Hot Spiced Fruit and Smoked Ham!

 Welcome to part two of our Christmas weekend adventures. Christmas morning we opened more gifts and had hot spiced fruit. Throughout the day we Skype'd with my family members across the lower 48. For dinner, I smoked a ham and yams, Stacy made garlic green beans and we made cheddar bread.
     Hot spiced fruit is a tradition in my family growing up and Stacy and I have made it a tradition for our family too. It is fairly easy to prepare in the crockpot. We usually mix all the ingredients up in the crockpot and let it cook on low all night. In the morning the house smells nice and you have a meal waiting for you. I'll give you the recipe then tell you how we actually make it at our house.
1 large can pears
1 large can pineapple chunks
reserve 1 and 1/2 cup of the juice and to it add:
1/2 cup orange marmalade
1 stick cinnamon or a tablespoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
bring juice mixture to boil and cook for 2-3 minutes
reduce heat, stir in the fruit and heat for 20 minutes.

Now what we actually do is even easier. We open various cans of fruit like pears, pineapple and peaches and pour them juice and all into the crockpot. We also clean out the freezer and add any fruit that has been in there too long or looks freezer burnt. For the marmalade we use whatever jam or jelly we feel like. Fresh oranges are a good addition too. Just make sure that you keep the spice amounts the same as the original recipe. One year I added too many whole cloves and it was way too spicy. We froze the rest all year and added it the batch we made the next year without adding more spices and it was perfect. We then cook it in the crockpot on low all night. In the morning we eat it warm. Cool whip, or vanilla ice cream are good in it plus it makes a great ice cream topping.
     For Christmas dinner, I rubbed a bone in smoked ham with honey mustard dressing and a maple honey sauce. I smoked it over indirect heat with apple wood for about 2 and a half hours at 300 degrees till the internal temp was over 155 degrees.  I basted the ham several times after the first hour with the mustard sauce. Also, I roasted some yams for an hour until their skin was gently yielding to light pressure. The ham had an amazing flavor of smoke and sweet mustard. The yams had a light smokey flavor. The bread was also really good. In fact the whole meal was good.

MMM! Cheesy bread goodness. We used homemade bread!

Double smoked ham!

Smoked yams and potato!

  We had a really good Christmas. For new years, I am going to smoke some ribs using my new rib rack. Have a happy new year! Happy Grillin!

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