Pondering the question in the title of this post? You should be scratching your head a bit because it is a trick question. ANY holiday is perfect for a holiday ham! In fact, you don’t even have to see a major holiday on the calendar to want to make a great meal for your family. While Easter or Christmas are common time when many families think about having a holiday ham, these are far from being the only occasions when you might grab a whole or half country ham and dress it up a bit.
So, how should you create the perfect holiday ham regardless of when you’ll be having it? It is simple, really. One way is to first boil your country ham for a bit to get it to a consistent temperature throughout without drying it out. Then put it in a roasting pan and cover it with pineapple and maraschino cherries. You can place rings of pineapple with the cherry in the middle, or you can mix up crushed pineapple with some brown sugar and press onto the ham and intersperse with whole or halved cherries for decoration and color.
Let it bake in a hot oven (400 degrees Fahrenheit works well) for about 20 to 30 minutes. If you aren’t fond of pineapple, you can use a different type of glaze, such as a cranberry glaze, honey glaze, or just the brown sugar with a touch of sherry or soda.
Let your imagination run wild on how to dress up your holiday ham. Just be sure to start with a quality product, and you’ll do fine! At Hobe’s Country Ham, we are confident that our country ham will be the hit of the day, whether it is Easter, Christmas, or something else. You can find our country hams at local retailers. Merry any holiday!