Easter is right around the corner and as you gear up for egg hunts, sweet treats and big family dinners, Hormel Foods has some entertaining and ham preparation tips that will make Easter party-throwing less stressful and more enjoyable for everyone. Easter entertaining is easy with tips from Joan Hanson, test kitchen director of Hormel Foods:
- Color-code your eggs. Before the big Easter egg hunt, assign specific colors to different age groups. This way, the older kids won’t scoop up all the eggs from the younger ones.
- Make an Easter egg tree. Hang colored eggs with ribbon from a small tree branch to decorate.
- Make an Easter basket centerpiece. Line an Easter basket or heavy woven basket with heavy plastic and fill with potting soil. Plant your favorite spring flowers in the basket. Or, plant spring flowers in tiny terra cotta pots for your holiday centerpiece.
Now for the main attraction – the ham: Whether basting, glazing or baking, below are some easy preparation tips for selecting and cooking your perfect Easter ham:
- Freshen your flavor. When choosing between water-added versus natural juice ham, purchase the premium, natural juice ham. Natural juice hams have less added ingredients so you are getting more meat and flavor and less added ingredients such as water.
- Don’t dry out. For those concerned with drying out the ham, choose a ready-made ham, such as Hormel® Cure 81® Oven Ready spiral. Your guests will enjoy a moist and juicy ham every time with Fool Proof® cook-in-the-bag technology.
- Glaze it up. Once you choose your Easter ham, spruce it up by basting with a simple glaze like Pineapple Marmalade, Honey Mustard, Raisin or Cherry. Click on the "Recipes" tab to find more recipes.