A sticky glazed Christmas Ham and a warm homemade loaf of white bread is what graces my Christmas Eve Table year after year. Call it my Christmas Eve Tradition. Call it my absolute must have for the season. In many ways a supper of Glazed Salty Smoked Ham and fluffy bread is more important to me than the Christmas Feast itself. This meal forms a crucial part of my Christmas Experience.

Christmas Eve at my house usually includes the “pop in” of neighbours, friends, and family (even the annoying ones…kidding kidding…not kidding), the soft hum of Christmas tunes in the background, a toasty warm kitchen and the aroma of ham and bread in the air.

When did this Christmas Ham tradition start? I’m not quite sure. Funny how memories work, somethings are as clear as crystal, others are fuzzy.

I hearken back to my childhood, when I was a wee girl wearing my hair in 2 long thick braids. It was a time when I would barely get two winks of sleep, so convinced that if I stayed awake long enough, I would catch a glimpse of the man in red. Of course, I always fell asleep, and I always missed my opportunity.

I can remember Christmas ham and bread being prepared by my mother annually. She always kept it simple, no glaze, no rubs, no fancy sauces. I was usually designated the kitchen helper and was often tasked with studding the ham with cloves, buttering the bread pans and licking the cake spoon (that last one was the highlight).

There was this one Christmas Eve where a Christmas ham incident unfolded.

I can clearly remember someone other than myself studding the ham with far too many cloves. Needless to say that year we had baked cloves with a hint of ham. Everyone sat around the table trying to be polite, napkins hiding their grimacing mouths after each bitter bite.

I think this Christmas calamity was my mother’s doing, but we’ll never know for sure. Till this day she denies any involvement.

What I suppose transpired was one too many eggnogs while preparing Christmas Eve Supper. For a woman that didn’t really indulge in libations she always added way too much whisky and rum to the Christmas refreshments or so my father said. I often wondered why my grandmother napped so intently after supper. A marching band could be playing live in the living room and granny wouldn’t stir from her snooze on the couch. Blame mother’s eggnog.

Thank goodness Granny slept over and never walked back to her house on Christmas Eve otherwise she might have inspired the tune “Grandma got runover by the reindeer”. Sidenote…I wonder if Santa’s insurance would handle that claim?

Quite a lot has changed since I was a girl, but some things remain the same – Like Christmas Ham and fresh baked bread.

Christmas Ham

Recipe by Amelia Does DinnerCourse: Meat, Oven Baked

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

2

hours 

Ingredients

• Glaze

• 1/2 cup Orange Juice

• 1/2 cup Marmalade

• 1/4 cup Molasses

• 1/4 cup Brown Sugar

• 2 tbsp grated Ginger

• 1 tbsp Mustard

• 1 tbsp Black Pepper

• 1 dash Hot Sauce

• 3-4 drops Orange Bitters

• 1/4 cup Whisky/Bourbon (Optional)*

• Ham

• 5-7 lb Smoked Ham

• Cloves

Directions

• Glaze
• Add the orange juice, marmalade, sugar, ginger and mustard to a sauce pan.
• Gently boil for about 5 min. or until the mixture thickens up and coats the back of a spoon.
• Add the rest of the glaze ingredients, stir to combine.
• Ham
• Remove the packaging and netting from the Ham, wash and pat dry with paper towels.
• Make some cuts on the fat cap. Horizontal then diagonal.
• Stud the entire ham with cloves.
• Reserve 1/4 cup of the glaze, brush the ham with the glaze. Be sure to get the glaze inside the cuts.
• Add the ham to a roasting tray, add about 2 cups of water to the bottom of the tray and cook at 350F for 2 hours.
• Baste the ham with additional sauce every half hour or so.

Recipe Video

Notes

• Whisky Substitute – 1/4 cup orange juice
• Marmalade Substitute – Apricot Jam
• Glaze Thickness – If the glaze is too thick after all the ingredients, thin it out with a little extra orange juice. If the glaze is too thin, thicken it up with a little extra Marmalade. Alternatively you could gently cook the mixture for a few extra mins.