions!!

A Lush Giveaway, Awards and Chocolate Sheet Cake

This is going to be a busy post, so let's start with the food first. To congratulate my neighbors on the birth of their first grandchild, I made Pioneer Woman's Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever. I figured a chocolate sheet cake was a sure bet. Everyone usually likes chocolate, right? I also like the fact that this cake serves 24, which was perfect for my neighbors because they have seven children, six of which still live with them and are under the age of eighteen. I wanted to make sure that everyone in the family was able to have some. (Note: I omitted the nuts in this recipe because most children aren't a fan).

The cake uses ingredients I always have on hand and was easy peasy to throw together. I even had enough batter left to fill a small ramekin for my daughter (a devoted chocolate fan). I tasted a bite of the cake and it was rich, chocolatey and moist. The cake is rich enough that you can satisfy your chocolate craving with a very small piece. Of course, if you really want to indulge, plop a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and call it a day. This is a great recipe for a large family or any other get together.

I am submitting this cake to Foodie Fans of the Pioneer Woman for their bi-monthly roundup of PW's recipes. Tomorrow's roundup promises to be a sweet one since we are celebrating desserts this time around. You can find the recipe for the chocolate sheet cake HERE on the Pioneer Woman's website.

I was very honored to receive two awards this week. Thank you to Sam of My Carolina Kitchen for giving me the Honest Scrap Award. Thank you also to Kathleen of Gonna Want Seconds for this beautiful Sunshine Award. I adore reading both of your blogs! In the interest of keeping this post from becoming a book, I would like to pass these awards on to all of you!



Onto the giveaway! I've mentioned before that I love my job at Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics. I discovered the company as a consumer while traveling with my husband one summer and went broke buying everything in the store. Next to cooking, Lush is my second love. I love their products and so do my family and friends. When a store opened up in my local mall I ran for the opportunity to work there.

Lush is a UK-based company that has spread worldwide. All the products are handmade with fresh organic, fair-trade ingredients, based on natural ingredients, such as cocoa butter, essential oils, fruits and vegetables. The products are made with little or no preservatives and for this reason have expiration dates. The products are tested on humans, never animals. There are so many fun things, that it was hard to pick what to give away!

I wish I could make the giveaway available to everyone, but for now I will have to limit it to the US only. I am, however, looking into having items ship worldwide for the next giveaway.

I chose four items that are all related to food in one way or another:

First up is Helping Hands Hand Cream. Since we all spend so much time in the kitchen working with our hands and washing dishes, this is the perfect cream for us. This cream is packed with nourishing shea butter, soothing chamomile water, honey, and lavender. Our most popular hand cream. NOTE: The item pictured below is only 1.5 ozs. I am giving away the large sized 3.5oz hand cream.

Next, is a Blackberry Bath Bomb. Drop this purple, blackberry and frankincense scented bath bomb into your bath and relax.

Third on the list is a Creamy Candy Bubble Bar. I'm sure you're all familiar with liquid bubble bath, but this is a solid bubble bath with no preservatives at all. Simply break the bar in half and crumble one half under running water for a candy scented bubble bath!

And finally, a luxurious Melting Marshmallow Moments Bath Melt made to look like a cute little pink cupcake. The bath melts are one of my favorite products, much like a bath where you are being dipped in lotion. Cut the pink cupcake look-alike in half, toss one half in a warm bath and say MMM. This melt is packed with moisturizing cocoa butter, marshmallow powder, and almond oils. Great for dry skin.


The giveaway is open to all US Residents. The winner will receive all four products. To enter, simply leave a comment telling me which of these four products sounds the best to you. Your comments will help me when it comes time for another giveaway. Contest ends Friday, March 26th at midnight EST. Winner will be chosen with the random number generator on Saturday, March 27th.

I encourage everyone who is eligible to enter the contest, men included. These products make great gifts!

