Ham Salad Spread - after Easter Treat

One of the things I liked best about Easter dinner was the left over ham. I'd been wanting ham salad sandwiches and after a couple of meals of leftover ham and the sides that went with it, we were ready. This recipe for Ham Salad Spread will make a good spread for sandwiches all summer when you want a lighter meal and a change from the usual deli meat sandwiches. You could even serve it on a lettuce leaf as a salad itself.
Besides tasting good, it is easy to prepare. Don't have left over ham? Use some cubed ham from the grocery store, already cooked. Want a smaller amount? Just reduce the ingredients, maybe one egg, a little chopped celery and pickle relish, a dash of mustard, and enough mayonnaise to make the consistency spreadable.

HAM SALAD SPREAD

3 cups ground fully cooked ham

2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

2 tablespoons finely chopped celery

4 teaspoons sweet pickle relish

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard

Directions: Mix ham, eggs, celery, and pickle relish together in a bowl. Combine mayonnaise and mustard together in a separate bowl, pour over ham mixture. Stir to coat. Refrigerate until serving time. 

Ham was the star of Easter dinner, but the other dishes
were great also. 

Hot Cross Buns

     Today, on Easter Sunday, we've heard many traditions explained and celebrated. Symbols of Easter that remind us of our Christian faith include the Holy Cross, decorated eggs, Easter lilies, lambs, and Hot Cross Buns. Our family usually enjoys an Easter dinner of ham, cheesy potatoes, asparagus, and deviled eggs. Today our pre-church snack was Hot Cross Buns.
     Traditionally, Hot Cross Buns are made with currents or raisins and marked with a cross slit into the top and piped icing forming a cross on top. The buns were eaten during Lent and especially on Good Friday. This recipe for Hot Cross Buns would also work anytime for a sweet, spicy and fruity bread. Thanks to Fleischmann's Breadworld for the great recipe for any brunch celebration.

HOT CROSS BUNS    

 Ingredients: 

3 ¼ - 3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 envelope RapidRise yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ cup milk

¼ cup water

¼ cup butter or margarine

2 eggs

½ cup dried currants or raisins

1 egg white. lightly beaten

Glaze:

Your favorite icing/glaze or –

¾ cup powdered sugar

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2-3 teaspoons milk

To make dough: Combine 1 cup flour, sugar, undissolved yeast, salt, lemon peel and nutmeg in a large mixer bowl. Heat milk, water and butter until very warm (120-130 degrees); stir into flour mixture. Stir in eggs, currents, and enough remaining flour to make soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes. Cover; let rest 10 minutes. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces; form each into a ball. Place (2 inches apart) on greased large baking sheet. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 35-50 minutes. With sharp knife, cut a shallow cross in the top of each bun. Brush egg white over tops. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until done. Remove from pan; cool on wire rack. Drizzle with icing in shape of cross.

 

The dough kneaded well even though
it was soft......

and a bit sticky for my helper's hands!

The balls of dough rose to a larger bun than I thought they would!
Here you can see the crosses cut into the dough. 

Baked, ready for icing. 

My notes:

I used a dough whisk to mix the dough before kneading.

We like craisins instead of raisins or currents.

Next time, I’ll make more than 12 balls, the buns were large!

fun tools to have - a dough whisk and a lame (dough knife for
slashing dough - basically a razor with a handle)

Easter Eggs

Lots of my friends are becoming "chicken ladies" now. Luckily one of them lives only a couple of miles away. Last week when I was baking a birthday cake, I realized I had only 2 of the 3 eggs needed for the recipe - a quick text to the neighbor "eggs?", the reply - "on my way to town, I'll drop by with a couple of dozen". Who said living in the boonies was inconvenient?
We've learned some things about eggs since buying eggs from the farm instead of the grocery store. The selection is much more interesting! This winter when the hens took a vacation, I brought home eggs from the grocery store. When I opened the carton, ohh, they were all white and the same size - how dull! I've read that for dying Easter eggs brown eggs work best for absorbing the dye color. We are saving that project for next year when Granddaughter is older.
Another thing to know about farm fresh eggs is that they are that - fresh! That was very evident when I made Deviled Eggs last weekend for Easter dinner. Eggs which are not-so-fresh are much easier to peel. If you're buying them from the store, check the carton for the closest 'sell by' date. This is one time when buying the product that is less fresh is better.
From the King Arthur website I learned a few more tricks for hard cooked eggs. One I had not known, but will definitely use again is to prop the carton on its side in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours. You may need to secure the top with a rubber band. This floats the yoke to the center of the egg, making a much more attractive deviled egg with the yoke-space to fill evenly in the center of the white. Cooking times for eggs are based on room temperature eggs. So take them out of the refrigerator to bring them to room temp before cooking. If you forget this step, allow them to set in a bowl of hot tap water for ten minutes.
Now here's a good plan for cooking the eggs to just the right firmness. What a mess to undercook the eggs you want to use for deviled eggs and end up with a weepy white and a gooey yolk. Not a safe product to eat either! Place the eggs in a single layer in the cooking pot and cover with water by about 1 inch. Bring to a rolling boil. Then remove the pan from the heat and cover with a tight fitting lid. This way the eggs will slowly cook in hot water. No cracked shells and poached whites escaping. Time is important, for medium eggs allow 12 minutes, for large 17 minutes, and for extra large 19 minutes. Then drain the eggs.
Place the eggs in a bowl of ice water to cool. This eliminates the green ring that can develop if eggs cool too slowly. When cool, peel and continue with your favorite deviled egg recipe or refrigerate to use within a week. An easy way to peel the egg is to tap the flat end on a hard surface to crack it and peel under cold running water. Even with using the fresh eggs I had this made peeling easier and only a few wore a mangled surface.
Deviled eggs are a favorite no-think covered-dish-to-take. And there are never any left to bring home! Glad I found that article by King Arthur Flour to learn more about eggs!