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Easter dinner was delicious, simple and traditional, with the exception of the gooseberry jam glaze on the ham. It was delightful, if I do say so.

Baked the ham, covered, at 325 degrees for about 15 minutes a pound, headed to 160 degrees. When about 30 minutes of baking time was left, I uncovered the ham, trimmed the fat, and coated it (using my lovely new silicone basting brush) with a glaze consisting of about 2 tablespoons gooseberry preserves, melted, and 1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard. Returned the ham to the oven till it reached the desired temp and, voila, a beautiful and tasty glaze. It didn’t look exactly like this , but it bore a strong resemblence.

Meanwhile, although I bought the smallest shank-portion ham in natural juices that they had at the store, and although it look like it might well be half bone, and although I sent leftovers home with a friend, I find that I have an astonishing amount of ham left. My goal was to have enough meat left on the bone for a wonderful pot of beans and ham, one of my favorite comfort foods. Now my goal is to get all the excess sliced up and frozen for future consumption and/or sharing.

Some readers, meanwhile, might wonder about my choice of ham at all for the feast, despite its being traditional fare. After all, I am interested in healthy eating, right? Indeed I am, but its selection also reflects my attitude about food and cooking in general. I fall into the no-bad-food (well, almost) camp, just bad eating habits. I revel in variety. I love fruits and vegetables. I eat almost everything, but almost nothing to excess.

So: while ham has a lot of salt (bad for blood pressure) and has nitrates (probably bad for cancer avoidance) and is red meat (bad for cancers, heart), if you eat a little of it and not very often, it’s good. It has high quality protein. It tastes good (unless you have one of those watery-squeaky hams). It adds color and taste variety, which keeps eating interesting, at least in my book.

I’m looking forward to my beans and ham, and it’s been ridiculously cold enough this April to make a pot of beans sound especially good. And before and after and while I’m working my way through the beans, I’ll eat lots of fruits and vegetables and I’ll make my corn bread with oil instead of butter or worse. I’ll enjoy those meals and not feel guilty for a moment.