Slice o' Ham

It seems ridiculous for a single person to buy a whole ham, or even half a ham, except for one little secret: the meat department will slice the ham for you, creating a series of dinner slices.  Just ask the meat counter to slice the half ham in 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices.  Each slice will give you a couple of dinners.

When you get home from the grocery store, you will need to separate the slices and freeze them individually.  I now use a vacuum sealer, but the person who taught me this used the following method.  She would put wax paper (two pieces work better) between the slices, wrap them up together in freezer paper, and then wrap them the package in aluminum foil.  I bought a large food storage box and put the freezer paper-wrapped package into that.  I've also put the individual ham slices straight into a freezer-weight zipper seal plastic bag, removed as much air as possible, and frozen them that way.

Freeze the end of the ham separately.  It can be cooked with beans or used to make soup. 

Ham that has been sliced at the store must be cooked.  Here is how to cook ham slices:

Materials:

Microwave
Microwavable plate or bacon tray, larger than ham slice.
Large baking pan
Aluminum foil
Standard Oven

Ingrediants:

Frozen Ham Slice
5 or 6 cloves (optional)
1 can pineapple (optional)
Small slosh of water
Oven gloves.

Method:

Set oven to 325 degrees and turn on.

Remove the ham slice from packaging and place on microwavable plate. (Note:  ham in vacuum seal bags can go straight in the microwave and no plate is needed.) Set the autodefrost function on the microwave to 1 lb.  If there is no autodefrost function, then set the power to 30% and run the microwave in five minute increments.  The ham need to be softish rather than completely thawed.

Put the ham slice (remove from vacuum seal bag if it is still in it) in the large baking tray and add the water.  If you want cloves, poke the stalks into the meat, no closer than two inches from each other.  Cover the pan  loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes to an hour, depending on the thickness of the slice, until hot. If you want, in the last ten minutes of cooking, pull back the aluminum foil and pour the pineapple over the ham.  Replace the foil and continue cooking.  While wearing the oven gloves, remove the pan from the oven and let the meat sit for ten minutes, then serve.

At this point, you are asking, have I ever been so stupid that I would reach into a hot oven and try to grab a pan without oven gloves on?  Well...  After doing something like that, you should immediately run cold water over your fingers, then put a cool gel pack on them for a few minutes.  Take some aspirin to reduce the burn.  Does that answer your question?

After eating, refrigerate leftovers in a tight-fitting container.