Ham Sandwiches

When my Dad came down for Thanksgiving, he brought me some early Christmas presents:

Lots'o containers!

Two-ton meat slicer.

Dad owned a little neighborhood bar & grill several years ago.  He would have daily lunch specials and was constantly testing his culinary skills on the unsuspecting patrons. He made a mean pork tenderloin and great homemade soups.  When he sold the bar & grill, he took most of his restaurant equipment with to either sell or keep for whatever reason.  I think he secretly wanted to open his own little posh restaurant and couldn't bear the idea of selling the stuff as he may one day "need" it. 

Anyways......

Since it seems Dad has finally given up his harebrained scheme dream of being head chef at his own restaurant, I was the lucky recipient of the meat slicer and bunches of food grade containers.

Which I finally put to good use:

Most of the containers filled & put into the cupboards.

Sliced ham, some for lunches, some for freezing.....
and some for now!

I know it may seem frivolous to want to have sliced meat around the house, but sometimes, ya just need a sandwich!  Paul has also taken another job where he doesn't always have access to a microwave to warm up his lunch, so sandwiches are very convenient.   But up until now, I had to go to the store and patronize the deli department.  I know, I know, there's nothing wrong with buying stuff from the deli (well, most of them at least), but we really try to avoid "store" bought meats.  Not only because the prices seem outrageous, but I find myself questioning some of the ingredients and prefer using meat from our farm, friends or the back forty. 

We did end up buying a whole ham though (as in not sliced, not an "entire" ham) as we don't have any of our own roasts ready to put through the slicer.  And it's HALF as expensive as the EXACT hams they slice up for you in the deli department.  Even if we don't get around to curing / smoking / cooking our roasts / hams in the freezer, we're still ahead of the game.  But I have to admit, I can't wait to make some pastrami!  I've been meaning to buy the seasonings for it but haven't got my butt in gear yet, so this is a good prod for me to get going.

Now I just have to make some more bread for all the ham sandwiches!!!