What a Ham

I did it!  Christmas Eve dinner went very well.  Here's what I learned.

1.  I like ham, when prepared with care.
2.  It may appear fancy and difficult but this was one of the easiest dishes I have ever prepared.  The most difficult thing was dropping whatever else I was working on to reapply glaze every twenty minutes and finding counter space to do so in a busy kitchen. Totally worth it.
3.  Keeping the sides simple yet tasty, made the whole dinner come together without stress.
4.  Having some family on hand to pull everything together made the whole meal even better.
5.  A ten pound ham feeds six people (and a lucky dog who got to the ham bone) several times over. We will be eating leftovers all week.

Have a great week. 

Using my trusty food processor grating blade to make the carrot relish. IT WAS AWESOME. 

After 90 minutes in the oven, it was time to begin glazing every 20 minutes for the next 90 minutes or so.

Shaking the brussel sprouts... a proven technique.

I'm smiling, but I'm thinking  THIS IS HEAVY!

green bean casserole! I did not do the homemade fried onions.  Those are French's. How Ironic!

Ryan intently making a mountain of mashed potatoes.

My sister and her awesome sweet potato pie!