Housekeeper's Chat: A Dinner to be Thankful For

Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.

Housekeepers' Chat. Tuesday, November, 26, 1929.

Subject: "A Dinner to be Thankful For." Menu and recipes from Bureau of Home Economics, U.S.D.A.

Leaflet available: "Pork in Preferred Ways."

We shall waste no time with preliminaries this morning. Time is particularly valuable, just before Thanksgiving.

The feature of today's program is Roast Fresh Ham with Apricot Stuffing. That's the recipe I promised you yesterday, and that is the recipe I shall give you. First, though, let's glance over the menu, headed by this excellent dish: Roast Fresh Ham with Apricot Stuffing; Riced Potatoes; Buttered Cauliflower; Quick-cooked Spinach; Grapefruit Salad; and Pumpkin or Cranberry Pie.

Now we're ready for the recipe. Eight ingredients, for Roast Fresh Ham with Apricot Stuffing:

One 12-pound fresh ham
1 pound dried apricots
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
4 cups fine dry bread crumbs, and
1-1/2 teaspoons salt

Eight ingredients. Please see whether you have eight ingredients, for Roast Fresh Ham, with Apricot Stuffing: (Repeat ingredients).

Stuffed ham is as good sliced cold, as it is hot from the oven, so choose one weighing at least twelve pounds. We want to have some left over, for Friday. Have your butcher trim off the skin, and remove the bones. Of course you could do this yourself, at home, with a sharp knife.

This is the way to make the Apricot Stuffing: Wash and drain the apricots, but do not soak or cook them. Cut into narrow strips, with scissors. Melt the butter in a skillet. Add the celery, the parsley, and the onion. Cook for a few minutes. Add the fine dry bread crumbs, and the salt, then the apricots, and stir until well mixed, and hot. So much for the stuffing.

Now we shall turn our attention to the ham. Wipe the boned ham with a damp cloth, lay it fat side down, and cut a few gashes in the thickest part of the lean, to make more room for stuffing. Be careful not to cut through to the outside fat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, spread some of the hot apricot stuffing over the meat, and, beginning at the hock, sew the cut edges together to form a pocket. Gradually work in the rest of the stuffing, finally sew up the butt end, and rub the outside with salt, pepper, and flour.

The next step is to put the stuffed ham into the oven. Place it, fat side up, on a rack, in an open pan without water. Sear it in a hot oven for 30 minutes, or until lightly browned. Then reduce the oven rapidly to very moderate heat, and continue the roasting until the meat is tender. In case you don't know, a hot oven is about 480 degrees Fahrenheit, and a moderate oven about 325 degrees.

In a moderate oven, a 12-pound ham will require about five hours to cook. Don't cover it, and don't add water. While roasting, leave the ham fat side up, and it should not need basting.

When the meat is done, thoroughly done, lift the roast ham onto a hot platter, clip, and carefully draw out the strings, and garnish with parsley, or celery tops. Serve it with a savory brown gravy. Make the gravy from the pan drippings, seasoned with a little chopped parsley, celery seed, lemon juice, and tabasco sauce.

Do you know how to carve a roast stuffed ham? It's quite a simple procedure. I know a man who always insists on having roast boned ham for Thanksgiving, because he can't carve a turkey gracefully. To carve a roast stuffed ham, start at the butt end of the ham, and cut straight down, across the grain of the meat, and through the stuffing. Every slice will be the right blend of meat and stuffing, neat in shape, and full of flavor.

Let's repeat this menu once more, just to be sure we have it all. 'Twould be a shame, to omit any part of this delicious dinner: Roast Fresh Ham with Apricot Stuffing; Riced Potatoes; Buttered Cauliflower; Quickcooked Spinach; Grapefruit Salad; and pumpkin or Cranberry Pie. If you serve coffee with the pie, then you might like to serve, with the main course, cider, ginger ale, or a fruit juice. And of course you'll want celery, olives, salted nuts, and perhaps some candy.

I haven't said much about decorations for the holiday table. Everybody knows what is appropriate for the Thanksgiving board—flowers, fruit, leaves, cones, evergreen branches, bittersweet, nuts, ears of corn, chestnut burrs—all these have their possibilities, and are in keeping with the spirit of the day. However, let's not try to use all of them at one time. Flowers suggest one type of decoration, while fruit and nuts suggest another.

There's one nice thing about a bowl of assorted fruits as a centerpiece—it can be used as a dessert. Am I not a practical housewife?

Chrysanthemums are beautiful Thanksgiving flowers. Don't use the large variety of chrysanthemums. They require tall vases, and tall vases obscure the view. I don't like to have to peer around the side of a tall vase, to see who's talking to me. If you choose chrysanthemums, select the small variety, which may be placed in a low bowl.

Tomorrow—let's see, what's on the program for tomorrow? An old-fashioned turkey dinner, for those who say Thanksgiving is not Thanksgiving, without turkey and cranberry sauce. So tomorrow we talk turkey.

Bureau of Home Economics, A Dinner to Be Thankful For, U.S.D.A, 1929.

U.S.D.A.

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