How to cook an Easter ham in a hospital

Well, really you could cook this ham anywhere. But I cooked it in a hospital. And to be completely honest with you, it was insanely delish.

What you need for your Easter Ham (Adapted from All Recipes):

- a spiral cut ham (mine was about 9 lbs, bone in)

- approximately 2 cups brown sugar

- a crock pot

-a *60cc syringe (or a for-real baster)

- tin foil

*a cc is a now unapproved abbreviation for ml. Just fyi.

My crock pot was small than my ham. So the lid didn't fit well. But a little jimmy-rigging fixed it right up. I put most of the brown sugar in the bottom of the crock pot, jammed the ham in there, patted the rest of the brown sugar on the ham, and covered it tightly with foil.

I cooked it on high for about an hour, than turned it down to low. After a total of almost 4 hours, I uncovered it to see this. Mmmm. (I did NOT uncover it for the first several hours, this is important when using a crock pot.)

I stole borrowed a (clean) 60cc syringe and basted my ham with the amazing brown sugar liquid from the bottom of the crock pot. In case you haven't seen me for awhile, you can see that I now have 20 chins. And no hair.

But don't worry, I still have high cheek bones. I basted it about every half hour for the next hour, still covering tightly with foil in between.

It smelled insanely good. Insane.

After a total of about 5 hours cook and basting time, I finagled it onto this awesome Crate and Barrel serving platter that I got for my wedding. (That I have used a total of three times now.) I syringed approximately 180cc of brown sugary liquid onto the ham. I also may have drooled on it at this point. (I kid, coworkers.)

It was basically falling off the bone. Ah-mazing. It served about 15 people with leftovers to be had.

And we ate basically for the rest of the day. All the good things you should eat with an Easter ham: deviled eggs, hash brown casserole, green bean casserole, coleslaw, rolls, and chess bars. I felt slightly ill in my workout this morning. So worth it.

My favorite quote from the weekend, after dead-lifting a man off the floor with my coworker: "You girls should do wrestling- you could tag team it."


Yep, I'm that awesome. And yes, I did fill out a full fall report. Second favorite quote? The next day, the same patient says, "I thought about getting out of bed by myself, but then I remembered what happened yesterday." Thank you, kind sir. I appreciate your thoughtfulness.

As much as I hate spending my holidays in the hospital, I know that I am right where I'm supposed to be.
I am so blessed to cook a ham for coworkers, pick people up off the floor, and serve a risen Savior.

"He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come and see the place where he lay." Matthew 28: 6

Happy Easter!