Cookbook Review: Giada's Kitchen

I can easily say that Giada's Kitchen is one of my favorite cookbooks at the moment. The recipes are simple, but also unique with fun twists here and there. For instance, classic tomato soup is Hearty Tomato Soup, topped with a Lemon and Rosemary Cream. Chicken Scallopine is Chicken Scallopine with Saffron Cream Sauce. The recipes are easy enough for a beginner cook, but unique and beautiful enough for a well seasoned cook.

I was lucky enough to borrow the book from the library, keeping it a total of about ten weeks! Over the ten week period, I made nine recipes: Roasted Pork Loin with Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette, Tuscan White Bean and Garlic Soup, Hearty Tomato Soup with Lemon and Rosemary Cream, Pecorino Crackers, Baked Orzo with Fontina and Peas, Amaretto Sour with Prosecco, Chicken Scallopine with Saffron Cream Sauce, Artichoke Gratinata, and finally Strawberry and Mascarpone Granita. All nine recipes have been a big hit. Here is a recap of all nine recipes below (Note: When my computer crashed I lost my picture of the Baked Orzo with Fontina and Peas)

Below is a picture of Giada's Roasted Pork Loin with Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette. In January, I did a recipe throwdown comparing Ina's Grilled Pork Tenderloin and this version of Giada's pork tenderloin. Ina's recipe blew our socks off, but Giada's version was also a big hit. The pork was meltingly tender and the sauce was full of robust flavor. The meal had a gorgeous presentation and I would definitely make this recipe again.



Next up, I made Giada's Tuscan White Bean and Garlic Soup which was right up my alley. It really satisfied my bean craving, while at the same time being hearty and delicious, especially served with bread on the side. This is an extremely easy and economical meal, not to mention delicious. Also on my list of make again recipes.



Lured in by the gorgeous photograph in the book, I made Giada's Hearty Tomato Soup with Lemon and Rosemary Cream, served alongside her Pecorino Crackers. I should have known better than to think I would only partake in one cracker! Those crackers were addictive and the soup was too. The soup is extra hearty with the addition of canned white beans. The dollop of lemon rosemary cream makes the soup fun and special. Definitely a soup that would be wonderful for a dinner party. My new "go-to" recipe for tomato soup.



Before my computer crashed, I made Giada's Baked Orzo with Fontina and Peas. I don't have a picture to share, but we did enjoy the recipe. Giada goes light on the cream and cheese in this recipe, but it feels indulgent. The peas really liven up the meal, but they do add a sweet dimension to the dish, which might not be for everyone. Also worth noting, I enjoyed this recipe more before the pasta was baked. I'm not sure I would make it again, but if I did I probably wouldn't bake it.

I had a Valentine's Day Throwdown with a bottle of Prosecco. Nigella's Fruit Fizz won the Throwdown, but Giada's Amaretto Sour with Prosecco came in second place. It was a wonderful drink that I would be happy to serve to a crowd or at a party.



With the remainder of my saffron, I made Giada's Chicken Scallopine with Saffron Cream Sauce. It was a gorgeous meal which was made in less than a half hour. We felt like we were dining in a fine restaurant when we sat down to eat this. Also something that will be made again soon!



Onto my favorite of all the recipes, Giada's Artichoke Gratinata. I knew this would be good, but I didn't know it was going to blow my socks off. I made it for lunch yesterday and ate both helpings! I loved it as much as anyone could love a meal. Truly delicious. I'm thinking of eating it everyday until I stop craving it.

Lacking seriously in the self control department this week, I made this summery Strawberry and Mascarpone Granita. Strawberries were blended with simple syrup, lemon juice and mascarpone into a smooth, thick, creamy, dreamy, glorious mixture. It was so good that I wanted to drink the whole batch before freezing it. The only thing stopping me was not being able to take that final picture of the granita! The granita was delicious. It was almost the texture of an ice cream, but was still slightly icy like a granita.
That wraps up my roundup of Giada's recipes. The good news is that all of the recipes posted here, as well as many others from her book, are posted on the Food Network for free. I have many more recipes from this book bookmarked to make.

