Ham Loaf Recipe - from Family Christmas Online^TM

Warning: This recipe is dangerously delicious. Since we first tried this recipe for a family Christmas celebration several years ago, we have not been permitted to fix anything else for Christmas since. In fact, one year my nephew said all he wanted for Christmas from us was his own pan of ham loaf.

It does require a little planning, since not every grocery store has the meat: ground ham and ground pork in about a 50/50 ratio. We order ours from an area butcher a few days before we plan to pick it up.

Here's how delicious this is: Once the butcher mixed our order with someone else's, and I brought home twice as much as we usually get for the same "crowd." Yes, we needed two pans, and we needed to increase the other ingredients. But the "upshot" was that, by the end of the day, there were still no leftovers.

The recipe below is said to feed between four and six people, but that's assuming everyone is satisfied with a reasonable portion. For family get-togethers (usually 9 people) we used to double it. Now that there are two married couples, we'll probably have to triple it. Again, you don't have to be afraid of cooking too much; there are almost never any leftovers. And if there are, make sure you get to them first - it tastes just as good the next day.

What You Need

For this recipe you'll need:

For the Ham Loaf:
• 3 1/2 lb. ham loaf mixture (mixed ground pork and ham, from butcher)
• dash of cloves
• 2 eggs
• 1 Cup Cracker crumbs
• 1 1/2 Cup milk or pinapple juice (or 3/4 cup each)
For the Glaze:
• 1 1/2 Cup brown sugar
• 1/2 Cup vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon of mustard
• 1/2 Cup water and pineapple juice (mixture)

Doing the Cooking

1. Turn the oven to 350F.
2. Knead or stir the ingredients for the ham loaf together.
3. You may press the mix into a cake pan or divide it into individual loaves on a cookie sheet.
4. Poke holes for the glaze to go into and suffuse the meat. This is especially important if you are using a cake pan.
5. Bake about 1 1/2 hours at 350F, adding glaze every few minutes. Please be absolutely certain the loaf is cooked clear through, as the recipe does contain pork and eggs.

Hope this gives you some ideas and helps your holiday gathering to be the best ever.

Please let us know if you have any feedback suggestions, additions, or corrections.

Happy Holidays,

Paul Race

FamilyChristmasOnline.com