These days, traditional Sunday Dinner has mostly gone by the wayside. Busy schedules of smaller families living across the country have made meals of “cheater’s chicken” or carved ham from the grocery hot counter more the norm. But preparing and serving a baked ham from home is really no more expensive or difficult than picking up a pre-cooked meal at the store. It’s all in the mindset.

We had a lot of fun reliving the Sunday Dinner tradition with our baked ham. But the best part was the leftovers, which is really why I baked the ham in the first place.

It’s show and tell time in this installment of Recipe of the Week  where I’ll share the  entrees my family of four devoured (plus sandwiches) from our 10-pound, bone-in ham.  (gThankYou to all noted for these recipes.)

1. Ham & Bean Soup: This fantastic version published recently in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that I made is from the  Bogus Creek Cafe & Bakery in Stockholm, Wisconsin. This eatery was also written up by Jane and Michael Stern of Road Food, Gourmet Magazine and Splendid Table fame. Seriously good.
2. Ham & Cheese Crêpes: Julia Child’s influence lives on in my kitchen as I continue to find new ways to serve her crêpes. This time,  it was Ham & Cheese Crêpes I found at Cookography.
3. Ham & Cheese Quiche: I score extra points anytime I can sneak spinch into a dish. This Ham, Swiss & Spinache Quiche went down just fine.

Rediscover Sunday Dinner, and all the rewards that follow. It’s worth every minute.

Choices abound. Fresh or frozen? Locally raised or produced nationally? Organic, natural or conventional? Heritage breed or Broad Breasted White? Pre-brined or unbrined bird? And how big does the Turkey need to be to stuff (er, feed) everyone and leave enough leftovers? (Confused yet?)

Luckily, there’s plenty of advice on how to choose the best Turkey to fit your needs. So, along with a sampling of turkey recipes, gThankYou this week offers a cornucopia of advice on choosing your bird.

• Choosing the Perfect Turkey with a gThankYou! to Slashfood.com.
• Let’s Talk Turkey with a gThankYou! to the money-saving gurus at The Dollar Stretcher.
• Guide to Choosing the Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey with a gThankYou! to Sabah Karimi at Associated Content.
• Miracle Cure or Just Salt Water? with a gThankYou to Harold McGee, the New York Times’ Curious Cook.
• Roast Salted Turkey with a gThankYou! to the LA Times Test Kitchen.
• Turkey Confit with a gThankYou! to Mark Bittman.
• And, for good measure, Best Way Brined Turkey with a gThankYou! to the SanFrancisco Chronicle.

Inform yourself about what will work best for your celebration and have fun picking your Thanksgiving Turkey!

Lynn Welch is a contributor to gThankYou, LLC, based in Madison, WI.  gThankYou® Certificates of Gratitude™ are one way savvy companies recognize employees’ great work at Holiday Time. The company is best known for its Turkey Gift Certificates, Ham Gift Certificates, and Grocery Gift Cards.

Celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving

Turkey sits in the center of the table with all the fixings. For a primer on a full Canadian Thanksgiving celebration and meal, check in with Canadian Living Magazine online.

Whether you’re marking Thanksgiving today or next month, it’s time to brush up on just how to prepare that turkey. Here are a few favorite suggestions:

• Roast Turkey with Pan Gravy with a gThankYou! to CanadianLiving.com.

• Maple Orange-Glazed Turkey Roast with a gThankYou! to RecipeZaar.

• Brined Roast Turkey and Gravy with a gThankYou! to FoodNetwork Canada.

• Slow Cooker Turkey Breast with a gThankYou! to Kitchen Parade.e

• And, with a gThankYou! to our friends at Butterball, Deep Fried Turkey.

Check back frequently as we fill the blog with new turkey recipes. After all, it’s turkey season!

Lynn Welch is a contributor to gThankYou, LLC, based in Madison, WI.  gThankYou® Certificates of Gratitude™ are one way savvy companies recognize employees’ great work at Holiday Time. The company is best known for its Turkey Gift Certificates, Ham Gift Certificates, and Grocery Gift Cards.

So, we’d like to show our thanks by sharing some of the delicious looking ham recipes we’ve found lately.

I don’t know what the weather is like where you live, but here in Wisconsin it’s been chilly the past few days; temps are in the 30s when we hit the deck and with the sun up later, it’s beginning to feel like we’re well into autumn.

For the hearty appetites that come with that kind of weather, here are four tempting pasta dishes with ham.

Enjoy!

• Pasta Shells with Peas and Ham with a gThankYou! to KUTV Channel 2, Salt Lake City, UT.

• Five Ingredient Pasta and Ham Meal with a gThankYou! to Busy Cooks at About.com

• Ham Macaroni Salad with a gThankYou! to Taste of Home.

• Fettuccine with Ham and Clams with a gThankYou! to News 10, Syracuse, NY.

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