Ham

So this is Christmas...

I hate that song. No, strike that. I don't hate the song, it's a nice song. I greatly dislike that the Christian Children's Fund has co-opted it so that all I can think about when it plays is starving children with flies in their face and a fat woman telling me how hungry they are.

Anyway, that was a tangent. They should really have an honest-to-goodness "tangent" tag in HTML. And this is another tangent.

Going to the folks for Christmas. Should be the generally fun time of sitting around watching TV and wondering which brother will go off and storm out of the room on Christmas morning It's tradition after all. Dinner there will be a nice roast and all the trimmings.

Then on Boxing Day (holiday up here in the Great White North donchya know?), after a day of convincing myself I really did get some great deals, I'll be doing up some ham with my best friend.

Veggies will be carrots, and green and yellow beans. Maybe some roasted or sauteed peppers as well. Mashed potatoes for sure, made with BUTTER and CREAM. Anyone who uses chicken stock, margarine, or skim milk in mashed potatoes should be shot. I may even put in some 7 year-old cheddar or parmesan reggiano. There will also be a Caesar salad perhaps, likely with homemade dressing.

But the ham shall be the centrepiece. While I like me a maple or honey-glazed ham just fine, my friend is less amenable to the sweet flavours with meat. I'm a libra, and a cook, so I'm more than happy to compromise. So begins the quest for an alternative. I think I've found it.

Smokey mustard, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar (need to make it sticky after all).... and bourbon. There could be a few other spices put in (smoked paprika, garlic, and pepper are all possibilities). I'll have to make a small sample tonight to make sure it all works, but it strikes me as damned tasty.