For now this book makes my top ten list! The recipes are well-written and tested, the pictures are gorgeous, everything is easy with simple fresh ingredients, plus the recipes are impressive and worthy of your most special guests. Simple and classic recipes with a unique flair.

Artichoke Gratinata

I ate the whole batch. Yes, the entire recipe. Both ramekins. It was a good thing I was in the privacy of my own home, because I'm quite sure it was unladylike. It was so good that it caused me to lose both my manners and self-control. I'm talking mind-blowing delicious! This is a side dish that will steal the show. The smell of the gratinata baking in the oven is reminiscent of the best Italian tratorrias. It is intoxicating. Are you seduced yet?


When I really love something, I can be a little over the top. It's almost like I can't stop babbling. This is such a good recipe, that I will literally tell everyone I know to make it. It's that good. I can already tell you that it will easily make my top ten favorites for this year. Hands Down!

This recipe received four out of five on the Food Network. I'm not sure why. I would give it more than five stars if possible. I did make a few changes, which I will note below.


Artichoke Gratinata
Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis/Food Network
*Serves 2, can easily be doubled
3 tablespoons olive oil (I used barely 1 tablespoon)
1 garlic clove, minced (I used one really good sized clove)
1 pound frozen artichoke hearts, thawed (Used one can drained, halved artichokes)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I added about 1 teaspoon)
1/2 cup chicken broth (I omitted the chicken broth, using about 1-2 Tbsp lemon juice)
1/4 cup Marsala wine
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup plain bread crumbs (I used Panko)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Warm the olive oil in a heavy bottom skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the artichoke hearts, parsley, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and cook until the artichoke hearts are starting to brown at the edges, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken broth (lemon juice) and wine and simmer for 3 minutes. Transfer the artichoke mixture to a 2-quart baking dish. (I like individual ramekins so that everyone gets some yummy crunchy topping)

Melt the butter in the same skillet used to cook the artichokes. In a small bowl mix the melted butter with the bread crumbs. Stir in the Parmesan and top the artichokes with the bread crumbs. Bake until the top is golden, about 10 minutes.

Notes/Results: Loved it so much! I'm so glad that I omitted the chicken broth and used lemon juice. You could really tell that the lemon juice brightened up the recipe. Also, I can never find a bag of frozen artichokes, so I decided to use canned artichoke hearts. I had read the reviews online and saw that the canned artichokes worked well. I drained the artichokes and cut them in half before adding to the skillet. I also cooked the artichokes until all the water (leftover from canning), wine and lemon juice had reduced to about nothing. The mixture was moist, but not wet when I put them in the ramekins. The panko topping was crunchy, cheesy, buttery and over the top delicious. I would definitely double the panko topping if you use two cans of artichokes. You will want all that yummy extra crunch. This recipe is a unique and fun side dish. It is bright, fragrant, crunchy, buttery goodness! I'll be making it again soon!

I'm submitting this to Reeni's Side Dish Showdown. Click HERE for the link.


Oink! Oink!

Mustard Pork Chops Go Green!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Are you wearing your green today? If not, maybe you can eat green today! It's Easy Being Green Week over at I Heart Cooking Clubs and everyone is eating green. Some of us have cooked up some truly green dishes, others had to satisfy those deep dark mustard cravings and just threw some green on the plate for good measure;D

Yep, that would be me! I kinda cheated this week because I have been wanting to make Nigella's Mustard Pork Chops for a super duper long time. The problem: mustard pork chops are not green! Well, I don't know about you, but I can rationalize just about anything when I want to. I found some perfectly green spinach in my refrigerator and called it a day. One fairly green dinner on the table in less than a half hour, perfect for satisfying your mustard cravings. What? You don't crave mustard? Sorry to hear that! I can put mustard on anything (or so I thought).

