never order a ham again

Almost every Thanksgiving my brother-in-law will order a ham from that honey place, but this year I decided I wanted to tackle it on my own…I mean it surely couldn’t be that hard.

First I had to decide if I wanted the it to be sweet, more spicy or fruity.  After discussing it with The Hubby we decided a combo of sweet and spicy would be the way to go so off we went.  Second we had to find the ham…off to the store we went.  After looking at several of the hams piled up we decided on a 9 pound bone-in hickory smoked one.  The name alone sounded yummy so anything I added to it seemed like it was only going to make it better…now it was time to start thinking about the glaze/topping.

I wanted the topping to be something to remember for sure…I wanted it to be sweet, a little spicy with a little kick all in the same bite so the real fun began.  In a small bowl I started to combine brown sugar and the spices and then decided to add in some bourbon & maple for the little extra kick.  Now if you don’t want to use bourbon or don’t have any you can use chicken stock or water but you might want to amp up the spices a bit.  For me the bourbon balanced the brown sugar, maple syrup and spices and as it cooked down it just helped to intensify all the spices…making it so yummy!!

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As the ham cooked the topping began to caramelize and penetrate the ham making a perfect little crust while adding tons of flavor…trust me after making this super easy ham I will never order another one again!

Let the ham be a show stopped this Thanksgiving with this super easy but CRAZY delicious maple bourbon baked ham.

Make everyday sparkle – MJ