Quarantine Recipe for the leftover ham after Easter

Ingredients for scalloped potatoes and ham recipe
Ready to make dinner from leftover ham and red potatoes

My email inbox has no less than FOUR Quarantine Recipe Exchange chain mail letters. And each with these famous last words at the end: “Send to 20 friends via BCC. … The turnaround is fast, as there are only 2 names on the list and you only have to do this once.” This is a lie. If I only have to send it to 20 friends and 4 different people emailed me the letter, I have to email a copy of the letter to 80 people.

But I do have a blog, which although it has been pretty inactive lately, it is the perfect place to post recipes. This recipe is perfect for after Easter; I didn’t make as many mashed potatoes as usual since we didn’t have guests due to the quarantine, so I was able to use up my leftover red potatoes. We had plenty of leftover ham as well. The ham was a lovely ham, before I baked it. The packaging said it was the best ham around; I, however, dried the dickens out of that ham. Perhaps it was the bottle of wine I finished after the Easter BYOBAB (bring your own bottle and bread) social distanced communion service I attended; perhaps it was the lack of guests so I wasn’t as careful in the preparation of our dinner. As I took the ham out of the fridge, I thought, “This is a pretty heavy ham. I think 3 hours will do the trick.”

Three hours at 325° was waaaaay too long. Right before the three hour mark, I decided it was time to finally make the mashed red potatoes, so my lackadaisical planning added another half an hour. That 8 pound ham should have only been in the oven for 2 hours or less. It was completely dried out. But it still was very tasty in these scalloped potatoes I made for dinner last night.

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

About 4 cups sliced potatoes (I like to keep the skins on, but that is your preference.)
1/4 cup minced onion
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, minced 
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Heat oven to 350° F. Grease or spray a 9X13 inch casserole dish. Layer the potatoes, ham, onions and cheese twice. Melt butter and stir-fry garlic in a medium saucepan. (Due to my limited shopping trips right now, I don't have garlic, so I threw in some chopped onion. It worked out just fine!) Blend milk, cornstarch, salt and pepper. (I usually use a little less salt because the ham is salty, and a little more pepper just because.) Pour milk mixture slowly into saucepan with butter; cook and stir until thickened. Pour over potatoes. Bake for 1 hour or until potatoes are tender.
Scalloped Potatoes and Ham
Scalloped Potatoes and Ham with Cheese, garnished with green onions

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Sunday Night Supper

Last Sunday, Ed and I volunteered for the Sunday Night Supper, which is at a local church for people in need. This church is in a prosperous suburb of Chicago; and yet, there is definitely a need to provide food for people who are just scraping by and perhaps are even homeless.

Our group of volunteers provided the food and servers that night. I was assigned to a drink cart with two other woman; an assignment I thought would be an easy gig. We had six tables with 8 people at each table in our section, and we offered them apple juice, coffee, water and milk. Some of them wanted just apple juice, some wanted apple juice and milk, and some wanted everything. So we were kept very busy pouring drinks! Not only that, but most of them wanted refills throughout their meal of bratwurst, German potato salad and a hot apple compote. (Someone later told me that they loved the food we served, since many of the groups bring pasta since it is easy to make, and they get tired of it!)

It seemed that the same people come most Sundays; they are friends, and save room at the table for latecomers. The meal is over by 7:00, though, so you can’t be too late!

Back at the drink cart, if we ran out of apple juice, the person whose glass I was refilling would look concerned. No need to be, however. There was plenty of apple juice back in the kitchen. It seemed to me that our guests were stocking up on calories; the food and drinks we were providing may have been the most substantial and nutritious meal they would get that week. Altogether, about 96 people came to the Sunday Supper.

On the way out, however, they all received “goody bags” of fresh vegetable and some cookies, donated by a local grocery store.

Would I volunteer to pour drinks again on another Sunday?

That would be a yes!

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