Nigella's Mustard Pork Chops
Adapted from Nigella Express
2 pork chops (about 1 pound total)
2 teaspoons oil
1/2 hard cider (couldn't find this so I used apple cider)
1 tablespoon grain mustard
1/3 cup heavy cream (I used fat-free half and half)

Cut the fat or rind off the chops, and then bash them briefly but brutally with a rolling pin between 2 pieces of cling film/plastic wrap to make them thinner.

Heat the oil in a pan, and then cook the chops over a moderately-high heat for about 5 minutes a side. Remove them to a warmed plate.

Pour the cider into the pan, still over the heat, to deglaze the pan. Let it bubble away for a minute or so then add the mustard and stir in the cream.

Let the sauce continue cooking for a few minutes before pouring over each plated pork chop. If you're having gnocchi with, make sure you turn them in the pan to absorb any spare juices before adding them to your plates.

Notes/Results: This was the first recipe I bookmarked when I received my copy of Nigella Express. The funny thing is that I received the book at least a year ago and never got around to making these mustard chops. I kept hunting for hard cider and after a year or so of looking, I finally gave up. I decided to go ahead and substitute apple cider for the hard cider. I feel like a Negative Nelly lately, but I have to say that I really didn't care for this recipe. The pork and mustard sauce were okay, but not great. I took Nigella's advice and tossed the potato gnocchi in the mustard sauce and it was definitely not a great combination, if you know what I mean. I ate both the pork chops and spinach in mustard sauce, but thought the gnocchi and mustard sauce was pretty inedible. Maybe it was my fault for substituting apple cider for hard cider and substituting fat-free half and half for heavy cream.

What do you think? Have you ever had hard cider? If so, what does it taste like? Is there a substitute for hard cider? Also, have you used fat-free half and half as a substitute for cream with good results? Just curious.

Head on over to I Heart Cooking Clubs to see all things green this week!

Recipe #51 - Stirring the Pot: Slow-Roasted Beef Ribs with Mushroom Stroganoff

Tyler won us over with this version of beef stroganoff. It was rich, meaty, indulgent and comforting.

The recipe calls for 3 pounds of beef short ribs, cut into 2 ribs apiece. I halved the recipe, buying one and a half pounds of beef ribs and opted not to cut them, leaving them whole. The ribs are simply placed in a roasting pan, drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted for 3 hours in a 300F oven. You can hardly get more simple than that.


When the 3 hours time frame is closing in, start preparing your sauce. You'll need mushrooms, garlic, shallots, to start. Once the mushrooms have browned, add the garlic and shallots. When the garlic and shallots are fragrant, remove from heat and add the cognac, scraping to deglaze the pan.

Return the pan to heat and add whipping cream. Reduce and simmer, until reduced by half. Turn off heat and stir in mustard and sour cream. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm until serving. This is one thick and luxurious sauce.

Meanwhile, cook one pound of egg noodles (I chose egg pappardelle noodles from Trader Joe's) in a pot of salted water. Drain well, toss with butter and chopped parsley. Pile buttered parsley noodles high on a plate, top with ribs, and finish with stroganoff sauce. Garnish with parsley. (I really wish I had parsley on hand for this dish. As it was, I was out of parsley and all other green herbs).


You can find the recipe HERE on Recipe.com

Notes/Results: This recipe is actually one of the easier Tyler recipes I've tried. I had concerns about not searing the short ribs first and I also worried that they would dry out, but they didn't. The end result was richly colored short ribs with almost crispy, crackly edges that pair wonderfully with the rich and luxurious stroganoff sauce. The stroganoff sauce was like liquid gold! I really wish I had the fresh parsley on hand because I think the dish definitely needed that fresh pick me up, which only fresh herbs can deliver. I think this is a tasty, comforting, quick and easy Tyler recipe that would be great for family dinners or entertaining. No hard to follow instructions, no long list of ingredients, and best of all: NO BIG MESS to clean up! All in all, this is a great recipe.

