Mother's Day Lunch

Sunday was Mother's Day so Amanda and I made this lunch for my mother to show her how much we care about her. Hopefully it was tasty enough to get that message across. I knew I wanted to do a big ham because everyone loves ham (even Amanda sometimes)! I then built the rest of the menu around that dish with some help from Amanda. I think it all came together pretty well.

Baked Ham with Orange Glaze
(from The Taste of Home Cookbook)

Ingredients

1/2 bone-in fully cooked lean ham (6-7 lbs)
2 cups apple cider
2 cups orange juice
1/3 cup marmalade
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions

• Place ham on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Trim fat; score surface of ham, making diamond shapes 1/4 in. deep. Add cider and orange juice to pan. Loosely cover ham with foil; bake at 325° for 1 hour.
• Combine remaining ingredients; brush some over ham. Bake, uncovered, 50-60 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 140° and ham is heated through, brushing occasionally with glaze.
• Let stand for 15 minutes before slicing. Serve with remaining glaze.

Classic Potato Salad
(from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook Bridal Edition)

Ingredients
6 medium potatoes (2 lbs)
1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup thinly sliced celery
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup relish
6 hard-cooked eggs

Directions
A. In a medium saucepan place potatoes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and enough water to cover. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 20 to 25 minutes or until just tender. Drain well; cool slightly. Peel and cube the potatoes
B. Meanwhile, for dressing, in a large bowl combine the mayonnaise, mustard, the 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper.
C. Stir in the celery, onion, and pickles. Add the potatoes and eggs. Toss lightly to coat. Cover and chill for 6 to 24 hours.
D. To serve, if desired, line a salad bowl with lettuce leaves. Transfer the potato salad to the bowl. If desired, sprinkle with paprika.

Waldorf Salad
(from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook Bridal Edition)

Ingredients
2 cups chopped apples
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup seedless green grapes, halved
1/3 cup vanilla low-fat yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise

Directions
1. In a medium bowl toss apples with lemon juice. Stir in celery, nuts, raisins, and grapes.
2. For dressing, stir together yogurt and mayonnaise. Add dressing to apple mixture; toss gently to coat. Serve immediately or cover and chill for up to 8 hours.

Cool 'n Easy Strawberry Pie
(from Kraft)

Ingredients

2/3 cup boiling water
1 pkg (4-serving size) strawberry Jello-O
Ice Cubes
1/2 cup cold water
1 tub (8 oz) cool whip lite
1 cup chopped strawberries
1 ready-to-use graham cracker crust
1 cup sliced strawberries

Directions
Stir boiling water into dry gelatin mix in large bowl at least 2 min until completely dissolved. Add enough ice to cold water to measure 1 cup. Add to gelatin; stir until slightly thickened. Remove any unmelted ice.

Add whipped topping; stir with wire whisk until well blended. Stir in chopped strawberries. Refrigerate 20 to 30 minutes or until mixture is very thick and will mound. Spoon into crust.

Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight until firm. Top with sliced strawberries. Store in refrigerator.

Amanda's Analysis:
Ham - I was pleasantly surprised by this. Ham is not my favorite meat (shh, don't tell John's family), but this was really good. The orange marmalade added a great flavor to the ham and it was cooked very well. I give it 6 spoons.
Potato Salad - This was pretty good. I am not very patient when it comes to chopping all the ingredients, so I think the potatoes and celery could have been smaller and more bite sized. The flavor was good, but pretty simple. I think next time I would research something more to add to the salad to add more flavor. I give it 5 spoons.
Waldorf Salad - Again, I think I chopped the ingredients too large. Otherwise it was a simple and easy recipe. Possibly could have used some more flavors going on. I give it 5 spoons.
Strawberry pie - This was really good. I would recommend waiting to put the strawberries on top until right before you are going to serve it. We put them on and then put it in the freezer so the strawberries were frozen and hard to eat. This is a great quick and easy summer desert. I give it 6 spoon.

John's Jibba-Jabba:
Ham - This turned out really well. I was nervous (Amanda as well) about trying something like this with the long baking time and all. I really though the ginger was the key to bringing the flavors all together. Next time though I may try something extra to give it just a bit more zing. This receives 6 spoons from me.
Potato Salad - This salad turned out well too. I would have liked to omit the eggs because they don't add much and their texture does not go well with the potatoes. I also would have liked a creamier sauce. Other than those two issues it tasted good and gets 5 spoons.
Waldorf Salad - This salad was just ok. The fruit was good but the dressing was not that great, I think it was the mayo that did not work for me. I would like to try a different Waldorf salad in the future because I think it has potential. This one only gets 4 spoons.
Strawberry pie - The strawberries really made this pie great. They were perfectly ripened and full of flavor. I put the pie in the freezer so it would setup faster and it ended up getting too hard too quickly. It would have been nice to keep it in the fridge and taste it when it was a little softer. Even with that small hiccup this was a really good and easy pie. It deserves 6 spoons.