BUDGET BEATERS

THERE’S NO question
about it — summer’s over.
It’s time to come to terms
with the real meaning of life
— organizing your curling
team and getting your frac-
tional share of Canuck tick-
ets.

Or so I’m told by a great
authority — my husband.

For me, it’s more like the real
thing — making relish, paying the
-Visa bill (I did a nasty job on it
over the summer) and starting to
get the next two holidays orga-
nized.

Yes, that inflated Visa bill is
loaded with Christmas presents!
Every-vear I start earlier and I*d
like to say it helps.

We'll see.

At least I’ve got what 1 need by
way of wrapping paper. 1 swear
that I'll wrap each gift as I get it
— no more night-before, mid-
night cutting and taping.

In the next few weeks I'll re-run
a few make-ahead recipes and I’ll
include the much requested
Grandmother's Fruit Cake.

Meanwhile, I’m in Las Vegas
today.

Las Vegas is a dreadful place to
be writing about all the things you
ought to be doing at home.

Anyway, by the time Nevada is
through with us we'll need a few
Budget Beaters.

It may look like a big purchase
but the budget-conscious cook can
get more mileage out of a ham
than any other meat | know of.
No one is going to buy a whole
ham unless they’ve invited the en-
tire regiment for dinner.

But half hams, particularly the
butt portion, are an excellent buy.
Never pay full price for a ham!
Hams freeze very well — for
about four months. You'll find
that supermarkets feature them
prior to most holidays so make a
habit of buying one onsale. -

I prefer a bone-in ham. Sure,
boneless rolled hams give you

plenty of slices with little trouble
carving but the flavor isa't quite
the same, ‘'Toupie’’ hams
(boneless, rolled) are very lean but
have water added.

Packaged ham Slices are rarely a
good buy, cither as ham steaks or
sandwich meat,

Fully cooked hams are a sensi-
ble buy — all the juices you would
lose in cooking are already gone
and you don’t have to pay for
them. One exception — small
smoked pork butts (uncooked) are
often featured as low as 79¢ a
pound.

They are generally very small —
two to three pounds, and very
fatty. My solution is to simmer
them in a big pot of boiling water
with plenty of celery tops, bay
leaves, whole cloves and pepper-
corns, Chill both the broth and
the ham.

Skim the fat from the broth (it
lifts right off} and cut the skin
and fat from the meat. You'll still
have enough of both for a family
dinner and a pot of soup.

Everyone's Favorite Ham Glaze

Say what you will about
pineapple, but apricots and ham
are superb. This quantity is
enough for one six-pound fully
cooked butt-portion hain.

Y: cup prepared honey mustard
1-6 or 7 oz. jar apricot preserves
(or the equivaient of home-made)
Y cup apricot liqueur

1 tin — 14 oz. — apricot halves
parsley and a bright red fruit for
garnish (try red apple stices dipped
in lemon juice)

Simmer the mustard, preserves
and liqueur together for five
minutes — stir it often, Bake your
ham, tented with foil, for an hour
or so — long enough 10 render off
most of the exterior fat. Drain this
away.

With a sharp knife, score the
outer top side of the ham about
V4". Spoon half the glaze over.
Cook another hour and add the
remaining glaze. To serve, arrange
the apricots, parsley and red fruit
around the hara,

eeo

When the first meal is over,
chill the ham before cutting it up
for other uses. The glazed bits are
great for sandwiches. Dice the
unglazed leftovers and package in
one-cup quantities. One package
is about right to add to soup.

Two packages will make a loaf
or casserole.

Ham Loaf
2c. finely minced cooked ham
lc. fine dry breadcrumbs
2 eggs
¥% ec. milk

* IT small onion, finely chopped

1 sprig parsley, snipped or 1 teas-
poon parsley flakes

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 isp. prepared mustard (try Deli-
style)

Combine ham and bread-
crumbs. Beat the eggs with the
milk and stir in. Add remaining
ingredients.

Introductory wine course offered

MARK DAVIDSON and Park
Heffelfinger of the newly founded
Vancouver Wine Academy aim to
provide Vancouver enthusiasts
with a wine study program.

The first of the academy's ‘“‘In-
troductions to Wine Study’ is
scheduled for this fall.

Davidson, The William Tell
restaurant’s diploma
and Heffelfinger, North Shore
Wine Cellar’s merchant, will co-
host the sessions.

The two wine experts have a
total of 30 years of restaurant
beverage experience between them,
two diplomas with the Interna-
tional Wine Academy, and one
diploma, Wine & Spirit Educa-
tion, London.

sommelier, ,

The beginner’s A-level com-
mences Oct. 5 for eight con-
secutive Tuesday nights through
Nov. 23.

All major wine-producing
countries will be covered, and
fundamentals of wine-making,
grape-growing and tasting will be
included.

In the new year, for graduates
of A-level, or for those with
previous wine study background,
the B-level program will delve
further into the individual regions
with more emphasis placed on
sensory evaluation.

The cost per session is $250.

For more information contact
Mark Davidson at 733-6948 or
Park Heffelfinger at 879-3337.

¥2 c, brown sugar

% ¢, crnshed pineapple, well
drained

Lisp, dry mustard

Spray a medium-sized loaf pan.
Stir the pineapple mixture together
and spread on the bottom. You
can get fancy with this and add
pineapple rings and cherries if you
like. Spoon ham mixture over the
top.

Bake at 350°F, 1 hour. Allow to
stand at least 10 minutes before
turning out, This will serve 6,
leftavers make good sandwiches.

Try serving it with mashed
potatoes, creamed onions and a
grecn vegetable.

Split Pea Soup

1 meaty ham bone
L cup diced ham (reserve)
10 cups waicr
2 cups dried split peas (green or
yellow)
1 large carrot cut in chunks
1 large onion, cut in chunks
3 bay leaves

Ina deep pot — Dutch oven
size — combine the ham bone,
water, split peas, vegetables and
bay leaves, Bring to a boil and
lower heat. Simmer two hours.
Remove bay leaves. This is very
important because bay leaves can
choke an unsuspecting diner.

Remove ham bone and cut away |

any remaining meat.

Reserve meat,

If you like your soup a bit
chunky, simply mash it up with a
potato masher, Season to taste —
watch the salt as some ham is
salty. Stir in reserved ham and
diced ham.

We prefer our soup very
smooth. | remove the carrots and
slice them, After discarding the
ham bone and bay leaves, I buzz
the pea-onion mixture in the
blender. Return it to the pot, add
the sliced carrots and ham and
reheat.

Pea soup is better made a day
ahead. It thickens considerably.

TO OUR VALUED “60 PLUS” CUSTOMERS:

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