Baking a Whole Ham for Easter.

This year we are having two meals featuring everybody here's favorite, ham.  Saturday evening we will have a ham supper then Easter Sunday a brunch with ham, cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, OJ, and coffee.  I am trying to make this easier on myself by planning it this way.

Today I baked the ham.  It is beautiful.  It is a 16 pound, fully cooked bone in ham with the shank trimmed off and frozen to use sometime later for seasoning.  After baking, I like to let it fully cool then slice it and wrap securely. Tomorrow and Sunday I only have to heat it up!  The grunt work is done.

Ingredients for a Whole Baked and Glazed Ham:

1 16-18 pound ham
3 C. light brown sugar
1 can soda pop, NOT diet
2/3 C. coarse ground mustard
3 T. cider vinegar
1/2 t. black pepper
whole cloves

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Trim excess fat from the ham leaving a thin layer.  Score the fat to form 1/8 " thick slashes in a 1 1/2" diamond pattern and insert a whole clove in the center of each diamond.

Place the ham on a rack in a roasting pan and bake for half of the total time.  Figure 15 minutes per pound.  My ham was 16 pounds so the total time was 4 hours.  I roasted for two before glazing.

Meanwhile mix the remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a gentle boil.  Simmer about 20-30 minutes until slightly thickened.  After half the roasting time has elapsed brush on the glaze and return to the oven.  Add layers of glaze about every 20 minutes until the baking time is complete.  Remove from the oven.

Let sit covered at least 30 minutes before carving.

I am so organized today I am scaring myself!! I colored the eggs first thing this morning and set them out on baking racks to cool.  Next I preheated the oven to 300 degrees F. and went to the butcher's to pick up the ham.  When I got home everything was ready to go.  Have a Blessed Easter everyone!