I still have two rather heavy recipes to post this month:
Baked Fresh Ham with Apple-Cranberry Chutney, which I will probably prepare for Easter and Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder with Salsa Verde and Grainy Mustard Mashed Potatoes. After that, I will be posting some seafood and salads. There are still 39 recipes left for me to cook in Stirring the Pot.

On another note: I was hoping to cook up some Irish fare for St. Patrick's Day in celebration of my Irish roots, but turns out the kids and I are feeling a bit under the weather this week. Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all!

Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Muffins for Tea Time

I grew up in a pretty small family. My Dad and myself are both only children and my Mom had only one sibling, an older sister, my Aunt Jenni. Always a beauty, Aunt Jenni was my idol. I loved her auburn hair, her bright blue eyes, and the sprinkling of freckles that ran across her nose. It was such a treat to visit her. Filled with anticipation, I could hardly wait for her to paint my nails, do my hair and bring out the high heels. I would happily raid my Aunt's closet while she and my parents chatted away. When it was time to leave, she always gave me something of hers, usually a purse, which always smelled of her perfume. I hid those gifts in my closet, saving them for my eyes only, smelling them when I missed her, treasuring them while waiting for the next visit.

In this Photo: My Aunt Jenni in her twenties


Even as a teenager I adored her. In fact, I paid even closer attention, noticing things I hadn't before. It seemed that when my Aunt would become angry or frustrated, she would utter the same silly phrase over and over. The words "Oh Sugar" came out of her mouth like some kind of candy-coated swear word. Even in anger and frustration this woman was polite and ladylike. When other kids my age were using real swear words, I was uttering "Oh sugar" under my breath and laughing.

In this Photo: My Aunt and I looking through photo albums


My Aunt passed away unexpectedly in her late-forties, when I was about 20 years old. Still in shock of her passing, my Mom and I were tasked with going through her belongings. For all of my life, my Aunt's belongings had been such a thing of joy to me and now they were overwhelmingly sad. The only laugh of the day occurred when we opened up her kitchen belongings and found the coffee mug in the above picture with the words "Housework is a Bitch". I'm sure the look on my face was priceless. I couldn't believe that this mug belonged to my sweet and ladylike Aunt. I just couldn't picture this lady, who never swore, using a mug like this. My Mom, trying to make light of the entire day, reminded me of my bad housekeeping and encouraged me to keep the mug. For one reason or another, this mug was one of the few things I kept that day and I'm so glad that I did. To me, it resembles something I may have had in common with my Aunt Jenni as an adult. It reminds me of the gleam in her eye and makes me believe that there was much more to this woman I only knew as a child. I so wish that I had been given the chance to know my Aunt in my adult years. It appears we would've had some things in common.

In this photo: My Mom, Me and my Aunt on the day I took my first steps



Whenever I drink tea, I use this mug and think of my Aunt Jenni. I've thought of buying some new mugs, but I like this old one far too much. I debated using this mug for this week's Tea Time celebration over at I Heart Cooking Clubs. In the end, I went ahead with it. Sorry if the language offends anyone! To go along with the tea, I baked up Nigella's Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Muffins, recipe can be found online HERE.



Notes/Results: Nigella says to use a good quality cocoa powder, so I broke out the Valrhona cocoa powder for the first time. I thought there would be a noticeable difference in using Valrhona cocoa powder, but there really wasn't. Good old Hershey cocoa powder is just as good, at least in a muffin anyway. I used buttermilk in place of regular milk because I think buttermilk makes a better muffin. I wanted to add some cinnamon or cayenne for added spice, but knew my daughter wouldn't eat them if I did. The muffins were nice, moist, and chocolatey and my daughter and I each ate two in place of a normal and healthy lunch. I'm doing my best to teach her that chocolate is a proper food group!

Head on over to I Heart Cooking Clubs to check out all the other Tea Time Celebrations!



P.S. I believe whole-heartedly in the quote on this mug!