Easter is still pretty far away. But when a friend of mine offered up half a ham she got from a CSA, I jumped. I thought of all the omelets, soups and sandwiches we would be making from a farm fresh ham. I made room in my fridge for the generous gift and began cooking up ideas for how to use it.

But first, I had some questions...

The ham was labeled "smoked." But did that mean cooked? And if it was cooked, did that mean I still had to heat it to a certain temperature? There are intricate instructions at the USDA site, which reveal that an uncooked ham needed to be cooked to 160 F, and a cooked ham 140. There were different rules for farm hams, bone-in hams, smoked cooked hams and smoked hams that needed to be cooked. I was at a loss. Fortunately, the name of the meat processor was on the plastic wrapping. I looked them up, gave them a call and got a great answer.

"It's cooked. Warm it up if you want to, but it's good to go! Enjoy."

I did.

I warmed it in the oven and placed it on a platter. It looked so much like the "Green Eggs and Ham" ham, I had to run with it. I sprayed a skillet with Pam and cracked a few eggs into it. When the whites started to cook, I poured about a cup of water tinted green with food coloring over top and covered. I poached the eggs until done and they came out good and green. The kids LOVED the concept and ate pieces of ham with their eggs. I enjoyed a salad topped with ham cubes and baked a sweet potato as a side dish.

I sliced up the remaining ham, removing the bone and set aside. We have been eating sandwiches and enjoying our feast. Today, I decided put the bone, some of the leftover ham and a bag of dried beans in the slow cooker and 6 hours later had a deeply flavorful soup that was so filling, I don't think I'll eat again for days!

Ham is often gluten-free and many brands say so. Here is a short list of those brands*:
Dietz and Watson
Hormel
Sam's Club spiral ham is labeled gluten-free
Oscar Mayer
Boar's Head

Simple Ham and Bean Soup
Bone from ham with as much extra ham as desired
1 box broth
1 bag plain dried beans, presoaked (I used Kroger brand Cannellini and Pinto mix)
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 sweet onion sliced into large pieces

Put ingredients into very large slow cooker and cook on low 6-8 hours. No salt should be needed, as most ham is salty, and garlic and onion do the job well. Serve with Bob's Red Mill cornbread.

* Ask the butcher to wipe the machine before slicing ham if you chose to have it sliced. A good tip is to go to the meat market early in the morning, so you are the first to be served and avoid cross contamination.