Pickles and Pineapple

 
Or what do we do with theleftover ham after Easter?

We had a really good ham forEaster this year—flavorful but mild, the kind that doesn’t need mustard orhorseradish sauce or any disguise. But even with twelve people, we had a tonleft over. Jordan has been telling me she doesn’t like ham, which cuts me outof ham dishes on our menus. But now, trying to avoid carbs, she and I are botheating ham for lunch. Still a bunch leftover. I can make myself ham salad,which I like a lot—it makes terrific sandwiches. And tonight I made a hamcheeseball, which was pretty good. Online recipes sources are full of ways touse that ham, but most just don’t intrigue me. Like mac and cheese with ham—I’mjust not a mac and cheese person. Scalloped potatoes with ham sounds a lotbetter to me, but if Jordan wants a cleansing diet, she’s not going to eatthat. I will end up freezing some of my portion of the leftovers.

Another thing online recipessources are full of lately is pineapple. The controversy over pineapple toppingon pizza has been around for a while, but it seems to have taken on new lifelately. I’m not a pizza fan and definitely not a pineapple pizza fan. But therecipe that most puzzles me is pineapple casserole, which is all over the placethis season. I cannot fathom it, so today I look at the Southern Living version,because I really have confidence in that magazine’s recipes. What I found was basicallya white sauce made with pineapple juice instead of milk or cream, added sugar(in case, heaven help us, the pineapple wasn’t sweet enough) and grated cheddar,because according to the recipe the strength of cheddar will “hold up against”the sweetness of the pineapple. I remain unconvinced. I do remember, with pleasure,that my mom made a Jell-O salad—that scourge of the fifties—with pineapple, juliennedcarrots, pineapple chunks, and orange Jell-O. It wasn’t half as bad as itsounds. I also remember upside down cakes with pineapple that came out on thetop. Think I liked those. Mom also occasionally cooked a ham steak—a goodbargain I’ve learned these days—with a sauce of pineapple juice, brown sugar, andmaybe onion or bacon. It was pretty good, though I feel no urgency to try itagain.

I’m not sure what pickled pickleshave to do with Easter except that watermelon pickles seem common on some tables.My mom used to fix a pickle/vegetable tray for big dinners—celery sticks,carrots, etc.—but nine times out of ten she found it, after the meal, still inthe back porch cooler where she’d stashed it. But, pickles too have been allover the internet. I recently started getting emails from a web site called OliveMy Pickle. They not only try to sell their products, they try to educate on thebenefits of fermented food. Apparently there was an article in Time Magazinerecently about fermented foods as probiotics. and this site was recommended.They sell not only pickles but an array of olives, kimchi, etc. Fort Worth ishome to Best Maid Pickles, and that company has opened a retail store, the BestMaid Pickle Emporium, on Vickery Boulevard where they sell  pickles, pickle juice (supposedly great forbrining chicken), Bloody Mary mix, condiments and even T-shirts. I confess Iwant to go there just to browse. I grew up thinking I didn’t like pickles—ittook marriage to a Jewish man and kosher dills to teach me how good they are.My mom grew up hating sauerkraut—in a German household she had to eat it,so I never tasted that either until I was grown. But now I love it. For some reason,I’ve shied away from kimchi, though it is the kind of thing I usually like.Have you tried it?

And perhaps the ultimatepickle news: the Clausson folks, who make great pickles, have introduced apickle jelly bean. Where are you, Ronald Reagan?

The popularity of pineappleand pickles is testimony to the power of social media. I’m quite sure we would notpay inordinate attention to these two foods if we weren’t bombarded with themon the net. Then again, maybe I’m just more aware because I’m a foodie andspend time every day on food sites.

If you try a pineapple casserole,please let me know about it.